Jump Through Time

by Tanya Gilford

  I reach the center of town and approach the store front. I wonder who I’ll be seeing today and why do they keep changing? As someone enters, I follow them in, and I go to the counter waiting for someone to come talk to me. “I see you found something again miss.” A tall man with broad shoulders and a thick southern accent stated.

  I felt like I was looking at the guy from the movie The Green Mile, he is so tall. “Yes, though I ended up going from the future to the past which hasn’t ever happened before.” I commented.

  “Did you figure out the directional patterns?”

  “Yes, North doors go to the future, South facing doors go back in my memories.” I answered.

  “Then you know how to control your time jumps.” He smiled at me.

  “Great, that’s all well and dandy, but can you answer me just one question?” He nods. “Why do you keep changing your appearance?”

  “Don’t you know?”

  “Would I be asking if I did know?” I snapped.

  “If you think about it, it’ll come to you.” He said. “Only four items left to find. You’re doing good.”

  “Great. That leaves eight more time jumps.” I grumbled.

  “But now you know how to control them.” He called after me as I pushed through the south-facing door. After that last possible future scene, I’m good with it for now. I step through ready for a time jump to happen.

  Chapter 9

  “Naomi why don’t you go with Uncle Roy to get something from the cafeteria while you wait for me.” My dad told a younger me in the scene. As I look around, I recall when, where, and what this scene is. It’s one of the days I actually accompanied my dad and Uncle Roy to the hospital to get dad’s Chemo treatment for the first time around.

  I took Uncle Roy’s hand and went down to the cafeteria. “Is daddy going to be okay?” I ask as we sit down. “Everyone keeps saying he’s sick, and he keeps going to the doctors a lot.”

  “Your dad is strong and will be just fine sweetheart. There’s nothing for you to worry about except for being a good girl and helping your daddy like you have been.” Uncle Roy assures me. He takes a sip of coffee from his paper coffee cup.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes, they are giving him medicine to help him get better.” Uncle Roy replied with a smile.

  I finish my muffin with a sigh. “Can we bring daddy anything?”

  “We can, but I’m not sure he can have it right now.” Uncle Roy answered. I looked up at him blankly not understanding why dad wouldn’t be able to have anything at that point in time. Obviously, I know why now, but I watched the little version of me go back to the counter and select an apple and a cup of coffee for my dad. Uncle Roy pays the cashier and together we walk back up to see my dad.

  “Do you think he’ll be here long?” I asked as we climbed the stairs to the hospital.

  “No, maybe an hour more.” Uncle Roy assures me. “Did you bring your coloring things like your dad told you?”

  “Yup, they are in my backpack upstairs with daddy.” I smile.

  “Awesome. You should draw your dad a nice picture while we wait. You know how much we all love your drawings.” Uncle Roy encouraged. Uncle Roy thought I’d grow up to be an artist, boy was he surprised when I turned out to be a nurse.

  We got back up to the room where my dad was sitting, reclined in a chair with his eyes closed. I quietly grabbed my backpack and set myself up on the table with Uncle Roy. I began drawing and coloring. If I remember correctly, I gave the first picture to Uncle Roy, the second one to my dad, and the third one to a nurse who was helping my dad. I could sit here and watch my younger self coloring to my heart's content, but I have things I need to do. I have to get back to reality and out of my head somehow. So, off to the next time jump.

  When I reach the door, it’s facing to the North, and there is no other door around. Damn it, just my luck. With an annoyed groan, I push through the door and enter into the next time jump. Honestly, the only good thing about these time jumps is they seem to be smooth like just walking. The movies and television shows always show spinning, or falling out of the sky, I think I prefer these ones.

  I look around to notice I’m outside near a busy street as a horn sounds in the distance. I look around to see me sitting at a small table outside a café on the patio. I know where I am, it’s up the hill from the center of Amesbury. Though if I’m right, that means I’m behind the shop that doesn’t belong. I take a few steps over to the river walk that runs along here and see nothing but the usual brick archway. Great, does this mean I have to go searching for the store front?

