When Back In Time

IT WAS 2019, to be exact, May 17, 2019.

Esperanza was dashing towards her room. She immediately opened the door and entered. She locked it and looked at her wristwatch.

'I need to change it. I can make things right,' she said to herself as she reminisced what happened before.

It was noon when she's walking home from school with her friend and neighbor, Maria. The afternoon class was suspended because of an urgent meeting of the faculty members.

It was hot at that time. The heat went up to 37 °C, as usual, it's always hot in the Philippines.

Maria left Esperanza to make a stop first at the convenience store to buy some stuff. Esperanza then walked home alone.

Esperanza is a senior high school student. She's a 17-year old girl. She was wearing a long khaki below-the-knee skirt and an upper collared shirt with a brown necktie. She has fair skin, small round face, upturned eyes, she is tall and has a long black curly hair.

While she was walking, she saw the park up ahead the street. She remembered how she used to play there with Maria when they were just a kid.

At the park, she saw three boys were surrounding a fat guy, who was sitting on the ground, shaking in fear. She knew that fat guy. His house was near to hers.

She asked as she approached them, "At ano sa tingin n'yo ang ginagawa n'yo sa kanya?" (What do you think you are doing to him?)

The three boys looked at me. One of them had a huge body made of fats, while the other one was thin (he looked like a malnourished kid) and the other boy, who she thought was their boss, had a spiky hairstyle. Both three of them were wearing loose shirts and baggy pants and big shoes, which was called a 'Supra'.

The guy with spiky hair, who looked like he was annoyed, addressed Esperanza, "Huwag ka ngang pakialamera r'yan. Away lalaki 'to, so shuuu shuuu, alis." (Don't be so nosy. This is a boy's fight, so go away) Afterward, he turned his back on Esperanza.

"Don't hurt him. What do you want from him?" Esperanza asked. She feared that the spiky-haired guy was about to hurt the poor fat guy.

"Whoa. Pa-ingles ingles pa ah. Anong gusto namin sa kanya? Walang iba kundi pera n'ya. Kaso itong tabatsoy na ito ayaw magbigay. Kaya papahirapan namin hanggang sa magbigay sya. O 'di kaya gusto mo magvolunteer na magbigay man lang d'yan, kahit pangyosi o pang-alak pwede na, hindi na namin gagambalain itong kaibigan mo." (What do we want from him? Nothing but his money. But this fat boy would not give us. That's why we're going to torture him until he gives us his money. Or, if you want to volunteer and give us some for our cigarette or alcohol, then we will stop harassing your friend.)

Esperanza looked at the fat guy. His eyes were pleading to her.

"I-----No, I don't have any money. Pasensya na (Sorry)," she said and immediately turned her back and dashed away.

Before she ran, she saw a glimpse of the poor fat guy. He was about to cry when his hope finally turned to despair as the guys chuckled and finally beat him up.

No. Esperanza did not run away because she feared them. She ran away because she wanted to save that fat guy. She ran away to help him.

After she turned to the other corner, Esperanza immediately looked at her wrist. She stared at her wristwatch.

This watch of hers was no ordinary one. It held the power no man ever experienced. It could turn time back to the past or forward to the future.

Amazing right.

But this device had its own perk. It could not easily go for many years in the future and past. The watch had its own limit. You could only adjust it to one hour ago, one day ago or two days ago if you were so diligent in turning the crown and the watch's hands backward, then you could go beyond two days. This also the same if she wanted to go in the future.

In sense, she could only go back or forward to the time depending on the watch.

Of how she gets her hands on this, it's a long story. The short version of it was that she did not know who was the former wearer of it.

Anyways, Esperanza had done this before. She had used the wristwatch and helped many people who were in need.

She turned the wristwatch's crown in counter-clockwise mode and set the time 30 minutes before noon.

She sighed and waited. She saw herself and other people walking backward as time moved back.

After a few seconds, Esperanza saw herself on her desk, sitting, while their teacher was announcing the afternoon class suspension. Her friend Maria, who was sitting in front of her, looked at her back and smiled, "Now we can go home early, sa wakas makakapaglaro na rin tayo ng online games (we can finally play online games). But before that let's eat our lunch."

"Sorry, Maria but I have to go. I have some important things to do. Mauna ka nang kumain (you go ahead and eat your lunch). I'm going, bye," Esperanza said and took her bag and left her.

"Esperanza," she heard Maria calling out her name. But Esperanza didn't stop. Instead, she ran faster.

As what Esperanza remembered, that fat guy was her neighbor and was studying in the same school as she was. But Esperanza did not know where his room was or what grade he was.

Instead, she waited for him to show up and exited the school gate. She needed to help him out.

After a few minutes, she finally saw him, fat guy. Esperanza immediately drew towards him and talked him out. She told him that the road towards their neighborhood was blocked. He was shocked at first (maybe because she approached him immediately and also she's a stranger to him). He asked her why the road was blocked and Esperanza saw the suspicion on his face. She immediately covered it up and told him the road was under construction. Instead, of going there, he needed to do a detour.

He was actually suspicious for a moment. But later, he was convinced and took the other road.

She smiled as she saved the fat guy, even though the guy didn't know she actually saved him.

Later that afternoon, Esperanza went home satisfied with what she had done. She saved a guy. She became his hero. Afterward, she fell asleep.

Someone shook her arm which woke her up.

It was her mother. Apparently, the parents of Maria were worried because she's not yet home. Esperanza was alarmed and told them that she left early from school and didn't get to go home with Maria.

Maria's parents said they could not get in touch with their daughter, Maria was not answering their calls.

When night came, Esperanza didn't know that helping other people would turn out badly for her. As every action led to its own consequences.

Maria was finally found at that night. Her parents immediately drove her to the nearest hospital.

Esperanza's father said to her that her friend was found wounded and had blood on her uniform. She was apparently robbed by unknown suspects.

And guess what? Maria was found in a playground, specifically in the tunnel which led to the slide.

The place Maria was found was in the park. It's where the fat guy should be beaten up by those three guys and be robbed.

But Esperanza helped him out and this happened.

'I made this happened.'

'I helped him out and things got worst and my friend, Maria, was in the hospital right now, badly wounded (heaven-knows what those guys did to her) because of me,' she thought to herself.

'I made a very huge mistake.'