The machine let out a mellow chirp- a light-hearted sound that betrayed the gravity of the situation.\u00a0 Officer Julius W. Young raised a frail, quivering hand over the large transparent button, the light inside now glowing a soft green to let the user know that the chamber was primed and ready.<\/p>\n
It was such a simple sight, yet it still brought tears to his eyes.\u00a0 To think of how much time and effort he had devoted to this moment!\u00a0 It had taken him seventeen years simply to be promoted into the Chronoguard, and another five before upper management would let him go solo.\u00a0 They had to be convinced that he didn\u2019t have any ulterior motives for wanting to police time and space.<\/p>\n
He fingered the stub of paper in his pocket to calm his mind.\u00a0 He had lied, of course.\u00a0 How many close calls had there been?\u00a0 It was almost a miracle Internal Affairs had never stripped his badge.\u00a0 Carmichael was sentenced ten years just for arresting the drunk driver who would have killed his son.\u00a0 Smith\u2019s repeated attempts to remove his grandfather\u2019s cancer before the official discovery of a cure would have landed him at least fifty years or more, if his mother hadn\u2019t been killed during one of the standoffs.\u00a0 Smith no longer existed- officially, he had never been born.\u00a0 And Adams\u2026 well, that had happened before his promotion into the Chronoguard, but there was a reason no one on the force was allowed to predate humanity.<\/p>\n
No one ever suspected shy, considerate Officer Young.\u00a0 And yet, the automatic safeguards had almost ruined everything.\u00a0 After the successful assassination of Anton Cermak, disguised as a failed attempt on President Roosevelt, the timelines of all important government figures were placed on total lockdown, by order from the very top.\u00a0 Public Opinion favored the move, thanks to the media\u2019s portrayal of Zangara as only one of many would-be temporal assassins who strove to end Capitalism before it started.<\/p>\n
The safeguards on 21st<\/sup> century politicians had been silently removed last week, due to funding concerns.\u00a0 If Young hadn\u2019t been on the inside, he\u2019d likely never have known.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t something the authorities wanted to bring to public attention, after all.<\/p>\n Well, that was about to change.\u00a0 Young smiled, checking the date on the console one last time.\u00a0 January 22nd<\/sup>, 2015.\u00a0 He briefly pondered if he\u2019d remembered to purge any references of Barack Obama from his search history before leaving.\u00a0 Not that it mattered now.\u00a0 He\u2019d come too far to back down now.\u00a0 If he failed now\u2026 what was the point in living?\u00a0 He patted the sidearm on his belt for comfort, and rubbed the stub of paper in his pocket for good luck.\u00a0 Taking a deep breath, he stepped through the time gate for the last time.<\/p>\n \u201cBut it just says \u2018error\u2019,\u201d she said, dropping the calculator down on the page with a frustrated thud.<\/p>\n \u201cNo, no, that\u2019s good,\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cIt means the inverse doesn\u2019t exist for theta.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThen what\u2019s the answer?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2026 Heidi, that is the answer.\u00a0 The inverse does not exist.\u00a0 You only solve for theta if the function exists.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t understand any of this,\u201d she said, shoving her work off of the table- calculator, books, and all.\u00a0 She used the space to bury her head in her arms.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re too kind, Bill.\u00a0 Helping a complete idiot like me attempt to pass trigonometry\u2026 I don\u2019t know why you put up with me.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know why anyone puts up with me.\u201d<\/p>\n Bill felt his cheeks burn with embarrassment as Heidi tried not to cry in the center of Snow Hall.\u00a0 He looked nervously around the room, but aside from an elderly professor grading papers in the corner, the study lounge was completely empty.\u00a0 Usually there were more people here- were that many people preparing to listen to the President speak?<\/p>\n He took a deep breath, and placed his hand supportively, but cautiously, onto her shoulder.\u00a0 He tensed up for the inevitable rejection, yet she said nothing.\u00a0 He relaxed his arm, conflicted between enjoying the moment and taking advantage of her pain.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2026 well, anyway, it\u2019s 10:00 now\u2026 I know you said you needed to leave\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n Heidi slowly lifted her head.\u00a0 \u201cYeah, I need to\u2026 Chad couldn\u2019t skip his morning lab, so we\u2019re going to head down together.