Fifteen Years

I don't mind standing, nor turning right or facing left. What bothers me is I am doing it in a police line up as 'guest #3'.

I would plead guilty for my tacky tourist outfit, haggling poorly or jaywalking …all okay. But as a suspect in a murder charge?

The only thing I ever murdered is the Spanish language while asking for another beer, 'por una cerveza'. Looks okay when written, but from me it sounds like 'poorunnna serviacio'.

Wish I knew how to say, 'me innocent’ , I don't even remember being arrested.

I have always been a bit slow, last to catch on to a joke, never noticing romantic signals, and apparently not seeing a problem with going for a ride with strangers I just met in a bar, after drinking all day.

A familiar voice calls out. “Three step forward, the rest may leave.”

Alone in the bright white room, the reality of the situation is hitting me. My legs feel weak and my throat dry. In a dream like haze I watch as three people enter. For some strange reason I recognize one of them.

Two of them are dressed in overly starched uniforms of bright blue, the third is casually dressed in jeans and a tight-fitting flowered shirt, looks a lot like me. They motion for me to sit, which is none to soon as I am ready to collapse.

It isn't hard to tell the blue boys are cops.

The stranger who looks like me...is me... or was me. He's even wearing the same shirt I am. Albeit, a little tighter on him.

One of the cops pours me a glass of greenish liquid from a pitcher on the table. "Drink this, it will help calm your nerves. We have a story, and this will help your mind accept what we are about to tell you."

Normally I would have declined but I need something and hope there is tequila in it. Unfortunately, no cactus juice burns my throat. Instead, a sweet floral taste warms me. Instantly my head feels light and unencumbered by life's many problems.

For the next hour I sit, listening to them speak about unrealistic things that couldn't possibly be true. Time travel. Yet they speak with such conviction I find myself understanding if not fully believing. I keep staring at the older 'me', the more I stare the more I see the toll life took from him. Gone are my soft features, clean shaven unwrinkled face. As he (me) speaks I see a look of desperation clean through to his soul. I am moved by the passion, words that relate to me, which makes sense.

They explain what happened, or what is about to happen. I jump in a car with strangers, we hit and kill a pedestrian. Even though I wasn't driving they tell the police I was. We go to court where I get sentenced to life.

Now, the future me, introduces the two in blue as Time Guards. Who try convincing me that in order for future me to be let out of prison ...today, in his timeline, I need to do something… today in my timeline.

My head is reeling. I finally speak.

“Let me get this straight, I'm arrested for a crime I have not committed?

“Correct.”

“I'm Innocent?”

“Correct.”

“So, don't arrest me.”

“It doesn't work that way.”

“But I wasn’t driving.”

”Everyone said you were the driver. You go to trial and get sentenced to life.”

“No matter what I do, I'll be in jail.”

“Yes.”

“But now I know, so I just won't get in the car.”

“It isn't that simple. Once you are sent back you will only remember this conversation for ten seconds, after that it will be as if this never happened.”

“So, I go back have ten seconds to say no and walk away.”

“But they will still drive and kill the girl.”

“But we won’t go to jail.”

“No, we wont but the woman was....is pregnant and the baby needs to live.”

“This is crazy... why am I here if nothing changes.”

“Because you will be sent back exactly ten seconds before you hit the woman. We need you to grab the wheel and avoid hitting her.”

“Do we still go to jail?”

“Yes.”

“WHY?”

“Because this scenario needs us in jail so that I can come here to explain the situation. Look this is the only way, once you do this I get out...we get out today.”

“How long are we in?

“Fifteen years.”

“FIFTEEN YEARS!”

“It’s better than life.”

“Is it bad?”

“Not really, you make some new friends, have time to finish your studies and get a Ph.D..”

“Really?”

“No, you idiot. We’re in a Mexican prison. its fucking bad.”

“Does everyone get an opportunity to right a wrong?”

“No. A future analysis shows that if the child lives, he will go on to unite and lead their country into becoming an economic powerhouse.”

“There really isn't another way?”

“No.”

Maybe it was being overwhelmed or the green drink, but I accepted my fate. “Okay....let's do it.”

****

I watch my self sent back, knowing the next fifteen years for him will be terrible. Just then, events unfold, my memories change. Not of our conversation but, seeing the young woman crossing the road, me grabbing the wheel to avoid hitting her then.....Oh God...

Turning to the two Time Guards, I say. "We hit someone else, a young man."

"Yes, he was acceptable collateral. His life was uneventful and unimpactful. The child needed to live."

We stare at each other for far to long. Finally, one says. "You're free to go."

In a fog my feet move forward. I was in jail for fifteen years as an innocent, but now it was because I actually killed a person. My mind is spinning, the light of the mid day sun blinds me as I step outside. I don't see the older man with a gun pointed at me. I don't see the flash as the bullet exits the barrel, but I feel the explosion in my chest. In slow motion I collapse.

The last words I hear before all goes black is..."That's for killing my boy...you murd...'

One Time Guard turns to the other and speaks. "Every time we let him go I think he'll remember what's waiting for him outside.

The older Time Guard shrugs. "They never do."

*******

This is for Liam Storm Time Travel - An Unofficial Challenge: