Charity, Always Charity!

Had everyone on earth witnessed my fall? I reckoned days later as I wandered around the village. I was flooded at every turn by a sea of onlookers absolutely awed by my presence. I feared the attention, especially because I knew Mr Fluff could've still been hanging above me somewhere, waiting to beat me up. A big fat bully, that's what he was. And I wasn't ready to confront him in the least, now knowing how big and strong he was. I couldn't defend myself, not entirely; I sucked at fights. Also, seeing how he'd knocked me off the staircase without a doubt, dialogue would never work with such a man. Mr Fluff, would be one to beat yet.

Still, I couldn't fathom of it. How did everyone in the village know who I was? Sure enough, my puzzlement was cured when I got back to the house. Missy had babbled to almost everyone how I could give away more time. Of course, she didn't know any different. Naive little girl... If she had even the slightest idea how I worked, she'd know that would've been impossible. Impossible... unless I became immortal.

Soon my thoughts fell back to what the old woman had said. That Mr Fluff was her son. She seemed like a sweet enough lady, so why had he turned out like that? I had so many questions and yet, she'd made a rule: she'd answer only one question for every chore I finished. So there I was, Time, scrubbing the hell out of the old wooden floors just for a chance to ask one measly question. Charity, it was always charity with these humans... Oh, how I missed the incomplexities of the realm.

As I was bent down on all fours, brush in one hand and a duster in the other, I moved, back and forth, back and forth until my hand, unsteady from the wet surface, slipped and hit a wooden shelf. A small frame came tumbling down and quickly I stretched out and caught it in my hand.

I heard a crack. My back ached. So as I got up slowly, I only prayed that it wouldn't snap in two.

Turning my attention to the frame in my hand, I peered closely at the painted portrait. It was a man with skin as pale as death, or so the painter had portrayed. His hair was an off-white, fluffy like a set of clouds atop his head. His expression was one of self-importance. High and mighty, big and strong... I believed I was looking at the portrait of the infamous Mr Fluff.

The old woman, who I'd come to call Nan after Missy, walked into the room.

"I see you've met Mr Fluff," she said.

"I see now where he gets the name..." I said.

She nodded with a smile.

"He reminds me of what I used to be."

What did she mean? I glanced down at the portrait again.

"We all fade eventually... mine just came sooner. I'm afraid, you will meet the same fate unless you leave this world," Nan continued.

Was she referring to growing old? Of course I knew I wouldn't live forever. It didn't matter where I was, earth, in the deity realm... Already in a few months, I forsaw that my weak back wouldn't sustain me and I'd be forced to walk on a cane. It was tragic; my life now was even more tragic than it was before.

..... .....

In Nan's youth, I did imagine her as a chipper and bright-eyed young woman. Her bent back, straight, her thin grey hair strands shiny and thick. Her eyes a tool of impeccable accuracy. It was no secret she had aged. So what had she meant by 'unless I leave' ?

"When I first came here years ago, my eyes were as sharp as a knife. My body... wasn't aged past the age of twenty. A year and a half later, my sight was fading rapidly and my body couldn't take as much as it used to. I fell sick and before I knew it, my sight was completely gone. I wanted to go back to the realm. I knew that if I returned, there might've been a chance that I could recover."

"So did you, did you go back?" I asked impatiently.

"I couldn't. Help for me came too late. I had to embark on a journey to find the gatekeepers of the universe. It would have taken me many months to do so, and I was weak. I wasn't even sure that it would work so I accepted the harsh reality that I could never go back.

"My son grew up in the realm without me. When he found me years later I was already old and feeble. My vitality as a force had withered and I was almost unrecognisable as a deity. He had to come to terms with the fact that I would be gone soon..."

Ah, a force of the universe, I thought. It sounded plausible. It could've explained many things. Like how her visionary senses had been heightened despite her impairment. But she had brought something else to my attention.

"Gatekeepers?"

"They're said to hold the key to getting off this world," she explained.

"Then why weren't you sure it would work?"

She sighed. "Because one of them was missing. And I knew I couldn't find it on my own. Not unless... I was you."

My eyes widened. Me?

"What do you mean?"

"The gatekeepers of the universe are variable deities like you; Space and Speed. Space is an immortal being who roams the earth, the sky. A widely encountered god and yet, highly elusive. Speed however, was going to prove somewhat of a challenge, I perceived. Beginning with the very obvious fact that he was nonexistent at the time. It was only a notion..."

"That?"

"In order to find Speed, I would need Time."

I froze on the mentioning of my name. I let out a faint dry cough as anxiety took hold of me. What was she saying? I had no idea and yet I felt deep down that I would not like what she was about to say next.

"Since the beginning of everything, our universe, there have been rules that we follow. We do not like some of those rules but still, we abide by them. That being said, you will not like what I have to say, then again, you have no choice..."

And there it was, the confirmation I feared. A dizzy spell was coming on, would I be able to take it?

"I am to be sacrificed, is that it?" I was only just coming out of my misery. What was this now? Hell!

"Far from it, fortunately." She cleared her throat. "Space and you... are to have a child. From this union, the materialisation of Speed will complete your quest and you will be able to go back to the realm. I hope you can see now how I would not have been able to return to the realm, not unless I knew you back then. However, you were but a child."

I was speechless. Completely mystified at her revelation. Where was I even going to start? I could see how one would be inclined to choose the latter; to give up. Because at that moment, I did feel like giving up.

I opened my mouth as if to say something but Nan interjected.

"... I think your questions are up for today," she said, readying to retire to her room.

"It's been more than enough," I said, "More than enough."

But I knew she could see through my disturbed expression. The inquiry was far from over. Very far from it.