Sunlight

It was in the middle of the day in April 2019. The street was busy.

Cars moving in perpetual motion back and forth across the street.

The rain was misty today, the road was slippery and plenty wet.

The clouds overhead were a dark, blue grey that sat on the sky like a wet, soggy blanket.

The sound was a backdrop of heavy rain hitting the roof and cars running by, the humdrum of the city.

Everything was covered in a grey haze as the rain evaporated into the air and came down from the clouds.

The duo standing on the street corner matched the mood of the melancholy, foggy day.

Her tears were hidden by the rain, with both falling on her face who could tell the difference?

The man had a grim look on his face, eyebrows drawn and mouth closed to a thin line.

Facing each other the couple stared into the opposites eyes.

"So this is it, this is what you leave me with."

"I can explain-"

"I think you've done enough of that, this day is already to much to bear, don't make it more so."

The exchange left the woman breathless. The man stared back at her with his brow creased.

Suddenly the rain began to intensify and the two noticed their surroundings.

With no umbrella nor raincoat they quickly began to look for shelter.

The rain from before that barely managed to dampen their clothes began to soak them, it started to come down in sheets as the wind picked up.

The two finally found a small antique store on their right when the rain began to transform into hail.

The two ran into the store as fast as they could with red eyes, the grey haze that filled their vision dissipated as they heard the heavy sounds of hail hitting the walls and roof of the small shop.

The two put down the bags they were carrying and came to the back of the store, with apprehensive looks they approached what seemed to be the only staff in the store.

The man was grizzled, with a scar running down the side of his face and cutting through his beard.

He looked like a soldier.

Sitting at the counter his lazy posture caught the couple's attention, he slouched and held his head with one hand, they approached as the man noticed them.

"Welcome to Timey Antiques, how may I help you?"

His posture straightened with the words as his eyes stared back at the couple with a questioning stare.

"Ah, yes we were just looking for shelter from the rain. Sorry to bother you but do you have any towels we could dry ourselves with?"

"Of course! Let me go get a few, you two stay here"

The man rushed to the back of the store as the two began to look around.

The store had no windows and the door was made of wood, a peculiar design choice as window shopping was a good way to bring in customers.

Odd trinkets filled the shelves, with clock faces and tiny doll eyes staring back at them.

The store became quiet as the couple heard the hail and rain come to a stop.

Soon the sound of the clocks were heard as the two began to listen *tick* *tok*.

It was only a few seconds later that the man was heard once again walking over to them with towels in hand.

"Here, some towels for y'all, I hope you didn't wait too long."

"Thank you, sir?"

"Ah, the names James"

"Thank you James, we're very grateful for your kindness"

The man smiled with a silly grin on his face with that compliment, and the shop seemed to brighten.

"Ah, well t'was not a problem, I'm grateful that that I could give a hand to yee"

The woman entertained the thought of asking the man why he had that scar on his face but she soon gave up, It must be a bad memory and to ask would ruin the cheery mood.

So the two began to dry themselves as the man began to walk around the store and adjust some of the antiques on the shelf.

Finished with drying themselves off the two began to look around the store once more.

The store looked odd, they did not know what was off or why but the thought soon came to their minds.

The man came over and asked if they would like to buy the clock in his hand

"It's a special edition I fixed up meself, it was poor lookin when I found her."

"Uh, sure the least we could do is buy something"

The trio then headed to the counter as the man rung them up for the clock.

"Alright that'll be 20 cents"

"What?"

The price stunned the two, the clock looked to be ancient with the mechanism inside squealing as the arms slowly rotated clockwise on their axis.

"It can't be THAT cheap, we'll give you a dollar"

The two silently nodded to each other and the man pulled out his wallet, he grabbed a five and handed it to the man.

"Keep the change and thank you"

The grizzled man looked at the two and shook his head,

"I cannot keep this, the clock is not worth that price "

"But your kindness is, keep it."

The bill was shoved into the mans hand as he denied the bill, with no other choice the man thanked the two and wrote down something.

The two thought it odd that no computers were to be found on the counter but soon dismissed the errant thought as the store sold antiques.

"Thank you for your purchase, I hope you both have a nice day"

The man thanked them once again as the two headed for the exit.

A quiet exchange was passed between man and woman as they knew they had done the right thing.

As the two opened the door to the outside they soon realized that the rain had stopped and the sun was shining on the city.

The clouds from earlier had evaporated and the water was gone.

How long were they in there?

Looking at their phones they noticed that the time was early morning and the day....

April 2018.

What?