CHAPTER 18 - What is lost in the future
“IKNOW. WHAT A COINCIDENCE, isn’t it? Or maybe not.” She added gently, noticing the news seemed to distress him. “In a way, it makes sense. I was driving towards the place when I got transported back in time.”
He remained pensive, contemplating her words. “I guess that means in the future this place and all its contents will be sold. Maybe my line will have died out.”
“Oh, I hadn't thought of it that way.” Livvy looked at Dale and her heart clenched at the sorrow in his eyes. The news must be more than a little unsettling for him. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine. It shouldn’t distress me at all. Obviously, that happens well after my lifetime. What year did you say you come from?
“2022.”
“That’s a hundred and fifty years in the future. It really has nothing to do with me... and yet, my ancestors have lived in this land for over seven hundred years. It is sad to know it will end.”
“I really don’t know much about the story of what happened in this place or why it’s for sale. I think—wait! I have a brochure about the sale! Maybe there’ll be more information there.”
“I guess it doesn’t really matter. But I find myself curious as to what will happen to my home in the future.”
“Of course. It is only normal.” She wanted to cheer him up. “Would you like to see pictures of my life in the twenty-first century?”
“Do you carry pictures with you when you travel?”
“Yes! I actually have them right here on my phone.”
“The little device that looks like a dark mirror and lights up from the inside?”
“Yes!” She stood and rounded the table to sit nearer to him.
He also stood up.
She looked at him in surprise. Was he leaving? Oh. No. He had stood up because she had. Really, his manners were impeccable. It was rather charming.
Livvy sat down in the chair to his right and started browsing through her pictures. Now that she thought about it, she did have a lot of nonsense in her camera roll. She would have to skip through a lot of these. Finally, she found some pictures worth sharing.
“Here. This is my town. This was last month, when I went shopping with my mom. Here, we were taking a break while having coffee.”
He looked at the picture, his fascinated gaze roaming all over the image, as if he wanted to absorb as much as he could. She scrolled through several pictures while he asked questions about places and things. When they came to a selfie of her and her mom, his gaze honed in on them.
“You greatly resemble your mother,” he said, giving her a sideways glance.
“Yes, I do.” A lump formed in her throat, and she could barely speak. How long until she saw her parents again? Would she ever see them at all? She had to believe she would because the thought of being cast away from her life forever was so despairing she couldn’t breathe.
With extraordinary effort, she continued sliding through the pictures and describing her life and world. There were more pictures of her family, her dad barbecuing in the backyard of their home, her mom cooking. Of her and her coworkers on the day of the inauguration of her new offices.
He shook his head. "It's fascinating, truly. Who else can boast such a rare glimpse into another century, another world? The manner of dressing is so odd. And there are so many cars. The roads are impossibly smooth and the buildings impossibly tall." His voice increased in speed with each new word, each new image he processed.
She grinned, knowing precisely how he felt.
He pointed at the screen. "What is that? Is it in the air? How is it held aloft?"