  “Excuse me Miss, is this seat taken?” A handsome man with sandy blonde hair asks the me in this scene.

  “Not at all.” I reply without looking up. I’m engrossed in a book of some sort.

  The man takes a seat at the table with me and sips his coffee out of his paper coffee cup. “It’s a nice day today.” He comments. I sip from my own paper coffee cup but don’t reply. I take a look at the book the me in the scene is reading. It’s an anatomy book; either I’m studying or I’m working on a case of some sort in this scene. “I don’t mean to disturb you.” He muttered.

  I look up at him for the first time with a sigh. “I’m sorry, I’m just really busy here. You can sit there, I don’t mind, but I need to focus on what I’m reading.” I reply as nicely as possible.

  “What are you reading?” He pressed.

  “An anatomy book. I’m studying for my nurse practitioner license if you must know. Now please leave me in peace.” I respond going back to my studying. That sounds like me, always looking for the next thing to put me ahead.

  I watch as the me in the scene takes another sip of her coffee and it dawns on me. I’m here for a reason, I don’t have time to analyze a scene. I look at everything and recall that the only item in this scene that appears to have been repeated from the last scene is that paper coffee cup. I reach out and touch it, yup sure enough that’s the item. I grab it and head down to the river walk. There’s a piece of the Merrimac River that flows through Amesbury, Merrimac, Haverhill, Lawrence, and so on. This paved trail follows along the river throughout the town for a good portion of the way, which is why it’s called the river walk. I walk under the archway and stop just outside it.

  I look around trying to locate that shop that doesn’t belong. It’s usually right here, but now it’s not. I turn back around with a sigh of annoyance. So much for me getting out of this hell. Wait, how did that happen? The store front is there where the archway just was. No time to worry about that right now, I need to get in there.

  I wait a good ten minutes before someone comes out of the store. I sneak in and walk over to the counter. I place the paper coffee cup on the counter and wait. “Oh, thank goodness you brought me some coffee.” A lady with frizzy brown hair and big rimmed glasses states as she takes a sip. “That’s good stuff.” She smiles.

  “That was the item.” I huff.

  “I know, but still no sense in wasting a cup of good coffee.” She shrugged. “Only three more items to go.”

  “Thank God.” I grumble.

  “You’re welcome.” She smiled before taking another sip of coffee.

  I said nothing more. I walked to the North facing door with a sigh. I may as well step into the future and see what’s up. I only have three more items to find, which means I’m looking at only six more time jumps. This is moving along a lot faster than I thought it would.

  Chapter 10

  I hear the beeping of a monitor before the scene comes into focus. I look to see a pregnant woman lying on a bed undergoing a test. Who is she? When the door opens, I notice that I’m the doctor. My lab coat has my name and Nurse practitioner embroider on it. “All right Miss Parker, let’s have a look at the test results.” I commented turning off the monitor and unsticking the sensors from her stomach. I tear the results off as she wipes the residue off her stomach. She adjusted her shirt and followed me out of the exam room and int
o an office.

  If I want to know more about this scene, I have to follow through the doorways and hope I don’t time jump. Then again, I don’t time jump when I enter the shop after someone else opens the door so hopefully, the same thing happens here. I shake my head and take a step through the doorway of the open door, and nothing happened. I quickly stepped into the office door as this older version of me begins to close it. I make it in just in time and again, nothing happened. So, I only time jump when I open doors.

  “Well, your stress test results look good. I still recommend moderate bedrest for another two weeks, just to be on the safe side.” The older version of me was telling the patient Miss Parker. “We’ll do another test in two weeks and go from there. If anything comes up or you begin to feel like something is wrong, please don’t hesitate to call the office.”

  “Thank you, Naomi.” Miss Parker smiled and stood up. I stood up and shook her hand.

