When you have a stranger standing in front of you, claiming that he came from the future, most people will just turn around and leave. But most people were not there that August day, and most people didn't witness what I saw happening in front of my very eyes.
I was intrigued. I have just met a Spanish man who was only going to be born in ninety seven years from then, and who was heading back to a post World War Two America, to tell his lover that he had found a way.
"A way to what?", I asked as curiosity got the better of me.
"A way to be together," Dante answered in his Spanish accent, "but now, now I am stuck. No way to project forward and no way back."
There was a million questions running through my mind at the time. I wanted to know how all this worked, what's going to happen in the future, what is life like in 3039, and what is up with the glowing clothing he was wearing, but I selected to go with a less selfish line of questioning. At least for a while anyway.
"What is her name, and how did you guys meet?", I asked, blurting out two questions simultaneously.
Dante turned towards me and let out a little laugh. "You have not even told me your name yet."
"I'm sorry," I said feeling slightly embarrassed for my rudeness, "everything happened so fast I never realized that I never introduced myself." I held out my hand towards him. "My name is Chris."
Dante shook my hand and said, "Her name is Elaine. Elaine McHugh*."
At that moment two hikers passed on the trail behind us.
"Morning guys!", a man in a bright orange sweater shouted in an American accent, "Any of you know how far it is to the end of this trail?“
"It's just over one and a half kilo- Uh... a about a mile!", I shouted back, rectifying my metric system mistake, and feeling relieved that someone else acknowledged the existence of the man standing next to me.
We sat back down on the bench before Dante took a deep breath and then continued.
"I was in love with her from the first time I saw her," he said.
"So, is she from Madrid? A Time Traveler like you?“, I asked.
Dante smiled again, "No. No, Elaine is from, uh New York you see."
"I see, so you guys are doing the long distance thing then. That's always a tricky one," I replied. "How did you meet?"
He let out a big sigh, lifted his eyes and started out towards the horizon.
"The very first time I put eyes on Elaine, was only moments after she jad jumped to her death... "
Next Post - Taking Advantage of Time Traveling
*Elaine McHugh's name has been changed in this story on Dante's request
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