THE MOMENT
"Oh yeah, this was a nice day...," Dante sighed as he recognized the organized clusters of park-goers. The sky was the same wispy purple as most of his other park memories; but, the families, friends, and solo joggers were easy to recognize by now. Dante could rewind or fast forward time from any point and the 'save files' he came up with became somewhat standardized. He liked to mentally recap his day at the end and the park was as nice a spot as any, so it became habit to create a save point. It wasn't until later that he realized it was kind of a mistake to save so many similar points without knowing how to label them, or if it was even possible.
He enjoyed watching the familiar strangers for a moment. Then he let his mind wander to load the next one he wanted to check. Dante didn't know how his power worked exactly; but, it was enough to imagine a concept of what he wanted to do. He came up with the 'save file' method accidentally one time when changing the memory stick on his camera. He wondered what it would be like if time worked like that, and he even imagined taking a 'snapshot' of time and saving it with the press of a button. Sometime later that day the thought returned and he imagined loading the memory.
By now, several years later, the process was more involved as he imagined himself digging through a bag full of memory cards. He idly watched the park until he had another memory ready. Then, a green door appeared the moment he loaded the new timeline.
"That's new...," Dante sat up on the bench; but, he didn't stand. The timing was so perfect he couldn't tell if the door appeared in the new timeline, or if it came from the one he just left. He knew it was the first time he'd seen it, so it wasn't part of any of his other memories. It was a green, frameless door with an 'Earth' on it standing next to a fountain. "Okay, let's check...," he quickly loaded another memory to see what would happen. While he did, he saw two girls that were also unfamiliar. Dante glanced around the park and he still recognized everyone else. He was sure it was the moment he intended to return to except for the two girls and the door.
He loaded the next moment he had ready and everything changed except for the teens and the door. It was a bit earlier in the evening than Dante's other memories and the sun had backtracked up into the sky again. This particular moment was in the middle of winter and an intense cold breeze blew through the park. Less people were out and they were all dressed warmly except for the two girls.
The taller one had short, spiky white hair and wore a red T-shirt with jeans. The shorter one had raven curls flowing down over her shoulders and she wore a cute, black lace dress. Their clothing didn't change, and they didn't break step during Dante's reloading. He realized they were headed to the door and was curious enough to try again. He loaded the coldest, snowiest day he could remember. Instantly, the ground was covered with six inches of snow while more fell from the heavens. The sky was dim and cloudy with a faint solid circle in the clouds showing where the sun might be.
The girls had to adjust their pace, but they didn't otherwise seem to care about the sudden weather. That was enough curiosity for Dante; he had to know more. He hopped to his feet and made a beeline to intercept the girls at the green door; though, he hoped he didn't look aggressive. Now, he and the girls were the only ones in the park.
"Hi, excuse me...," he said as he called their attention with a wave. They turned and looked at him with curiosity and he realized he didn't have a plan. "This is some strange weather we're having, huh?" he asked. It was a dumb joke, and he felt dumber for not having anything better to say. But, it still stung a bit when both girls giggled at his comment. He couldn't tell if they were actually condescending, or if he just imagined it in their laughter.
"It means something you noticed it," the taller girl said.
"What's your favorite number?" the shorter girl asked.
"14!" Dante answered before he understood the question. He heard it, but he had no idea what it had to do with anything. He was wondering about it as the answer left his mouth. The girls laughed again, and the shorter one tilted her head at him.
"Are you the one messing with time?" she asked.
"What? NOooo, do I look like I have superpowers?" He was caught off guard by the question and defaulted to keeping his secret with a poor lie.
"It's not a Super power, it's a Unique Ability," the short girl shrugged. "Oh well, if it's not you, then we don't gotta deal with it," she added as the taller girl took another step toward the door.
"Wh.. wait. Deal with it how? Are you guys time police or something?" Dante didn't know if such an organization actually existed. They did in the world of movies and TV; and, he knew he could travel through time. So, maybe it wasn't that crazy an idea. "Am I in danger from this time guy, whoever he is?" His first lie may not have been convincing, but he was going to stick with the charade until he knew for sure.
"I'm gonna get started," the taller girl said. She gave Dante a wave and then opened the door to walk in. He saw a black void beyond the door and nothing else. She disappeared into it and the door closed.
"We're not time police," the short girl replied. She extended her hand. "My name's Dirge, that was my friend Dread," she gestured at the green door. Then, she reached into her black handbag and pulled out a glass card. It was the size and thickness of a playing card but completely transparent. She offered it to Dante.
"That's is called a 'node'," she said. "It has a lot of functions like a smartphone, but it can communicate to other universes too. The most useful part for me is, it helps keep save files organized. I was gonna give you one if you were the one playing with time; it'll teach you how to use your Ability better. But, you can have one anyway," she made a point to roll her eyes playfully as she shrugged. Dante knew that she knew; but, he appreciated the extra effort of going along with it anyway. Unfortunately, his pride kept him from asking too many questions. How did she know what he could do? How did she have the technology to make what he could do even easier? What could she do? He was hopeful that he could find the answers in the node because all he could do was smile.
"Wow, thank you!" he said. "I'll definitely give it to him if I see him," he said.
"Sure, do that," Dirge replied. Then, she waved and opened the door. Dante peered in again and once more saw nothing but a black void.
"Can I ask? I mean, sorry I'm just really curious. What's in there?" he asked. Dirge giggled and shook her head as she walked in. She closed the door behind her; but, Dante heard her answer before she was gone.
"Spiders."