  Miss Parker opened the door and left the office. This version of me left the office, and the door open. I remained in the office taking mental notes of what is in here. A red oak desk, a computer monitor on the desk, various patient files, a few picture frames on the wall with my diploma and licenses in them, a book case with a few books. A couple of fake potted plants for a splash of color, but nothing besides the stress test pops out here.

  Satisfied that I saw everything, I meander out of the office and look around at the facility. I’m not in a hospital, and judging from these patient rooms this is more than likely a gynecologist's office. The likelihood of this happening is pretty slim but hey I guess it could happen since this is a glimpse of what could be my future. I make my way out to the waiting area and push the door open. I’m ready for a time jump since I didn’t see much here.

  I blink my eyes and notice I’m back in the patient room at the gynecologist's office. This is so strange. Why did I end up back here? Then as I look around, I notice, that this time I am the pregnant lady on the exam table. I did not see this coming at all. The exam room door opened, and a doctor came in with a smile. “Alright, Naomi the test is finished. I’ll just get you unhooked, and we can go over the results in the office.”

  “Great.” I smile as she turns the monitor off and unhooks the sensors. She hands me a wet wipe to clean off the sticky residue from the sensors off my stomach. I adjust my shirt and follow her out of the exam room with a waddle instead of a stride. I must be really pregnant in this scene. I quickly follow them into the office where in the other scene I was the doctor and this was my office.

  As I look around, I noticed that the office looked very different. Instead of a red oak desk, there’s a black metal desk, and the bookshelves have been replaced with tall file cabinets. There are no plants, and the picture frames hold various medical folders. The medical degrees are for this doctor and are sitting on the file cabinets. There are no patient files on the desk, except for mine as this version of me sits in a chair across the desk from the doctor. The only thing that is the same in this scene is the stress test. I reach out and grab it. When my fingers touch the paper, I carefully picked it up and looked at it. By the looks of this test my stress level is very high but looking at the test still in front of the doctor, my stress level is low.

  “Naomi, everything looks good. How have you been feeling?” The doctor asks.

  “Pretty good considering I can’t see my feet anymore, and sleeping has become a challenge due to this growing stomach.” I mutter. “The only joy of the sleeping I get is when I feel this little guy kick.”

  “That’s normal. Have you been using pillows like I’ve suggested?”

  “Yes, and they are helping, but getting them in the right position is a struggle. I move one and get comfortable, then another needs to be adjusted. Once I adjust the second pillow and lie back down the other pillow needs to be readjusted. It’s a never-ending cycle that goes on for almost an hour until I finally figure it out. Even with my husband’s help, it takes almost half an hour. I just can’t wait to have this little man and no longer be pregnant.”

  “That’s a common declaration around here.” The doctor smiled. “Only seven more weeks. I promise it’ll all be worth it in the end.”

  “Thank you.” I reply standing up.

  “You may still want to limit being on your feet more than an hour at a time to avoid another stress spike on the baby.” The doctor suggested. “You may be able to push it to an hour and a half, but no more than that. Make sure to call with any changes, questions, or concerns.”

  “I will. Have a good day.” I say and head out of the room.

  I follow this future version of myself out of the room, and out of the building. Ensuring I pass through the doors when the older version of me opens them to avoid another time jump. I’m so close to getting all ten things now, I’ll be pissed if I have to start all over again and keep reviewing my past memories and getting glimpses of what my future may be.

  Once I’m outside I look around and notice I’m at the old Amesbury Hospital. Maybe in the future, they turn it into a gynecologist's office. I shrug my shoulder at my thought and begin to walk towards the center of town. I take a right out of the parking lot and continue to the first intersection. When it’s clear, I keep moving straight until I’m at the intersection between the church and the library. I wait until there are no cars and cross the street where the bank used to be, then I cross the street so that I’m on the side where the library still stands. The fountain is finally back up and running and looking pretty again. I keep walking down the sloping road to the center of town. I cross the street one more time and walk a couple of feet further then stop in front of the store front that doesn’t belong.

