Chapter 5

It's weird to explain the exact feeling of knowing when and where things are going to happen, a sort of form of hyper deja vu. Where other's smiles laughs, faces, and actions were all the same, it also made you extremely aware of your impact on others' lives, bump into a few people here, hold a door for others, hide the pencils of others and you see how they react in the grand scheme of things. Either by talking to others, or it prompts them to talk to you. putting thoughts in people's heads and seeing what words really do matter to others. Makes you realize how much of an impact you have. 

Anyway, it took a couple of days for me to even get past the first day though. At first, it felt like every time I tried to relax and fall asleep, I ended up getting swept back to Monday—like I had no control. Every time I closed my eyes, and relaxed, I'd find myself back on that same bus, in that same hallway, seeing the same faces, hearing the same words. It was like my brain had gotten used to automatically resetting itself when I slept. I wasn't consciously trying to travel; it just happened.

So, I started training myself to hold back during sleep. Like a mental form of potty training, I had to stop myself from falling into the past every time I drifted off. It took some practice, and some patience.

Eventually, it worked. No more accidents.

So over the course of a couple of weeks, I began to experiment with my powers, testing their boundaries, and trying to understand the strange and unsettling rules that governed them. At first, I thought I was simply being dragged along by the currents of time, tossed between familiar moments like a helpless passenger. But then I realized something: I had a tether.

My ability wasn't about rewinding or leaping forward at will. It was tied to something far more intimate—my memories.

When I focused on a memory, truly focused—not just recalling it in a vague, nostalgic way, but immersing myself in every detail, every scent, every sound—I could feel something shift inside me. The world around me would flicker, like an old film reel skipping frames, and suddenly, I would find myself there. Not just reliving the memory in my head, but standing in it, surrounded by the moment as if it were happening all over again.

Of course, this also meant I could travel to the "future," though that word didn't feel quite right. I wasn't skipping ahead to random points in time. I was only able to move to moments I had already lived, moments my mind had already absorbed and stored away. If I hadn't experienced a moment, it was unreachable—an impenetrable void. I couldn't just jump to a random date in the future like some time traveler from a sci-fi movie. My power was limited to the boundaries of my own perception.

The stronger the memory, the easier it was to return to. The more I focused on the details of a moment—the way light filtered through a window, the way my breath curled in the cold, the exact inflection of someone's voice—the more solid that moment became in time, like a well-worn path I could easily step back onto. But if a memory was hazy, half-forgotten, or buried under layers of disinterest, traveling to it felt like trying to grasp smoke. I also couldn't travel to any time previous to when I gained this ability. 

The answer to this? Journalling! Writing details down so I can go back into the past to areas that are convenient although, with me traveling back and forth through time, how would saving the journal entries work? Anyway for now let's focus on the obvious concern, what do I do with this power? Do I tell anyone? Mmm no I'd probably end up in a lab table being dissected. 

Well, actually, that's a common trope. I could just as easily end up a celebrity, a deity, or a prized government asset, recruited by every intelligence agency in the world to predict future events—groundbreaking news, stock market shifts, political upheavals. And that's just scratching the surface. With my abilities, I wouldn't just be valuable—I'd be indispensable.

Liam sat down, his mind racing. The sheer weight of possibilities pressed against his thoughts, each scenario unraveling like a never-ending domino effect. This power… it wasn't just convenient. It was limitless.

The lottery? Easy. Girls? No problem. I could ace every test, win every game, see every outcome before it happened…

A slow grin crept across his face. The realization hit like a tidal wave. The absolute certainty that, from this moment forward, his life had no restrictions, no obstacles—only opportunities waiting to be taken.

Excitement swelled inside him, a feeling so intoxicating that he couldn't hold it in. He let out a laugh—first a chuckle, then a deep, uncontrollable burst of laughter. He threw his head back, overwhelmed by euphoria, his breath hitching between his amusement. It was like the combined rush of every victory he had ever experienced, all hitting at once.

Like acing a test no one else could pass. Like scoring the winning goal as the buzzer blared.Like asking out the prettiest girl in school and hearing her say yes.

But it was all of that—at the same time.

His body buzzed with anticipation, his mind spiraling through infinite outcomes. He could do whatever he wanted. No limits. No consequences.

Liam sat there, breathless, staring up at the ceiling, his mind lost in the endless possibilities stretching before him.

And for the first time, he understood—he wasn't just anyone anymore.

He was something else entirely.

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