In Pursuit of Time

“Dad, dad! Watch me!” The little girl cried out to her father who was fastening his tie in front of the mirror. “Not now Emma.” The man replied, straightening his suit jacket. “But Daddy, today’s the gymnastics competition!” Emma whined. “You are coming to see me perform, right Daddy?” Her father finished adjusting his suit, turned away from the mirror, and headed towards the door. “I can’t Emma. I have a business meeting, and I’ll be busy all day.” Emma stamped her feet, her emerald green eyes glistening with unshed tears. “You never have time for me anymore! You stopped taking me to school a year ago and you haven’t attended a single one of my gymnastics tryouts!” “I’m doing the best I can, baby. Now I really have to go. I’ll see you tonight.” He dropped a kiss on her forehead absentmindedly, and then left the house.

He was late to the business meeting, again. Glancing at his watch, he hurried towards the door. His phone began to ring, but he ignored it. The phone began to ring again. Irritated, he switched off his phone and walked into the conference room.

An hour later, the man was back in his car driving to a café near his home to meet his next client. The business meeting had been a success, but he was exhausted. As he neared his home, he spotted an ambulance on the side of the road. On the ground next to the ambulance, lay a small purple backpack—a child’s backpack. Staring at the backpack, the man’s heart began to race and time felt like it was standing still. He opened the door of his car and ran to the scene. Just as he reached the ambulance, the medic on the scene was covering a small form on a gurney with a white sheet. “NO!” the man shrieked. He ran towards the gurney and uncovered the head of the body beneath the sheet. Emma’s cold and lifeless eyes stared back at him. He began to scream and cry uncontrollably, before being restrained by the medics. Moments later, he felt the prick of a needle in the crook of his arm, and drifted into a state of unconsciousness.

Waking up at the hospital, the man was informed of the events causing Emma’s death. She had sustained minor internal injuries after being hit by a car when crossing the street. However, her death was due to complications after she’d had a severe allergic reaction to the drugs being pumped into her system. The medics had called him to confirm that Emma was not allergic to any of the drugs, on the unlikely possibility that she would be allergic, but he hadn’t picked up the call. The only odd occurrence noted in the medical report, was that the girl had been found under an oak tree, but nobody had witnessed her being moved.

In the middle of the night, hours later, the man found himself at the scene of her death. Under the moonlight, the man could see that the grass where Emma had been deposited was stained with her blood.

“It wasn’t my fault.” He told the moon angrily. “I didn’t have enough time. I was too stressed out. I would’ve been there for her if only…” He trailed off. “What if…I found time? There must be someone responsible for this…” He jumped to his feet. “I know what I’m going to do.” He was turning away when he saw a flash of emerald green from behind the tree. Startled, he turned back towards the tree, but it was gone. He shivered, then slowly turned away and started walking back home.

The next day, after her funeral, he packed his bags and was gone. He left his family a letter, explaining to them that he was on a hunt, searching for the being responsible for shortening his daughter’s life, “Time”. The only thing he took with him was some money and the silver locket he’d given his daughter for her tenth birthday.

He spent the next three months traveling from place to place, trying to pinpoint all the locations that Time had revealed itself over the centuries. After a long day spent examining ancient time-related artifacts in Egypt, he lay down beneath a large oak tree on the outskirts of a city. Clutching the locket that he now wore around his neck, he fell into a deep slumber.

He dreamt that he was sitting beneath the very same oak tree, but when he looked up, he saw the small figure of a child in front of him.

The man beneath the tree gasped and sprang to his feet. He grabbed his daughter and embraced her tightly. “My darling!! I’ve missed you so much, baby girl. I’m so sorry for everything.” “I’ve missed you too, daddy. It’s okay, I forgive you.” She spoke softly, smiling weakly up at her father. “Emma, what’s wrong?” He looked at her worriedly.

“Dad, you have to stop. You have to stop searching for Time.” Emma said hesitantly.

Startled, her father looked down at her. “Stop searching for Time? I can’t, Emma. I won’t rest until I’ve found the man who took you away from me.” He shook his head vigorously.

Emma reached up and tenderly cupped her father’s face. “Dad, listen to me. I never wanted to leave you, but I’m not the one that needs you now. Go back to mom and my brothers. They need you.” She smiled sadly at her father and turned to walk away.

“Don’t leave me, Emma! Please, I’m begging you!!” He said, clutching at her wrist like it was a lifeline.

Emma smiled sadly at her father “I’ve never left you Dad. I’ve been watching over you all this time, and I’ll always be in your heart.”

The man woke up suddenly, with tears rolling down his cheeks.His hand went instinctively to the locket that usually lay on his chest, only to find that is was not there. After searching frantically for the locket, he finally gave up. Thinking over his daughter’s words, the man contemplated going back. Seeing her in his dreams had been the best thing that had happened to him in over two months. Unable to relinquish the vision of seeing her in the flesh, he decided to continue pursuing Time. He spent the next ten years of his life searching, until he finally gave up on the hopes of ever finding Time. And only then, did he decide to return home to his family.

It took the man a few weeks until he finally reached his home country. He began trekking back to the house his family lived in. He paused when he became close enough to the block to see a wreckage of debris and ash surrounded by a large stone memorial, in the place of what once was his house. Reading the inscription, the man began to weep. Unbeknownst to him, a couple stood watching him from behind the mighty oak tree where his daughter, wife, and sons were buried.

The woman behind the tree turned to her companion “Long time no see, Time. Welcome back!” Fate said, grinning at the man beside her. “Oh, be quiet, sister! Don’t tease me.” Time replied good-naturedly, his emerald green eyes twinkling in the light. “So, after all this time apart, you decide to reunite with me in a graveyard?” “No, we’re going somewhere else. I just wanted to check on him.” He said, nodding towards the man sobbing over the memorial. Fate stared at her brother, and then shook her head“Brother, I don’t know why you try. He’s a stupid man. He was searching for the wrong person to blame; he should have been searching for me. After all, I am the one who decides who gets to live or die.”

“You’re right. After all, I did warn him multiple times. I was very patient. This is what happens when people exploit me. I know he regrets what he’s done now, but it’s too late. It’s time for him to accept his fate.” He looked at the man, pityingly.

“Brother, how many times did I tell you this? Do you agree now that meddling in the lives of human beings is a useless endeavor?” Fate asked.

Lingering before answering, “Yes, I’m done with them.” Time lied.

“Good, now let’s go get a bite to eat. I’m starving!” She began to walk away from the tree.

Time paused again, before taking out a silver locket from around his neck. Opening it, he glanced at the picture of Emma with her mother and brothers, smiling happily into the camera. He glanced at the miserable figure huddled over the memorial, then made a quick decision. Snapping the locket shut, he removed it from around his neck, and placed it on Emma’s grave before hurrying to join his sister.Time never looked back.

#girl #father #time #care #priorities #death #neglect #indifference