What if . . . you could redo it all?
The novella. #3 TimeTravel.
If you could go back in time and redo one thing in your life, what would it be?
Anaya, a disillusioned, thirty-five-year-old doctor, has been looking after Gregory, a retired watchmak...
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2000,Eighteen Years Backwards
How would your favorite teacher describe you? was the next question on the college application. Anaya tapped her nails on the antique table in the bright and airy dining room of her parents' house, trying to conjure up the most likely candidate.
She hadn't been playing ball with any of them since her return. Her P.E. coach had given her a C, a new low for her, and she'd stormed into his office, demanding to know why. There wasn't much she could say when he shared his disappointment at her regular sick notes, forgetting the required uniform for a week's designated sport and not getting even close to her personal bests.
The only subject she excelled at was Biology, with her doctor's brain. Their teacher, Mr. Sex Education, not his given name, smiled brighter with every rising score and sighed harder at her when she argued that a new experiment could be approached her way to arrive at the identical results. So, smart, persistent, and logical sounds about right.
Anaya lifted her eyes to the window and stared at nothing in particular outside. The chrysanthemum flowers, adorned in shades of russet and gold, regarded her curiously with their greenish faces. And the pansies peered at her from their bed, winking with their yellow eyes while they danced in the wind. Her thoughts wandered to her most memorable moment with a teacher.
She could picture it like it was happening now. On her first day in middle school, Mrs. Singh had encouraged her to speak up and "make some noise." Keen to make a good impression, Anaya had gradually become more vocal and started expressing her emotions.
Suddenly, feeling so light that she needed to grab the corner of the table, she knew she'd found her major. Middle Years Education – the years when minds were shaped and characters were formed.
Elated, she worked furiously, until she reached the final section. What have your challenges taught you?
Anaya crashed down so hard on the back of the chair that it flew until it hit the wall. Feeling impossibly claustrophobic, she wrenched her jacket free from the closet then went out to run as far and for as long as her lungs could stand.
Fueled by rage at God, or whoever else came up with the preposterous concept of free will, Anaya turned more corners. My challenges were cruel to the core. With so many choices to make in life, the line was hair-thin between success and failure, having money or being broke, being loved or hated, alive or dead.
Her legs rebelled at last and she fell to her knees. Wheezing, she hugged herself, pushing back against the burn of muscle spasms, and pressing against the stitch in her side. She tried to lift her head up, as if that would force the air to flow down her windpipe. But in the split second it took her to look from ground to sky, she recognized her surroundings.
Anaya's world went black.
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Hi there! Thank you for being here! Are you liking this chapter so far? Did you see any missed opportunities you think I should work on? Please don't forget to let me know what you think in a short comment below. Thanks so much, G.
