Hands Of Time [Chapter 10]

How long I was unconscious I do not know? All I do know is that when I regained my senses all I felt was the chill of the cold sidewalk throughout my whole body. As I lay on my back on the sidewalk I could hear the sound of course laughing and then the closing of vehicle doors, the vehicle starting, and the vehicle driving away until its sound vanished into the black night. I could not move my body; it and my mind were numb, almost paralyzed. The pain that I felt upstairs, outside the attic, had returned with a vengeance and with double the intensity of my earlier attacks. The only sign of life that my body indicated was the involuntary heaving up and down of my chest as I desperately tried to catch my breath after my exerting race to this final destination point. As I lay on the ground with my eyes squeezed shut, I felt tears push their way out passed the corners my eyes and work their way down the side of my face, depositing finally in my ears. I knew that I would never see the child again, he or she was now beyond any hope of rescue, and my efforts were in vain, too late. I slowly opened my eyes and was confronted with a dazzling display of God’s handiwork, the billions of stars in all their splendid glory were shining on the black canvas of the night sky, and to think my eyes could only taste but a tidbit of this wondrous spectacle. I slowly pivoted my head to the side, so as to observe with my eyes what I already knew in my heart, the wire still binding my wrist. I continued to lie there in the cool night air, sobbing and staring at my wrist and its captor. I prayed with my whole heart that somehow I could be free from the restraint that held me steadfastly to the clock, knowing deep down in my soul that this wish would not be granted. If it were not for this bondage on my wrist, I thought to myself, then I very well could have had the chance to save that little child. But I knew that I was not free, from this impediment that bound me to the clock, and therefore also knew that no matter how great my desire was to save the baby that it was now too late. I moved my body into the seated position and stared at the empty space on the street in front of my house, the spot that just a few moments earlier was filled with the black van. Now, only thing that caught my eyes gaze was my own car that I drove home in. I struggled to stand up, my legs were weak and my body was aching from lying on the cold ground for too long a time. As I turned from the street my eyes fell upon the sight of my house and the thought of my own aches and pains vanished. My thoughts rushed towards my wife and little ones inside the house. My children were still hiding under their beds, terrified. My wife was probably beside herself in fear, thinking that the black van had taken me away, along with the child. As I hurriedly moved to the front door of the house I noticed that light was pouring out from all of its windows, all but one. The attic window was dark and lonely, there was no figure of a young woman there any longer, the light had been extinguished, and the window seemed tightly shut.