No Going Back

Photo credit here.

The theme for the Writer’s Workshop was “Late.” This was the prompt which created what follows:

 

“You get a pair of glasses in the mail that lets you see the flow of time all around you.  When you look, you can see things that are ahead of time or behind time or things that are running smoothly.  It’s not quite what you expected though.  What do you see?”

 

At first there were drops, landing mid-air on nothing visible – then streaking horizontally as if a ground was rising up to meet them.

 

One landed with a PLOP several feet behind me and the “streak” became torrential, barreling toward me. I panicked, feeling my breath quicken with a strong sense to turn and run. But other drops had me solidly in a circle – their surface tension keeping me from movement.

 

I turned back and a wave was forming, threatening to both take me out at my knees and engulf me in oxygen-deprived movement, so I turned my back and waited. . .

 

But I was floating, unbeknownst to me, all of these drops had me buoyant – moving, but still – always in an in-between of torrent behind and trickle before.

 

The torrents had movement, pushing me in one direction or another. Then I realized they were pushing certain previously unseen barriers down – helping me see different places in my future – creating glimpses of what might be.

 

If I chose to step towards one apparition or another, the torrent came along, eliminating from view any other option previously revealed.

 

My presence shifted the topography – all else going flat with each movement. Shifting my gaze behind, the drops became a wall – no going back.

 

Writer’s Workshop, March 16, 2025