\u201d<\/p>\n Bill felt his heart sink.\u00a0 \u201cO-oh, I didn\u2019t realize you guys were, ahh\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n She shrugged, kneeling down to gather her things.\u00a0 \u201cWell, we\u2019re both music majors, right?\u00a0 He asked me yesterday if I wanted to go with him, since we both have tickets, and I\u2026 well, I didn\u2019t have any reason to say \u2018no\u2019\u2026\u201d\u00a0 She paused, swaying slightly in place as she stared at him, an odd look on her face.<\/p>\n Bill averted his eyes.\u00a0 He couldn\u2019t bear to look at her as he tried to tug his heart back in place.\u00a0 \u201cYeah, I mean, that\u2019s\u2026 well\u2026 have fun.\u00a0 I\u2019ll see you next week?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, I\u2019ll see you next week.\u201d\u00a0 Bill looked up, but she was already out the door and halfway to the stairs.\u00a0 He let out a sigh as he pulled his own ticket out of his pocket.<\/p>\n \u201cSorry to interrupt,\u201d said the professor, startling Bill as the old man looked up from his papers, \u201cbut if you were looking for the right moment to make your move\u2026 that was it.\u201d<\/p>\n Bill flushed with embarrassment, the emotions churning in his gut doubling their intensity.\u00a0 \u201cShe\u2019s so beautiful, though.\u00a0 Why would she ever settle for me?\u00a0 She\u2019s so beautiful, and kind, and-\u201c<\/p>\n \u201cNo excuses, no regrets.\u00a0 Just do it.\u00a0 If you don’t, you’ll never forgive yourself.\u00a0 You’ll just spend the rest of your life wondering what could have been.\u00a0 Trust me, it is better to fail than it is to never even try.\u00a0\u00a0There will be plenty of time to drown in anxiety and insecurity later.\u00a0 Now is the time for action.\u00a0 No regrets.\u201d<\/p>\n Bill\u00a0pondered his words\u00a0before launching out of his seat.\u00a0 \u201cHeidi, wait!\u201d he yelled, as he sprinted down the corridors, catching up with her in the third floor staircase.\u00a0 He must have looked ridiculous standing there, panting for breath.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2026 I thought maybe we could\u2026 well, I\u2026 that is\u2026 would you like to go with me instead?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOh, Bill, yes!\u201d she exclaimed.\u00a0 Bill suddenly found himself enveloped by her arms.\u00a0 He slowly wrapped his hands around her waist, returning the hug.\u00a0 The weight of her head on his shoulder was foreign, but\u2026 nice.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2026 yeah, okay!\u00a0 Great!\u201d he said, excitement pulsing through his limbs.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2026 I\u2019ll be right back, I just have to grab my stuff first!\u201d<\/p>\n Bill sprinted back up the steps, failing to prevent a wide, dopey grin from spreading across his face as he ran.\u00a0 \u201cShe said yes!\u201d he said, standing in the doorway of the student lounge.\u00a0 \u201cI can\u2019t thank you enough for the encouragement, sir, she said-\u201c<\/p>\n But the room was empty.\u00a0 The only sign of the old man was a single ticket stub, rubbed blank and worn with age.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The machine let out a mellow chirp- a light-hearted sound that betrayed the gravity of the situation.\u00a0 Officer Julius W. Young raised a frail, quivering hand over the large transparent button, the light inside now glowing a soft green to let the user know that the chamber was primed and ready. It was such a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[216,422,957],"class_list":["post-9042","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fiction","tag-confabulation","tag-flash-fiction","tag-romance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.confabulatorcafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9042","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.confabulatorcafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.confabulatorcafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.confabulatorcafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.confabulatorcafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9042"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.confabulatorcafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9042\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.confabulatorcafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9042"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.confabulatorcafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9042"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.confabulatorcafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9042"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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