Another Place, Another Time

Time is an illusion. From everything that has happened to everything that will happen, 

all of it is a stream of memories that have been kept as souvenirs by the human mind. It’s funny how whenever one is having fun time flies away. On the other hand, whenever someone is going through something horrible, 

it feels like time has stopped. 

Every second that passes by feels like an hour where you are left staring at the face of doom, 

and there is nothing you can do about it.

In one’s lifetime, they are prone to forgetting quite a lot of moments in their life. Although, some stick with you, 

the memories you always have in the back of your mind- whether you want to remember them or not. They always find a way back to you

During another not-so starry night in the city of new york, 

Ben Wallace was making his way through the times square. 

Multi-colored lights from the billboards illuminated his face while he walked with his head down.

As he walked down the sidewalk he thought about how different life used to be. How he used to be a well-respected member of society and now he was yet another guy roaming around ‘the city that never sleeps’ without a purpose. Sure, back then he had honor but come to think of it, he wasn’t a “good person”. He had a lot of time to think these days.

Whether he liked it or not those days were over, and he would have to find some sort of way to move on.

He was jerked away from this train of thought all of a sudden when someone bumped shoulders with him. That person must have been running fast because ben felt a jolt of pain on his shoulder as he came to a stop.

But that was not the reason that he stopped dead in his tracks. It was not the reason his heart started beating faster. Or why he started to breathe heavily.

People bumping into each other was a fairly common thing in a crowded city like new york,

 it was the smell that made his mind think of a period in his life that he was trying so desperately to escape. It flowed through the air and soon his nose was filled with the smell of freshly baked bread. For a moment he inhaled the smell and felt a sense of relief wash over him,

 but before he could take it all in, that pleasant feeling was replaced by utter dread.

It had been a thousand years since he had last smelled that scent. God knows how much he longed for anything that was from his time.

Back then he was known as Sir, Benedict Wallace, Quite literally a knight in shining armor.

When he first smelled that fragrance of freshly baked bread, it led him to meet someone he wanted to cherish forever. The warm aroma had something special about it, even after living on earth for so many years he never found any bakery with the same scent. Some came close but they were not the same.

A pair of hands pushed open a bakery window allowing the streets to be flooded by that marvelous scent. There she was, A girl with chocolate brown skin wearing a bonnet. A few strands of her curly black hair were falling out of her bonnet as she kneaded the dough kept on the table. She tugged those strands of hair behind her ear leaving a trail of flour on her forehead.

Benedict’s heart skipped a beat, he remembered that moment like it was yesterday. Looking back, he was a completely different person- he would have been unrecognizable. He vividly remembered thinking about talking to her, but for some reason, he just couldn’t.

The days went by and he would walk by that bakery window. Just before he could muster up the courage to even walk in that direction, 

a voice inside him would call out and convince him to turn around.

The stories about an immortal knight were supposed to be of virtue and honor,

but he didn’t want to be either of those things.

That was when he decided to have a little faith in himself and finally took a step towards the bakery window. After buying a loaf of bread, he tried to talk to that girl he saw. She kept glancing at him with an apprehensive look on her face as if wondering “What would a knight be doing in this part of town?”. He didn’t blame her for being suspicious, 

most of the noblemen were extremely rude to the peasants, always yelling at them.

He wasn’t going to lie, he felt a little heavy-hearted.

Benedict decided to go to a forest near that bakery. He used to go there as a child and had always cherished the ethereal atmosphere it had. Trees greener than ever seen before, 

sunlight that scattered after being filtered through the trees, 

the birds singing a melody that made him smile. If that place didn’t make him feel better, nothing could.

He rode towards the forest on his black stallion and left it near a tree while he made his way to the Brooke.

It reflected the rays of the sun in every direction and it looked like the water was full of millions of diamonds,

 shining through all of eternity.

As he was about to sit near the water, he heard the rustling of leaves. Alarmed, he reached for the hilt of his sword.

“Who is it?” He called out

He saw the shadow of a figure move behind the tree, his stallion was near it.

Many had tried to take it away before, many would try again.

The knight tightened his grip, drew his sword and took three cautious steps ahead.

As he got closer he saw a familiar face come forward.

The girl from the bakery walked towards him with elegance and confidence.

“I can explain” she blurted “All I wanted was to pet your horse, I saw it while I was taking a walk around here”

“How do I know you’re telling the truth?” he asked, a bit skeptical.

“I’ve never seen you around these woods, and I know every corner”

“You don’t.” She knitted her eyebrows

“I’ve known these woods my whole life”.

Benedict lowered his sword and removed his helmet, 

that was the moment everything changed.

Was it foolish to trust a total stranger? maybe.

but he was glad he did it.

Turns out she was right, He hadn’t seen every part of those woods. They talked for hours sitting near that Brooke. The girl told benedict her name was Edith Baxter.

He saw how the sunlight made her brown eyes shimmer like they were pools of gold.

