Obsession

The menu is the same as always. I probably could recite it from memory, but still I take it when it's handed to me. I pretend to look it over and eventually order the same thing I always order, apple pie a la mode and a coffee. The waitress writes down my order and smiles at me as she walks away. She has no clue who I am and doesn't know that this is the twenty-eighth time that I have been here, or that I have ordered the same thing every time. To her it's just an ordinary Sunday afternoon and I'm just another stranger passing through town. She has no idea what's about to happen, but I do.

In exactly five minutes the door is going to open and a strange man is going to enter proclaiming that now is the time to repent and all sinners and non-believers shall live out their final days in torment if they do not change they're wicked ways. She's going to laugh and shoo him out of the diner saying she's a God-fearing Christian in no need of repentance and he's going to leave with a look of anger on his face. People will stare and murmur to one another about all of the crazies that have begun to inhabit their town and she'll assure them they have nothing to worry about. Averton is nothing but safe, always has been and always will be.

In two minutes, she'll bring me my pie and coffee. I will tell her thank you and she'll smile and ask me where I am headed. My answer is always the same.

"Far away from here, ma'am. Would you like to come with me?"

She'll blush and tell me no and it will be the twenty-eighth time she'll have turned me down. She'll walk away and turn to look at me for a brief moment and give me a shy smile. Every day it's the same and every day I can do nothing to change it. So, I'll eat my pie, drink my coffee, and watch as she interacts with the strange religious man.

Exactly five minutes after he leaves, I'll finish my pie and coffee, place twenty dollars on the table, and get up to leave. She'll smile and will tell me to have a nice day and I will smile and tell her the same. As I leave the diner, I will watch her as she clears my table and sees the large tip I have left her. She'll gasp and turn in my direction and I will wink and wave goodbye.

One minute after I exit the diner, I will run into the strange man and will apologize for my clumsiness. He will ignore me and continue on his journey back into the diner. There will be shouting and screaming as he enters because the people will have noticed the bomb strapped to his chest. The waitress will stop and take out the twenty dollars from her pocket.

I like to imagine that right at that moment she thought about the proposal I had given her, to leave with me. However, I'll never know though because at that moment, every time, the bomb goes off and she is lost to me forever. Twenty eight times I have traveled back in time to that diner and twenty eight times, I have watched her die. Time travelers can't change the past, but this is my obsession now, so I return home and prepare for number twenty-nine.

THE END

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