Running out of Time 11

Chapter Three

Space to Grow

I had realized that I had all of the time in the world to go on my date with Ketchup. I mean, I was wearing cursed, and/or magical shoes, so there wasn’t really a way that I could be late to the date. As I was walking to my date, I contemplated how I had easily accepted that I could travel through time with shoes.

            Okay, but seriously, none of that stuff happened. I just went inside and convinced Jones to sell me the shoes for double the price. Rather than pay for one shoe and get one free. They weren’t magic at all. It is just eloquent storytelling. I probably had you going, but I was only inconvenienced for a minute or two.

            I arrived to the restaurant ready to eat. Haggling had really burned a hunger into my stomach. The only thing that I remembered was that she had hazel eyes, and that she would be wearing a red sweater. A quick scan, and I thought I saw Ketchup sitting in a nearby booth. As I approached, I noticed that who I thought was Ketchup was actually Anthony.

            “Did you already forget about me?” He gestured to the open seat across from him.

            “You aren’t real. I just imagined you,” I said to him.

            Anthony took a sip from his drink and laughed. “It isn’t that simple. Time has you trapped in a pocket reality for its amusement. Time cares a great deal about getting a good laugh, then it does about the battle with space.”

            I was starting to realize that everyone inside the restaurant was only pretending to be eating. They would bring their forks to their face without food, lightly touch their faces, and then repeat. They were acting suspiciously like robots.

            “How have I never noticed?” I asked.

            Anthony leaned over to grab a shard of glass from the floor. “Do you remember the table disappearing. My glass fell from where it was. Do you remember that at all?”

            “No. What are you talking about?”

            Anthony swiped his foot over the broken glass. I formed back into a cup and levitated back onto the table. The table flickered off again and the glass fell once more to the floor. “You forget things that are unnatural. They are basically edited from your mind to keep it pure. You act as if you have just seen stuff for the first time. You only retain very basic things. For instance, you know who I am, but do you remember where we met?”

            I attempted to figure it out, but I honestly had no idea where I had met him. “What are you then?” I asked. Reality shifted dramatically and everyone was standing including us. It shifted again, and Anthony and I were on opposite sides of the table, sitting now.

            “I’m from the distant future. Outside of the bubble. Be careful because Warren is here too.” Everyone blinked and they were standing around us, they were still shoveling nothingness into their mouths. “I should go.” Anthony took off running and vanished through a wall. I was left standing with my mouth agape. Then, reality shifted again and the mindless robots were eating again.

            It is so easy to fool you. I actually walked up to the booth, and Ketchup was munching on a piece of bread. She had python sized arms that showed through her tight long sleeved shirt. I actually wondered how she could hold bread so delicately. It was like watching the Hulk hold a bunny.

            “Are you…” Oh no, I had forgotten that I didn’t know her actual name. I’d have to play it off very smoothly. “…here for a date?” Nailed it!