((Based on this prompt and “Two Friends” by David Ignatow))
Two old friends sit next to each other, leaning on the trunk of a strong, ancient tree. The air is tranquil and quiet as the sun sinks down behind the distant mountains, exhausted by its daily journey.
One of the two breaks the silence, staring off at the horizon. “I have something to tell you.”
Beside her, the other replies after a pause. “I’m listening.” She knows that this isn’t going to be like their usual jokes and philosophy.
“I’m dying,” whispers the first.
She closes her eyes. “I’m sorry to hear.”
“I’m growing old,” the other explains, though her friend already knows.
“It’s terrible!” She proclaims to the sky. She knows this feeling all too well. Too many of those she cares about have been lost to the clutches of time.
“It is. I thought you should know.” She knows it will hurt, but she can’t just disappear without saying anything.
She looks down. “Of course, and I’m sorry.” A pause, and she glances up at her friend. “Keep in touch, until then.” How long it will take will be different for both.
“I will. And let me know what’s new.”
“Certainly, though it can’t be much.” After all, what is truly new when you’ve lived as long as she?
Silence envelopes them once again as they dwell on what it all means. Their thoughts stray down different paths.
Time has always been such a fragile thing. It’s surprising that the two of them didn’t end up destroying it altogether - she who flits through time and she who has all of the time in the world. Perhaps it was fate that they met. Perhaps time protected itself with their meeting. If the traveller has an anchor who can tell her what has happened, then perhaps she will not change time with her actions. Time always has been stuck in its ways. Like a house of cards, a simple breath can cause everything to come tumbling down.
Is there really such a thing as a past or a present or a future when you can be whenever you want? She doesn’t know the answer. Perhaps she will someday - but her time is running out. For now, she has to think there is. It’s the only way to stay sane. Even after a lifetime of running through time, she can’t understand.
She thinks about the past.
When they first met, the grand tree behind them was nothing but a seedling. When they first met, they were just children.
Perhaps it was fate yet again that they were born so close, or maybe just something about the area, but neither knew what they could do when they were brought together. She went on a long adventure when she first found out. Then another. And another. To the future, to the past… She never stayed too long. After a while, she noticed a pattern. Her friend was always there, no matter how far forward she went. The discovery changed everything.
The other thinks about the future. What will it be like, without the only one who’s been with her since the beginning? Many others had come and gone, but this just wasn’t the same. It almost felt like there couldn’t be a future without her. What would she do?
She looks up in surprise. “What?”
“I left a surprise for you. Many surprises, actually. So don’t do anything rash, okay? Go slow. Stay well. I’ll always be there, even when I’m long gone. Even at the end of the world. Alright?”
She smiles sadly. “You already know what will happen, don’t you?”
The time traveller laughs. “For me, it’s in the past. A lot farther than you’d think, actually. It’s one hell of an adventure, I’ll tell you that much. But the rest is spoilers!”
The immortal scoffs. “You always say that.”
She relents. “I will too. Though you’ll hardly know I’m gone. I made sure of that.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll be fine. And you will, too. You’ll see.”
Not long after the time traveller leaves, something happens - a girl appears next to the tree. She looks so familiar…
The immortal sniffs and laughs under her breath. “You really weren’t kidding when you said it was far back, you jerk.”
Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad, after all.
