My name is Gemma Louise Hart and yes, I can travel through time. Freaky, I know.
Man, I can't believe I just told you that! My parents would kill me. I'm not supposed to tell anybody what I can do. It all goes back this ancient oath.
You see the first of my kind, the chosen seven... the electus. They appeared on the earth in like 100BC and were adopted by Quintus and Lucia. When the kids hit puberty, that's the first time it happened. It's like the body suddenly clicks into traveling mode or something. According to legend, Lucia died and when the kids found her they disintegrated to gold dust.
That's how it happens... we disintegrate. I know, gold dust sounds pretty cool and everything, but it's no picnic. It really hurts. You feel like your body is being torn apart and then stitched back together one particle at a time. We always recover quickly, but I can't help resenting the pain just a little.
So back to my story... the electus disappeared then reappeared moments later. Quintus went rushing into the woods where Lucia had been hurt and there she was, sitting like a stunned mullet, having just witnessed her seven children appear naked out of nowhere, fight off the wolf pack that was about to attack her and then evaporate into gold dust again.
Everything changed after that. The whole village was sworn to secrecy... and the electus finally understood what they were put on this earth to do. You see, we... time spirits, travel to save others. We rewrite history for them. I don't really have a say in the matter, my father decides, but I guess it's kinda cool. I like that we can help people. I just... I mean I don't want to sound ungrateful or anything, my gifts are pretty amazing - I just never asked for them.
Dad makes us train everyday. We have to run fast, fight hard and never quit unless he says so. I guess that makes me pretty healthy, not to mention the fact my mother won't let me eat anything but fruit, meat and vegetables. I've only tasted chocolate once. It was so divine, but majorly outweighed by the guilt trip that followed.
And don't even get me started on the whole naked thing. I'd love to ask whoever designed us, "Would it have really been that hard to include clothing in the travel gig?" It's SO embarrassing! I always run to the bathroom when I feel the travel coming on, that way I can't get caught. I do always worry that I'm not going to make it one of these days and someone will see me. I often wonder what would happen if someone ever did. Would they freak out? They'd see me naked. That would freak ME out.
So, what else do you need to know? Oh yeah, when we're "across the line" time is different. One hour over there is only a minute in the real world. I don't know why it's set up that way, probably so normal humans don't wonder where we've gone to. A five-hour trip is just like a toilet stop in the real world, nothing suspicious about that.
So that's a brief guide to my life. I stick to myself mostly, because I never know when I'm going to be ripped from this time and space. It gets lonely sometimes, but I'd rather deal with that than risk telling people the truth. At least this loneliness is self-imposed.
****************
I have a guest post on
Laura's Magic Day blog today. To see the rest of this article - go check it out :)
