2 The Message (Part 1/2)

"Stan!! Stanley! Wake up!" Stanley woke up squinting his eyes.

He opened his eyes and saw Anna sitting near him with books on her side.

"Anna?" Stanley asked.

"Wake up! Mr. Fiddle will--" Anna cut off what she was saying as a chalk flew hitting Stanley on his head.

Stanley stood up straight and widened his eyes. Mr. Fiddle's face is what he then saw, with his forehead rolls visible and eyes that seemed to stare at an abyss.

"And that's why you shouldn't be sleeping in my class, Mr. Wood." Mr. Fiddle said pointing at him.

He was in a state of shock not because of what Mr. Fiddle did to him, it's because of the moment he was in. The moment where he was sleeping in Mr. Fiddle's class after working a night-shift schedule in a fastfood restaurant. He realized that the time capsule worked by the time he saw everyone in the room.

"Ye-yes Mr. Fiddle." Stanley unaudibly said.

"Did you came by to the future?" Mr. Fiddle insulted him.

"Ah yes.. ah- no sir.. Definitely here in the present.." Stanley said. It sounded he was panicking.

He remembered what Ms. Johannson said to him that no one in the past should know that he's from the future.

"Yup.. totally absent.." Mr. Fiddle jokingly said to him and everyone started laughing.

His face says it all. It didn't came this way, if he remembered in the past, he wasn't being laughed about it but rather just a neutral tone from his classmates.

"You ruined yourself, Stanley." He said to himself.

He still didn't believed it would work. He scanned himself by looking at his hands to touching his face.

"Do I look young?" He asked his seatmate Carl.

"Yeah dude, you're 24.. why?" Carl was weirded out by his actions.

"Oh..oh... Yeah.." Stanley replied.

"I think you need to stop working for while dude. You came weird today." Carl began to worry about Stanley's condition as in this time, he was constantly working on shifts.

Stanley stopped touching his face and remembered how he wasn't suppose to be transported in his twenty four year old body.

"There's must've something wrong on the configurations we tested." He said.

He looked stressed out on the result of him travelling back to the past. Anna looked concerned and checked on him.

"It seems that you're not been getting enough sleep these past few days." Anna said to him.

Stanley was caught off-guard on what she said. He kept thinking on what happened days before this day happened. He recalled that he was busy on his very own project and kept working on his free time. He never got an eight hour rest for days.

"I think I can still keep up." Stanley said to Anna.

"Are you sure? You have take care of yourself not just study and work without having a rest." Anna has always been this kind since he met her.

This moment he knew why he love Anna. Anna has always been caring and soft spoken to others. Her empathy to others is one reason he fell in love with her.

Now he's back from where it started. Back to the moment that he talked with Anna for the first time.

"Thank you." Stanley told to Anna out of nowhere.

He opened his notebook and started scanning it. He remembered that he wrote something important in it. He began to flip every pages and didn't saw any formula written down. His head hurts from trying to remember anything. He was not feeling well, as dizziness could be one of the common effects of time travelling but in his case he didn't know how his 40 year old self was placed on his 24 year old vessel. He, together with his team, didn't expect this kind of phenomenon to occur.

He felt nauseatic. He felt the world was spinning around that he could see the spectrum of light. The bell rang and Stanley thanked the heavens for it and gone out first. As much as he wanted to talk to Anna, he felt really ill in the time being. On his mind right now is to get some rest and find out the reason why his past became a vessel for his future.

He was walking on the best state that he could possibly do but his body gave up in the middle of the hallway and he fell. His eyes began to feel heavy until darkness can only be seen.

*****

"I think it's fatigue and he will be alright soon." Stanley heard a woman voice telling someone.

"He was working every night and maybe his body needed rest." A student said while looking at him.

A blurry vision of light is what Stanley saw, realizing that it was a fluorescent light at the ceiling. His heavy eyes wandered around and it seemed to him that he was brought school's infirmary. He slowly open his eyes and saw the nurse injected him something.

"Uhh.." He grunted as he felt something run through his vein.

"Calm down, It's gonna be alright." The school nurse said.

"Yeah, for a 40 year old man, great." He thought to himself.

"I passed out?" Stanley asked. His voice felt heavy just like his eyes.

"You passed out right after when we got out from the room. I told you. You shouldn't have worked in behalf of me last night." He saw Anna sitting on the couch waiting for him.

The school nurse looked at Anna. Anna nod to her. The nurse went out the room saying she have errands to do.

He remembered that he worked for Anna's shift as she was sick that night. He covered her shift all night long. That was the first time he had done for Anna. He was having a crush on her since the semester started. He remembered the first time she saw her at the street talking to a homeless person. He saw how kind she is, his heart beated for her since then.

"Don't blame yourself, Anna." He said and was about to reach for her hand but Anna stood up from her sit.

"Why wouldn't I blame myself. It was my fault. All of this was my fault." Emotions ran to Anna's face.

She cried all of the sudden. Stanley began to worry as he didn't remember that Anna cried on this day. He realized that something was wrong and something must've change.

He kneeled in front of Anna in both knees. He hold Anna's arm and from there he saw how tears fall from her face. He began worrying on what Anna's tears were about, he doesn't have a clue about the thing that changed.

"Anna, it's not your fault." He said. He was still confused but he told to himself that he will figure out it soon.

Stanley stood up and cupped Anna's face with his hands, lifting her face up to meet her eyes. He wiped her tears with her hands. The look on her eyes tells something but he couldn't figure it out.

"I'm fine now. Knowing you're here for me after--.." He remembered that he wasn't suppose to tell her about what happened between them.

"After all I'm still alive. I'll be here." He said to her and smiled. He need to buy some time before telling what his 24 year old feel for Anna.

Anna held Stanley's hand and get them off from cupping her face. She moved away a little from him and looked down.

"I'm sorry." That's all she said to him.

She walked out the infirmary while wiping her tears. There's something that she hasn't been telling to everyone. Stanley thought he knew her from what she wants to wear, her favorite colors, and to how she lived her life but it seems that he doesn't. He just stood there and did nothing. He didn't tried to stop her as he was worried that he already altered the past.

Isn't that what he wanted? To be with her and changed what he had done wrong, not committing his love for her?

He looked at the window and saw how the sun shine bright despite what he has been feeling.

"What should I do?" He told to himself.

He walked in circles thinking on what his 24 year old self do. He back track on what are the things that changed on this day and a lot has changed compared to what he remembered. He breathe out the pressure he had been feeling. He stopped walking and decided to sit down on the bed. He put his hand on his forehead and noticed the watch blinking.

"The watch." He said.

He clicked the watch and came off to his wrist. A holograph of Russel suddenly appeared and blue light emanated from the room. He then hurriedly closed the door and shut the blinds of the windows for people not to see the holograph.

"Mr. Wood! I'm glad you were able to open this message." Russel said.

"Russel! What happened?" Stanley asked.

"There's something wrong that we didn't took consideration." Russel stated.

His face was tainted by fear as well as his tone.

"What is it?! I know we followed and made sure of every procedure--" Stanley was cut off by Russel.

"The timeline of the past are compressing." Russel stated.