When Back In Time

"YOU'VE BEEN tampering the time, distorting the timeline because of your carelessness," Bangun Bangun remarked, the god of Time and Cosmos.

"I----- what?" Esperanza looked at him, confused.

"You've been time traveling constantly and changing history over and over again," Bangun Bangun said. Up ahead, the stars twinkled on the pitch-blacked sky.

"Changing history?" Esperanza asked.

"Like this young man here," Bangun Bangun looked at the young man behind Esperanza. The young man was frozen halfway towards the ground. "He was supposed to be dead but you help him out. Thus, changing his history, his future."

"I was helping him out. He was in pain, wounded. Of course, I should help him. It's not wrong to help other people," she spat.

"Indeed. It's not wrong to help other people. But this is a different era and you don't belong here. It's none of your business to help other people here. You were not supposed to change other people's future. Like Clara and especially this young man here."

He continued, "You've changed his future drastically and even made his life miserable."

"What are you talking about?"

"Soon... you'll know what I'm talking about. Soon.. you'll realize everything and you will wish you never did it again."

He continued, "Didn't you know, he was the one who accidentally hit you in the Plaza while ridding on that kalesa?"

Esperanza looked at the young man in surprise.

"Anyway, " Bangun Bangun continued again, "You've changed his future drastically."

"I don't understand... I was trying to help," she mumbled, helplessly.

"Help? Just like what you did before? To that fat guy who was being bullied by those thugs at the park?" Bangun Bangun asked.

Esperanza remembered that fat guy she had helped before and how she constantly went back in the past to save him.

"But," Bangun Bangun started, "You weren't actually helping. You were causing more trouble. As you repeatedly tried to help other people by leaping back to the time, you constantly hurting other people. Just like Maria, your friend. Oh now you remembered, how devastated you were after knowing that the consequence of helping the fat guy was Maria, all bruised and wounded. You know what------ you can't change someone's destiny in the past. If you did, their destiny will be passed to other people. Just like what happened to Maria. It's that fat guy's destiny but now it became Maria's."

"B-but I just want to help...."

"Help, yes, you could help him. You could help him out. But what did you do? You choose to go back to the past and change it. You did not help at all. You were selfish. And don't look at me as if saying you were not! You are selfish. You could have helped him out and tried to call the cops in the first place. But no! You choose to shut down this idea and want to have that heroic spot-----"

"-------Nooo-----"

"------Yes. Yes! Because of your ego, you choose to be heroic. To go back to the past and help him out. You could help him out at that time in the present but no----- you choose to time travel back to time and constantly change many people's lives."

Esperanza looked down and thought to herself, 'Did I really done it wrong?'

"You should help him at that time. But you choose to change the past which angers the god of Destiny. Just like how you anger the god of Death right now," Bangun Bangun said and looked the bleeding young man. "You angered the God of Death by helping him out. She surely is not pleased right now."

"I----- I angered the other gods?" Esperanza was bewildered.

"Of course you did. Just like how you angered me, too. You remember the time you first use my wristwatch?" he asked.

Esperanza looked at the wristwatch on her wrist. She remembered that time. She was testing the wristwatch and then she was suddenly transported to the past. She helped a man at that time. He was about to be hit and killed by a car. But she helped him. Thus the car incident didn't happen.

"Yes. I helped the man from being hit by that car. I saved him," she said.

"You did help him, Esperanza. But don't you know what happened next? That car was supposed to hit him. But it didn't. It was supposed to be his faith to die. But he didn't. Do you what happen next? A woman was hit and killed the next day. It was not her time yet but because you went back in the past and tampered the time, destiny is passed to someone. Thus, someone perished in the end. "

'What?' Esperanza thought, lost in words.

"Speechless right? I tell you what. All the people you help, there is a consequence to that. Their destinies were stringed to another person, and that person was now the one who was suffering. Do you know that aphorism about time? They said, time is like a river, you need to let it flow accordingly. That was the thing you supposedly do. But you didn't but choose to tamper the past. Thus you choose to distort the timeline. That's why you were stuck here as your punishment, " Bangun Bangun said.

"I---I'm sorry. I'm sorry if I did those stuff. I thought I was helping... " Esperanza said." Please... I want to go back home. Please forgive me Banun Banun."

Bangun Bangun's eyebrow twitched. "What... did you just say? It's Bangun Bangun, human!"

"I-I'm sorry. I'm sorry, please forgive me!"

"Your sin is severe."

"I----- please forgive me. Help me please...." she desperately plead.

"This is your divine punishment."

"Please," Esperanza's tears were starting to flow. "Don't let me be trapped in this era. I want to go back home."

The god of Time and Cosmos looked at her. He stared at her for a long time. He sighed.

"You don't belong in this era. If I let you stay here for a long time---- heaven knows what you'll do. After all, you did plead for my help, didn't you? Of course, whoever god would turn their backs on their subject, right? " Bangun Bangun said.