Years went by and they would both meet in that enchanted forest and talk to each other and admire the beauty of that wondrous forest.

One day they both sat at the edge of the Brooke with their legs dipped in the water, eating bread that Edith had baked.

She told him about this woman in the forest that claimed she could see her future.

“Really? What did she say?” Benedict asked Edith

“Something about me going on a long journey, and a blessing in disguise,” she said nonchalantly

and then broke into laughter.

Benedict didn’t have the same look on his face, 

he looked off into the distance like he was remembering a painful memory.

The people in the town called that woman in the woods a witch.

There was a reason he hadn’t seen the whole forest, 

sometime after he got knighted the same woman in the forest had said quite peculiar things to him.

Knights were supposed to be chivalrous but according to that woman, 

he was a cold-blooded killer.

What scared him was the fact that she was right.

Knights were allowed to raid villages and take whatever they wanted. When that woman confronted him, he didn’t even recognize her.

Benedict Wallace was responsible for ruining that poor woman’s life and her hometown.

He liked to believe he had changed, but he always feared he was the same ruthless maniac. The woman had told him that she would be putting a curse on him, which he didn’t really believe.

He thought about how Edith would hate him if he told her about all this, she would just run away from him.

That witch in the woods had said he would get the curse lifted once he finally recognized his wrongdoings and had suffered enough for it.

It had been so long, yet a thousand years later was when he realized what the curse had been.

He was granted immortality which he thought was a wonderful gift. He had lived through years and years of torture and despair of being alone.

What’s a long life, when everyone you know and love is no longer on this earth?

Not long after that day in the forest, 

Benedict had talked to Edith about spending the rest of their lives together.

While Edith Baxter always had a confident demeanor but at that moment she looked so confused and scared, 

it broke his heart.

She told him that they had completely different lives and how a Knight born to noblemen and a baker would never be allowed to be together.

“Another place, another time, ben” her voice cracked a little “Maybe this would have worked out”.

She ran into the woods and

that was the last time he ever saw her.

Edith was declared missing in the town, He couldn’t help but live with the fact that it was him that drove her away.

Here he was in the city of new york all alone with nothing but a choice to make. He could either follow this scent or try and let go. He had been trying to let go for a long time, maybe this was his chance to finally do so.

He took a step forward 

and felt the same force that made him turn away from talking to Edith for the very first time, 

it pulled him back to the faint traces of the scent, still left in the air.

This time it didn’t take days for him to decide he ran like his life depended on it.

He did not have the faintest of a clue of where he was going or what he was going after. Something in him just snapped, and tears fell down his cheeks as he ran toward what was calling him. It was just the slightest aroma that reminded him of a place he once called home, 

and if there was any chance he could get that back … he would gladly take it.

Not so far away from ben,

 a girl was standing in the middle of times square just looking up at the place in both-awe and horror.

Just a few minutes ago she was running around the place, bumping into everybody. Just trying to figure out where on earth she had landed. To her everything was dizzy, 

the last thing she remembered was running into the woods that she had come to know and love. Although she was trying not to show it on her face, she had been devastated to leave benedict alone. She wanted to say yes to his plan about marrying her, but there were too many things on her mind. The people around her would always have disapproved of it.

She saw that woman that everybody referred to as a witch in the town, she remembered the feeling of being pushed, 

and then she fell into oblivion.

For what felt like minutes later she woke up and found herself near a peculiar place, 

it was like the bakery window at home yet it looked so different.

“may I help you ma’am?” a voice heavy with concern called out to her. It was a man with a green cap on his head, a green apron, and a very strange device on his ear.

She ran out of there to look at a sign that read “Starbucks drive-thru” written on it

“Lord knows what that means?” she shook her head in confusion. Nothing was making sense.

So she ran again, in a way that’s all she knew how to do. Did she run away from her true love, why? because she was scared of what others thought?

She wouldn’t have been in this mess in the first place, if she had just faced her problems.

Edith came to a halt and saw what looked like colored lights all around her, 

they were nothing like the lanterns back at home.

That was when she saw a man with a black coat and blond hair coming towards her.

He stopped as soon as she looked into his eyes.

How could she not recognize those eyes?

Everything about that place made no sense to her, 

but somehow ben was standing in front of her with what looked like tears in his eyes.

Ben was ecstatic, he didn’t know how but it was Edith standing right in front of him.

He ran towards her and embraced her in his arms, never wanting to let go. 

They had already lost each other once, he would never let that happen again. 

He had someone to live for. He told her he would explain everything. Maybe he could never get his old life back but at least now he would get to spend time with the person he loved the most.

They sat down for a drink and ben explained everything to her. He’d like to think she took it well, for a person who had just been pushed through a ‘time portal’ and into the future.

Edith said that at least she had somebody with her, 

having to adjust to a whole new lifestyle would be hard needless to say.

They finally had a chance to rebuild their life together, a chance to start over in a better world.

Maybe they could have their own version of a ‘happily ever after’ Afterall, even if it was for a little while.