Time Gone By

My heartbeat.

That was the only thing I felt, each pump an hour.

No, my mind screamed. NO!

I saw the form dropping from the sky like a doll. For some reason, I checked my watch. 4:59 P.M. 50 seconds in. I ran as fast as I could, trying to save her. I watched her fall, her body limp. But suddenly, she wasn't above me anymore. I looked around, and she was far behind me.

That's weird. How did I get past her? I glanced at my watch again. 55 seconds in. How had it only been five seconds?! I looked at her again, and she seemed to be falling, but a bit slower than before.

That's strange.

I wanted to just stand there and ponder this, but even though she was falling slower, she was still falling, and at a fatal rate from that high. I ran towards her again, but tripped. I instinctively looked down, but when I did I screamed. I was in the sky, but I wasn't falling. I was walking on thin air, yet she was the one falling.

57 seconds in.

All of a sudden, I felt dizzy. I aimed my head down, hoping I wouldn't lose my carnitas lunch. I jumped again upon seeing the ground. I was back in the exact same spot I was when I first spotted her falling.

5:00.

The town clock chimed five times, and she hit the ground.

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My heartbeat.

That was the only thing I felt, each pump an hour.

No, my mind screamed. NO!

As I watched her fall, I felt a sudden sense of deja vu.

Doesn't matter, I thought. Get to her.

I checked my watch for no reason. 4:59, 50 seconds in.

I glanced to my right, sensing a presence. I gasped at what I saw. It was me! I was running after her, and... sprinting past her? I was confused. I had just seen myself run at approximately 300 miles per hour (I know that because I'm really, really smart) and traveled about 60 yards in a fraction of a second. My form reflected my own confusion. He looked up again and ran back towards her again.

Then it hit me. This had already happened! That's why it seemed familiar! And probably what also tipped me off was the duplicate of me, you know, obviously. Then I remembered what was about to happen.

"Stop!" I shouted. I don't know if stopping would help, but it seemed the most reasonable thing to say. However, I didn't seem to be noticing... me.

I sighed. Of course. My life has to go all TV. If someone were to make a movie out of this, it would fit in perfectly.

55 seconds in.

I was watching myself run with the small town in the background, the flaming plane crashing down a distance away. But all of a sudden I was gone. Zip! Not there anymore. I looked up, remembering how I could only see the sky for a moment, and saw myself hovering in the air, surprisingly not that far off the ground. I was confused, because when I actually was up there, there was only sky below me, too.

Whatever, I thought. If the movies are never logical, why does this have to be?

One thing I did notice is that things were going by a bit slower than originally. She was falling slower, and I had been running slower. Suddenly, my own scream from above ripped me from these thoughts. What was I thinking?! None of this mattered! I had to get to her before she hit the ground!

I desperately ran in her direction, but it was too late. Even though she was falling slightly slower, I had reacted too late. The clock chimed five, and she hit the ground.

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My heartbeat.

That was the only thing I felt, each beat a WAIT A MINUTE.

I am NOT doing this again. I already know my watch says 4:59, 50 seconds in. I need to figure out how to save her. I need a strategy. Or, you know, I can just stand underneath her and wait for her to fall, hoping that time slowed down again enough that it won't kill me, too.

So that's what I did.

For quite a bit, I stood under where I figured she would fall. Since time had slowed down again rather extensively, I had a lot more time. But there was a flaw in my plan. Remember the part where I somehow run 300 miles per hour? Yeah. I'm sure you can guess what happens.

Boom.

I absolutely ran myself over. Oh, and I also was knocked unconscious. You know, this is really my day.

Fast forward I don't know how long, I woke up. But there was a problem.

Dong. Dong. Dong. Dong. Dong.

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My heartbeat.

That was the OH MY GOSH.

Clearly, my strategy stunk worse than the sewer. I needed to somehow catch her while staying out of the way of... me. It seems simple, but now I need to avoid three other me's. So the original me was the sprinting-at-impossible-speeds me. The second one, well, didn't do much. The third one, however, both moved underneath her, but also got knocked about ten feet. So, my plan was to move over next to where she was going to land, wait for the third me to get run over, and then move into place. I hoped that this one would work. I couldn't bear seeing her hit the ground again.

I started jogging in the direction of where she would land, though giving my original me's sprinting path a wide berth. Time had again slowed, so I had plenty of time. Soon after I reached my spot, I saw the third me fly back from being hit. I winced, remembering the pain, but even still I moved into place. My unconscious body behind me, I stared at her falling. She was lowering her altitude dreadfully slow.

She came within four feet of my arms. 58 seconds in. She hit my arms. My knees buckled, but I stood my ground.

Dong. Dong. Dong. Dong. Dong.

She was safe.

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You thought the story would be over, eh? Nope. Perhaps you forgot that there were three duplicates of myself now. If I knew duplicates formed by traveling through the space/time continuum, Those things needed to go before they caused trouble.

Luckily, my life, apparently, was still playing out like a movie. Saving her seemed to bey some sort of key, for they vanished one by one a split second after she landed in my arms. Yay, me.

I looked at my watch again, smiling. 5:00, 0 seconds in.