Fallen through time: Chapter 1 - 2015

"All right, moving on to question number 25. Mr Smithers, could you perhaps tell us the answer to that?" I asked. The boy I was addressing had seemed uninterested, to say the least, the entire class. If he wanted a good grade on the upcoming test, he better start paying attention. I wanted him to have a good grade, but I couldn't simply give people good grades because I wanted to. No, in that case, all my students would have straight A's in history, and that wasn't the point in having grading systems.

"I don't know." the boy on the third row answered.

"You don't?" I wondered with raised eyebrows. John Smithers shook his head.

"Nah." he said.

"Well, then, John, I suggest you ask your... tablemate. Jones, could you by any chance give us the answer to question number 25?" I asked.

"Ehm... That would be the Germans." Benjamin Jones answered. He was as much of a history freak as I was, and I could always trust him to provide a correct answer to my questions.

"Precisely. Thank you, Benjamin. The Germans were the ones who put out the mines, or fired the missile. Which we will never know. But we can clearly blame the people on the German submarine for the sinking of Britannic, can't we?" I asked the class. I got no response, except for a few who nodded their heads, or uttered a quiet "yes".

"Wonderful. Now, question number 26, who can give me the answer  to that one?"

No one raised their hand. That was not an uncommon thing to happen in my classroom, at least not with this class.

"Okay." I sighed. "Miss Richards?"

Rebeckah Richards groaned, sat up a bit straighter - though not completely straight - and sighed before she answered.

"1913. But, Miss?" she said.

"Yes, Rebeckah?"

"Shouldn't you dismiss us? The class finishes in 3 minutes?"

I sighed and rolled my eyes. I could understand that these teenagers weren't interested in the class I taught, but there was no need to question me and be rude like this class was - with the exception of Benjamin Jones and a few others.

"Fine." I said shortly. "Class dismissed."

The youths rose and started collecting their things before they left. I, slightly annoyed and offended, did the same thing and followed the stream of youths out. The classroom locked itself when the door closed, and there was really nothing else to do. Since it was the last class of the day, I went to the office and packed together the things I needed to bring with me home. It wasn't a lot, a few assignments turned in late to grade and some tests done last minute to get a grade at all. It was the end of the term and some of the classes were graduating. While I was relieved to finally get rid of some classes and students, I would definitely missed some. Benjamin Jones, for example. He was every teacher's dream student, at least in my subject. I was a history teacher in year 12 and 13 in Edinburgh, Scotland. I preferred the Highlands, but hadn't found a job that suited me there, so I had taken my things and my son and moved to Edinburgh.

"Pardon me!" I heard a female voice call after me. I turned around to face a blonde girl, about the age of the kids I taught. Her figure was petite and slender, but not skinny in any way. She was taller than I was, but not by much, a few centimeters, I estimated.

"Yes?" I answered.

"I was in your class today." the girl said. I frowned. I had taught that same class for nearly two years, and never before had I seen this girl. But, then, again, the classes at the school were unusually large. I wasn't sure it was legal to have that large classes, but it worked fine, not great, but fine, so I didn't complain. Much.

"You were? What's your name, again?" I asked. I felt really bad for asking, though. After two years, I should have learnt all the kids' names, but... I had never seen this girl before.

"Oh, you don't know me, Miss. I'm not usually in that class, I just... missed some, and wanted to catch up. My teacher told me it was okay to go to one of your classes." she explained. I nodded slowly. That would explain why I had no idea who she was. Phew, I didn't have to feel bad about not remembering her name.

"I see. You wanted to tell me so that I could write you up? So your teacher knows you've been here today?" I wondered. No, that was not it. The blonde said nothing, but looked kind of... troubled. Before I knew what to say, though, she spoke.

"Yes, precisely. That would be wonderful, thank you very much." she said, smiled and attempted to leave.

"Wait!" I called after her. She turned around with a hopeful look on her face.

"I still need your name." I explained. Her face dropped and she looked highly disappointed.

"Oh, well... It's Joanna. MacMurtray." she answered reluctantly. The shock hit me like a ton of bricks. Joanna... That had been the name of my oldest daughter. But she was dead now. Long dead, long gone. Unless she... No, no she couldn't have. If she had, all of my children would have been here, not just the oldest one. And I most definitely would recognise my children if I ever saw them, again. But I wouldn't, because they were all dead - except for the youngest one, who were at school. Weren't they? But this lass, she had the same features as my Joanna'd had. The girl in front of me was definitely older and had a far more adult face than my daughter. But my daughter had been seven years old, the last time I saw her. She couldn't be the one standing in front of me, could she? Was I really that terrible of a mother? Probably, yes.

"Joanna? Mo chridhe?" I asked. The girl immediately started crying and ran into my arms.

"Mamaidh, it's me." she sobbed into my shoulder..

"Och, m'lass." I murmured, stroking her hair. Like I had so many times before, when she was younger. When I was younger. Sometime almost 300 years ago.

My mother

It was many years ago my mother died and I had been alone ever since that horrible day. I had no one, I never left the house. I didn't need to. I never went to buy food, or clothes, or anything else. Every morning someone had put clothes for me on my bed, there was always breakfast on the kitchen table when I got down, if I ever ran out of anything or if something broke there was always new things in the old thing's place the following day.
It was like mother never left, the piano played itself every now and then, sometimes I thought I heard my mother hum on some of the many melodies she loved so much, sometimes I heard her down stairs, jumping and dancing, but I never saw her.
Not until the night to my 26th birthday. I then was as old as my mother had been on the night she died. I was 7 years when my mother died and left me alone, my father had left us when I was born and I hadn't heard from in ever since. My mother took good care of me 'till her death, and after it, too, who else could it be?
The night to my 26th birthday I woke up by the feeling of someone sitting on the side of my bed with his or her hand on my shoulder. I opened my eyes to see my mother sitting next to me. She didn't look like she used to, she was much paler now, almost transparent, her red hair, that always looked like it was on fire, was tame and lifeless, her blue eyes, which always was filled with love, happiness and kindness was blank and empty. She smiled, but there was no happiness at all behind it. She asked me to come with her, so I followed her out of the house I hadn't left for almost 20 years and into a forest, it had never been there before. Strange... According to everything I had read in the many books I had at home trees couldn't get that big in at least 50 years, when I last visited that place I was sure that there was houses there. my best friend used to live there. How could a forest be there now? I let go of the thought and followed my mother through the trees. We got to a big scarp with rocks underneath it. My mother smiled and showed towards the scarp. She wanted me to jump. I shook my head, no, I couldn't, I would die if I jumped! Why would I do that of free will?
-It's your destiny, you will break the curse, mother exhorted. Curse? What curse? What was she talking about?
-You will die, Lucy, she will kill you if you don't jump now!
-Who?
-I will. Just as my mother killed me I'm forced to kill you, Lucy, if you don't do it first, if you jump now you will break the curse, but you have to hurry! When you are 26 years and 2 hours you have to die, mother explained. How could that be true? How could my beloved mother do anything as horrible as kill someone? And then that I was that someone? Her own daughter? I stood where I was and thought. Would I jump? Could I jump? I didn't have enough time to think.
-Time's up, Lucy, I'm sorry, please forgive me, I heard my mother's voice say before I felt her cold ghost hand on my back and then I fell. I fell and fell and fell.
Everything went black as my head hit the rocks below.
I had just been murdered by my mother. My mother, who had been dead herself for 19 years.