A Step In Time

It was the afternoon of March 7th, and Chris Copperstone had just finished his yard work at his quaint little suburban home, and he decided to invite some friends over for a barbecue. Chris was a bit of a socialite, well known in various social circles as a Twenty-eight year old bachelor. The people who he had invited today, were some of his friends from the neighbourhood. 

Over the next hour, the people started arriving. There were Jack and Christy Evertone, Kelly and Harold Madison along with their daughter Lucy, and George Benson, the long-time best friend of Chris along with his newest girlfriend-of-the-

month, Jessica. Chris had the mini-fridge stocked with beer, wine coolers and sodas, and there were plenty of chips and veggies for everyone to munch on until the food was ready. On the grill, Chris had all-beef burgers with a few vegan burgers for the non-

carnivores. Everyone sat around discussing the latest gossip and current events while CCR's “Lookin' Out My Back Door” played on the radio in the background.

The event seemed to go off without a hitch, and as the the sun started to set in the 

east, everyone began to leave with the exception of George and his girlfriend. The stuck 

around for a bit longer. Inside the house, George and Chris shot a few games of pool 

while Jessica played games on her phone and took selfies for her social media profiles. 

After hanging around for about two hours, George could see that Jessica was getting anxious to leave, so he decided to call it a night. “Don't forget to turn your clocks ahead tonight my friend”, George bellowed as he was walking out the door. “Thanks pal”, 

Chris replied. Chris shut the door and started the clean-up with a smile on his face. As he was passing the fireplace, he gazed up at the pictures on the mantle. In a mahogany frame sat a picture of the only woman that Chris ever loved, his wife Peggy. His heart sank and the smile drooped down and turned into a frown. Peggy had lost her life five years ago to a drunk driver who t-boned Peggy's car in the middle of an intersection with his 1976 GTO muscle car. Her little Mazda RX7 didn't stand a chance against the brutal 

force of the GTO barrelling down the road at full speed. Now that he thought about it, tomorrow would be the fifth anniversary of her death. He had enough for one day and called it quits, leaving the rest of the mess until tomorrow. Chris turned his clocks ahead as George had reminded him, and went off to sleep.

It was now March 8th at 8:58 am and Chris was just opening his eyes. His body 

felt stiff and sore and he could hardly move. As he rolled out of bed, his joints started to pop and he sounded like a bowl of Rice Krispies when you first add milk; “Snap, Crackle and Pop”. Chris made his way into the bathroom, showered and then went to the mirror to shave. As he wiped the steam away from the mirror, he jumped back in horror. 

The face in the mirror wasn't one that he recognized! The razor and shaving cream 

container tumbled to the floor, bouncing playfully across the white porcelain tile. After a second look, Chris saw the face of a man in his fifties. “How can this be?”, he thought. 

He quickly got dressed and made his way downstairs. The first thing he did was call 

George, but when he dialed the number, a strange voice answered. “Can I speak to 

George?”, Chris asked. “I'm sorry, but you have the wrong number. Nobody by that 

name lives here.”, the man replied. Chris apologized and hit the button to end the call. 

He then looked at the number to see if he had hit the wrong contact, but it was correct. 

Suddenly, Chris heard someone unlocking the front door. He reached for a poker 

from the fireplace to defend himself and as the door swung open, Chris stood there in shock, dropping the poker, and as it fell, it landed across his bare foot. The pain from the poker released him from his trance-like state but he continued to stare towards the front door without saying a word. There before him stood a woman carrying a few bags of 

groceries. She was in her late forties, beautiful long brown hair with a touch of grey 

showing through. “Are you going to help me, or just stand there like a zombie?”, she inquired. Chris must have been seeing things. It was Peggy, and she was standing in the same room as him, but how? Chris slowly approached her, still not saying a word. He grabbed the bags and brought them to the kitchen. Peggy started going on about the crowd at the supermarket even though it was so early in the day, but Chris was only hearing fragments of what she was saying. Finally, he spoke up and said “How can you be here?”. Peggy stared at him with her head slightly tilted to one side like a confused 

dog, and replied “Are you feeling okay? You look like you've seen a ghost!”. “I saw 

your body.”, he said. “Of course you've seen my body! You've seen it every day for 

almost thirty years now.”, Peggy retorted. Chris excused himself and said that he needed to sit down for a minute, then he headed to the living room and collapsed onto the leather recliner.

Peggy soon followed with a glass of water. “Here you go.”, she said. “Thanks. If it

wasn't so early, I'd probably ask for something stronger.”, Chris expressed. After Chris 

calmed down, Peggy convinced him to talk to her about what was bothering him so much. He finally agreed and told her the story. Peggy sat silent for a moment, then walked over to the desk at the other end of the room and retrieved a laptop that was sitting there. She set it up in front of Chris, clicked on a folder to open it, then started a video. Chris watched in amazement as this life that he had no recollection of passed 

before his eyes. There were pictures and video clips from their wedding day up to more recent times. Chris started to get choked up and then tears started to fall down his face. 

Peggy leaned over and wrapped her arms around him. Her embrace was just as he had remembered. Was he given a second chance at a life that he could have had? Whatever was happening, he was enjoying being with Peggy again.

As the day progressed, Peggy started reminiscing about the wonderful life that they had shared together. She was concerned that Chris had developed partial Amnesia 

and that he should possibly speak to a doctor about it. They called for an appointment, and were able to get in the following morning. Chris mentioned to Peggy that he had tried to call George earlier but the person who answered said that it was the wrong number. Peggy's head dropped as she informed Chris that George had passed away nearly 20 years ago. He had a heart attack while trying to impress a woman he was with.

George had gone bungee jumping with a woman ten years younger than he was, but the doctors say that he died before he reached the bottom of the ravine that he jumped into. 

Chris was saddened by the news and they sat in silence for the next several minutes.

The day seemed to go by so fast and yet the moments with Peggy made every 

moment seem like a lifetime. The sun had set and the couple made their way up to the bedroom where they made passionate love until they fell asleep in each others arms. 

Chris had been awakened by the ring of his cellphone. He looked at the clock on the 

dresser and it read 8:58 am. Chris reached over and grabbed the phone off of the 

nightstand and pressed the talk button. His eyes were still blurry from sleep, so he 

couldn't read the caller I.D.. “Hello”, he said with a hoarse voice. “Yo, man! Are you 

going to sleep all day? We were supposed to go to the gym this morning, remember?”. It was the voice of George! Chris sat up with a cold sweat forming on his brow. He turns back to see if he had awaken Peggy, but she wasn't there. Perhaps she went downstairs 

already. “George, is that you?”, Chris asked unsure. “Who else would it be? Are we going to the gym, or not?”, George replied. “Ya, sure, just give me thirty minutes to get 

ready. I'll call you back.” Chris said as he ended the call. 

Chris made his way into the bathroom to grab a quick shower before heading 

downstairs, but as he passed the mirror, he stopped and looked in. He was young again! “Was it all a dream?”, he wondered. He skipped the shower and ran downstairs. The mess that was left behind from the barbecue was still there. It was a dream after all. He was happy, but only for a moment. Then he thought of sweet, beautiful Peggy. The love of his life was taken from him once more. He quietly pondered his last twenty-four hours and was filled with mixed emotions. The door suddenly flew open and a young, vibrant Peggy stood in the doorway with her jogging outfit on, sweating from the run she had just come from. “I really need to shower.”, she said with a smile. “Would you 

care to join me?”. And with a wink, Peggy turned and headed upstairs. Chris picked up the phone and hit redial. “George, I've decided to work out at home today. Talk to you later.”. He hung up the phone and followed his dream girl up to the bedroom.

The end.