Chapter 2: Left hand

After a while, I woke up and I found myself on my bed

I hurriedly went to check my phone which I left on charging to see what time it was.

"Thu, December 1st, 3:10 pm"

wait, it cannot be though.. Was I dreaming? if it was, that was one freaky dream.

I got up from the bed and started walking towards the kitchen to check if my mother is actually home.

Is this what déja vu feels like?

To my surprise, she actually was there!

I took a sigh of relief, Well I guess it was a dream after all.

I asked my mother who was wiping the kitchen counter clean "When did you come home?"

"I Returned 10 minutes ago, why what happened?"

"Nothing actually I was just asking"

why would I dream of something so outlandish..And why do I remember it completely. Most of my dreams I just instantly forget.

"Anyways, did you buy this fancy hat? i found it on the table" my mother asked.

oh hell no…

Is that the same hat that the wish granter was wearing!?

"No I do not know"

"Well your reaction says otherwise, now tell me the truth, did you buy it? because it looks very expensive"

"Y- Yeah I did buy it"

my mother, confused, asked, "why do you even make all these unnecessary purchases even though you don't have a job now!"

Thanks for the reminder

"Also I had to drag your obese body to your room. Do you know how hard that is? I'm getting old, you know?"

"I'm so sorry, I'll return it to the store tomorrow."

my mother gives a smirk "You know what, I'm gonna wear it someday. Will you give it to me?"

"No I cannot do that, it's mine."

I grabbed the Black Top Hat and put it on my head then rushed towards my room.

my mother sighs in disappointment, "Seriously, why is my son so weird."

I entered my room and turned on the lights, and I approached the mirror and admired myself with the Top Hat on.

"Oh look I'm British now, I love Tea and Fish & Chips I'll now go colonize some countries now."

i laughed heavily while curling my non-existing moustache making fun of the "wish granter's" attire and a certain demographic

After that my phone started ringing.

It was the same unknown number from before, this time I didn't reject the call and answered it.

"Hello, who is this?"

"Heya! it's me"

"Who?"

"What do you mean who?? Did you forget about me already? I guess it can't be helped. I'm the one you spoke to in your dream"

"which, let me clarify, wasn't a dream. it all happened"

Oh, I see how it is she wants her hat back I guess.

"if it's about your Top Hat, young lady. come and get it yourself" i replied with a mocking tone just like she does.

"Wait, did I? Ohh! so that's what I felt like was missing. Don't worry I'll come back and get it when you're asleep"

what do you mean when I'm asleep, are you a stalker??

"Alright, I'm getting sidetracked. I called you before as well but you didn't answer so I had to come to your house. I had no reason to come and meet you, Anyways~ Regarding your Time manipulation I perhaps you already got hang of it by now?"

Oh no, I cannot tell her I was wasting my time playing with her hat making fun of British people..

"No, I still don't even know how to use it"

"Oh wow, how useless of a human being can someone be" she muttered

I can hear that you know.

"Just tell me how to use my powers already!"

"Why are you so worked up? just calm down already"

what do you mean I'm the one who is worked up, when you were the one rushing me before?

"To activate your powers you must first snap your fingers with your left hand twice, This will pause the time."

"I gave your powers in such way it makes it easier for you to understand"

"Why left hand? I cannot snap with it I'm right handed"

"I'm ending the call," she snapped.

"Wait- Wait a minute, Hold on a second i was joking ehehe.."

I basically begged her to not end the call.

"i didn't find your shit humor funny… if you request this much I guess I have to~"

her mood changed, wait a second.. was she joking?

"Anyways after that you have to move your hand in a clock motion, like a circle. To Rewind time you have to rotate it anticlockwise. And to fast forward time, aka travel to the future, move in clockwise! "

"it's not that complicated you will get the hang of it~ I made sure of it" she said nicely almost as if she was passionate about her work.

"Anyways I'm gonna end the call, go to the past around 20 minutes or so and say you left your stove on" she said with a hint of nervousness, so clumsy..

"Lemme guess you burnt your food?"

"I'm ending the call!"

She actually ended the call.. Well anyways i'm gonna try this i guess.

wait why couldn't she herself rewind time?

I stood up and snapped my fingers twice and everything around me froze. I checked the clock to confirm and I was right, the second needle of the clock isn't moving.

I straightened my hands and spun it anticlockwise slowly while looking at the wall clock. It was 2:00 pm, I went too far behind.

I straightened my hands and spun it once again, this time clockwise instead. Alright I fixed it, it's 3:15 pm it's time to call her i guess..

Wait, how do I resume time.. she didn't tell me!

I picked up my phone and checked my recent dialled history. Wait, she didn't even call me 20 minutes ago. How am I supposed to call her?

I got very worried, I tried everything, I spun my hands in every rotation but it didn't work.

I was stuck.

I even did every hand gesture I could think of but it didn't work, but then it clicked me.

What if I snapped my fingers once again, Would that work?

I did that and I looked at the wall clock and it started ticking once again.

What a relief.

I waited for 5 minutes and then i got her call once again

"Heya! it's me" she said the exact same thing she did a few minutes ago.

This time travel thing is very weird…

"Hello? Anyone there?" she replied

"This time travel thing is very weird, I'm starting to get scared of myself now" i replied to her

she giggles "of course as you should be! your life just turned upside down. Discovering something that now you just cannot ignore, now with great power comes great responsibilities"

Is that an Uncle Ben quote?

"Can I ask you something? Why me? Wh- Why exactly me did you pick to give this power"

"I will tell you when time comes. for now focus on your training to control your powers better. so you don't end up in situations like that again"

What did she mean by that, did she know I trapped myself?

"Anyways I said too much in gonna end the call,

See ya!" she ends the call abruptly

if i had 100₹ for every time she was being annoying I'd be poor by now.

it's not because she's not annoying, it's because I'd spend it all…

A week Later-

It's been a week since that weird lady gave me powers,

I have not been practising my powers that much. Instead I got busy with my new job at the bookstore and I have been working hard ever since.

well that was just an excuse, the real reason being I'm too scared to even use my powers too much because I'm scared.

a customer approaches

"Where can I find the Dune Novels?"

"Great choice sir, Sci-Fi books are kept at Shelf Number 7"

I reply to them.

Man, I'm tired

I look at the clock and it's 5:00 pm "Ah my shift is over, time to head home"

I leave the bookstore and started heading to the market to buy some groceries for my mother, since now I have money.

It's not like I don't use my powers at all! I do use it now and then to cross roads or go early to work.

I reached my home and put down the grocery bags on the dining table and went upstairs to my room and snapped my fingers to pause the time once again and fell asleep on my bed like a fallen tree log in a forest.

I have been sleeping better lately due to the excess amount of time I get now.

0 Minutes passed in the real world, for me I slept for god knows how long. I opened my eyes, lifting myself from the bed exhausted, I snapped my fingers once again to unpause the time.

It seems like everytime I use my powers I keep getting weaker. If that's the case I have to use it wisely at crucial times— or maybe I should actually train..for once.

-End of Chapter 2-