I've always been a pretty vivid dreamer and I tend to remember most of what I dream. Heck I can remember dreams from 10 years ago. But I don't usually write them down. However this dream, from a few years ago, was exceptionally vivid and memorable. So I woke up and wrote the whole thing down.
It's pretty long and I can understand that some people think I may have just made this up, rather than it being a dream, but I assure you this is completely genuine. Obviously in writing it down I've had to help it make more sense than perhaps dreams do, but I've not altered the content in any way, just the narrative so it flows a bit better. The one thing I have altered is the main character, who was The Doctor in the dream.
“There are some things you need to know about time travel. It’s dangerous. The pair of us being here can change the future.”
“In what way? It’s not as if we’re interfering with anything major”, the girl interjected.
“How you can you be sure though?”, he replied. “By just being on this street we’re changing the future. All these people, going about their business, we’re getting in the way.”
“Take this old lady coming towards us. She’s going to have to go around us, where before she just carried on straight past. We’ve cost here mere seconds really, but those seconds can have a knock on effect elsewhere. She may miss a bus or a train. Or meet an old friend she wouldn’t have otherwise. It’s called the butterfly effect. Small, often inconsequential effects, can have a much larger unseen impact.”
“So we could start a World War Three by being here?”, the girl added.
“I think that’s a little unlikely”, the time traveller said. “I think most of the time the universe just compensates for these unscheduled interruptions. The worst we could do is to prevent a few people being born.” He paused, “or stop people meeting.”
“Are you sure you want to do this though? I mean that accident had a pretty big impact upon your life. It would change everything.”
“That accident took six years of my life”, she said. “I spent years in rehabilitation. Years wondering if I’d walk again, wishing I was dead.”
“But you recovered”, he said.
“I did, but the price was too high. I want those years back. Will you do it for me?”
The time traveller stopped and gazed upon the street. He looked upon the people travelling to work. The hustle and bustle of shops and street vendors.
“Is this where it happened?”
“On that corner there”, the girl pointed at a traffic light just changing to green. “We’ve got about ten minutes.”
“Okay”, he said. “You wait in that bar over there. Order us some drinks. I’ll watch for you here. Past you I mean”.
“What will you do?”, she asked.
He looked at his watch. “I’ll think of something.”
“There’s something I need you to do though.” The girl nodded in reply. “Once you appear, past you, I want you to hide. The pair of you can’t see each other. It could have a profound effect on the future.”
“Alright”, she said “Good luck”. Reaching up she kissed him on the cheek, before turning around and walking towards the bar.
He watched her walk the short distance before checking his watch again. Anytime now he thought.
The few minutes seemed like a life time. The street was as busy as ever and he wasn’t sure he’d be able to find her quickly enough.
Walking a few steps along the street he could see her watching him from the window of the bar. He smiled, she waved back.
Starting back along the street he saw a small red haired girl coming towards him. This was it. This was the moment. Looking at the corner where the accident was about to happen, a plan formed in his mind.
Casting one more glance at the window of the bar, he quickened his pace, pushing his way through the busy shoppers. Every second was important.
His heart beat faster as he got closer. His hands sweated. This would be the only chance he’d have to do this. He had to make it work.
Stopping a few meters away, he began fumbling in his coat pockets. Pulling out a packet of cigarettes he approached the girl.
“Excuse me. You don’t happen to have a light I could borrow do you?” It was the best he could think of.
“Erm…no sorry, I don’t smoke”, was the reply. Her voice was somehow lighter than the one he’d come to know, it carried a more care free tone.
She began to carry on walking. There was still no sign of the van.
Panicking a little he tried to press the conversation. “Ur, could you tell me where the…err, King’s Head is please?”
“The what?” she said abruptly.
“The King’s Head. It’s a pub around here.”
“No”, she said and turned around to walk off. There was still no sign of the van.
He checked his watch again. “Are you sure? It’s quite popular. Does amazing food apparently.”
“No I really don’t know. I’m sorry.”
At that moment the street was filled by engine noise as a van hurtled around the corner, running a red light. There were a few screams as people ran out of its path and then the van shot off down the road at excessive speeds, inuring no one.
The time traveller and girl watched the van speed off. “Maniac. He could have killed someone”, she said. He smiled. “Or severely hurt someone.”
He watched as she turned and continued her path along the street, turned a corner and vanished from sight.
Still smiling he headed back to the bar. In the window he could see the girl he knew looking back at him. She’d watched the whole thing. He sighed, knowing what would happen next.
She smiled at him as he crossed the street, happy that he’d stopped the accident. He stopped short of the window where she could still be seen. A yellow glow enveloped her and, still smiling, she vanished.
At the table by the window, two drinks sat, one full, one half empty. Her red lipstick surrounding the rim. Lifting the full glass he drank deeply until a female voice behind startled him.
Stood there, clutching a piece of paper, was the barmaid. “The lady who was sat there asked me to give you this.” Taking the folded piece of paper, he recognised his name written in the girl’s handwriting.
“If you’re reading this then it can mean only one thing. You stopped the accident, but I’m gone. I realise now what you meant earlier about how us being here could affect the future. Stopping the accident came with a price, and that prices was me. Or rather us. Without the accident we would have never met and had all those great times. I don’t know what will happen now, with my life, with yours. But I want you to do one last thing for me. Find me. Find the me you saved. Find me and get to know me all over again. I love you.”
He put the paper in his pocket and took one last drink. He knew this was the price for what she asked. That’s why he asked her to hide. Not to prevent the two of them from seeing each other, but because he couldn’t bear to see what would happen to her.
Finishing the drink he returned the glass to the table. Closed his eyes, and was gone.