  When someone enters, I sneak in behind them and approach the counter. It didn’t take long until a woman with rainbow-colored hair in braids comes to the counter. She’s got a white shirt on the has a peace symbol on the front and bracelets up her wrists onto her forearms. “Did you find it?” She asked excitedly.

  “Yes.” I said putting it on the counter between us. “Though this one says my stress level is very high, but the one in the scene was low. Why is that?”

  “You’re very stressed in this realm. Only you can get out of it and make your final decision.” The woman answered. “Only two more to go. Keep it up.”

  I walk away lost in thought. Of course, I’m stressed. How could anyone going through this stupid time jump thing not get stressed out by not knowing why they’re stuck here? I push through a door, not paying any attention to the direction it is facing. Honestly, I just want this to end.

  Chapter 11

  I stepped out through the doorway and looked around at the room I’m standing in. It looks so familiar to me. “Dad, I got it. You didn’t need to bring my stuff all the way up here.” I protested as I entered the room. Now I remember why this looks so familiar. I’m standing in my old dorm room at college. This must be my first day since the room is bare, and my dad is bringing in all my boxes and suitcases.

  “I know sweetheart, but I want to help you get settled.” My dad sighed as he set the boxes down.

  “Thank you.” I smile as I begin unpacking my boxes.

  I take a few clothes and begin hanging them up in the closet space on one side of the room. There are three beds in this room, and this is the memory of when I met my two best friends. Jody is the first to arrive with her mom and dad. She was so bubbly as always and insisted that we’d become best friends in no time. Anita arrived about an hour later with her mom in a hurry to drop her off and leave. Anita looked like a fashion queen or a diva at first glance, but she just liked clothes.

  When my dad and Jody’s parents finally left, us girls began to set our sides of the rooms up. The odd thing was is we had very similar tastes in everything we put on our walls, so it doesn’t look too chaotic. I hang a picture of a caduceus, the medical symbol on my wall along with a picture of an inspirational quote and a picture of my dad and me from this past summer camping trip. Anita hung up
a picture of her fashion icon, an inspirational quote, and a picture of her pet dog, Baby. Jody hung a picture of her and her parents, a picture of a cat hanging from a branch telling her to hang in there, and an abstract picture.

  As we unpacked our boxes, we turned on the radio and began to sing karaoke with different songs. It was the beginning of the best friendship I have ever known. These two girls have become more like sisters to me than just friends. I honestly don’t think I could have made it through the first four years of school without them. This is one of my happiest memories, that I will always remember vividly. With a smile on my face, I left this scene knowing exactly what will happen as the day and night progress for these newly introduced friends. I opened the door of the dorm and stepped out knowing it is time for a second time jump. Only three more time jumps left and then I’m finished and should be able to get back to reality.

  When I look around as the light begins to dim down and not be so blinding, I can make out being in a hospital. As the scene begins to settle, I recognize that I am in a laboratory. Or at least a room set up to be a blood bank laboratory. When I was in medical school, I volunteered at the red cross blood drive to get lab hours towards my graduation. I was at the top of the lab class with practicing how to insert a needle and an IV. Drawing blood was a bit simpler than an IV, but still gave me needle work practice.

  As I looked around, I spent time seeing how others were going and my patients. I need to figure out what this memory has in common with the memory of my first day at the dorm. I wondered around looking at the patients, the machines, the equipment, the chairs, the juice, and snack trays, but nothing is standing out to me. Then I begin to look at the pictures and posters on the wall. I see a picture of Martin Luther King, Jr and a quote from his “I Have a Dream” speech. There’s a picture of several multicultural babies with bunnies, and an enlarged periodic table, and an eye exam chart on the walls. Then one poster hanging on the back of the door catches my eye. It’s the caduceus medical symbol.