The day it all changed (Short story)

It always starts the same way. I am running up the street, my fingers numb with cold. It is snowing. At the junction I always choose the streets with the restaurants instead of the dark snow filled path leading to the abandoned factory. The dream ends the same way every time, with me clutching my mother’s hand as they carry my sisters body away.
But today would be different. I opened my eyes. I rolled out of bed and put on some clothes.

“Good morning, Mr. Osariemen,” Agnes was my maid and the only person I’d had contact with in the last three years.

“Your mum called to remind you to take your pills and eat well. Though there is no worry about that. I’m here.” She was always full of energy.

“Your dad also called, complaining as usual, about the nursing home staff.”

I nodded and went to my workshop. The time machine was sitting in a corner of the workshop. I flipped the switch and the machine came to life, pulling me in as I blacked out.

When I came to, I was lying in the snow a few feet away from the machine. It was so cold, I sneezed and shivered. I was definitely not dreaming this time. This was my last chance to save Ivie.

I checked the time: 7:30 PM. Half an hour to go, more than enough time to reach the junction. The snow was coming down harder now as I walked to the junction.
This was the first time it had snowed in Nigeria, after an experiment by the Americans had gone wrong. It had resulted in climate change, natural disasters around the world and the deaths of many.

A boy came running up the street and stood at the junction.

“Hey there. Are you alright?” I asked.

“Good evening Sir. I’m looking for my younger sister. Her name is Ivie. She is dark skinned, has long black hair, wearing a pink jacket” He was shivering.

“Sorry, I haven’t seen her but I can help you look for her” I said. The boy’s face brightened but fell again. He frowned and rubbed his hands on his coat, as if he was wondering if he should trust a stranger.

“How about we search this way?” I pointed at the path leading to the abandoned factory.

“We could split up. I’ll go to the restaurant street while you check that way sir”

“Good idea but I’m just coming from restaurant street and I’m sure I didn’t see a little girl wearing a pink jacket there.” I said.

He looked at me for a while before nodding and we started walking down the path leading to the abandoned factory.

I sighed, thankful that he had agreed to follow me.

We walked for some minutes on the snowy sidewalk, the streetlights flickering , before coming across a pink jacket in the snow. He ran towards it.

“This is her jacket! We must be on the right path. Come on let’s hurry!”

We sprinted the rest of the way to the abandoned factory.

“Look! There is light in one of the rooms. She might be in there!” he pointed to one of the windows.

“No, I don’t think so. Follow me”

He looked at me and frowned but followed me without protest.

Behind the factory was a bungalow where the lights were on. We crouched down and crawled to one of the broken windows and peeked in.

There she was. Tied up to a chair, naked, blood dripping from the side of her head and one of her hands. He stood up but I quickly dragged him down.

“That’s my sister.” he struggled to stand up.

“Shhh, Don’t worry, we are going to save her. I have a plan”

A man walked into the room, he was wearing a hood so I couldn’t see his face. He switched on the machines in the room. The conveyor belt started moving. The open furnace came on and a tank close to Ivie started mixing its contents. She started screaming.

"Shut up" he screamed at her.

I looked at my watch. Seven minutes left. The man went to the tank, switched on the pump attached to it and picked up the pipe connected to the pump.

It was now or never.

I gave the boy my pen knife. “I’m going to distract him, you go in through the other door and get your sister.” I crawled to the main door and pulled out my stun gun. I had never gotten this far before so I didn’t know what to expect.

I pushed over some barrels in front of the door and looked through a window close to the main door. The man turned and pulled out his gun. Ivie started screaming but he shoved the pipe into her mouth.

He slowly walked towards the door. It was so cold, yet I was sweating. The boy had entered the room and was crawling towards Ivie. She started whimpering but he put a finger to his lips, signaling her to keep quiet.

Another man walked into the room and saw the boy. “Hey, what are you doing here?”

Damn it, there were two of them. The first guy turned back and pointed his gun at the boy. I aimed my stun gun at him and took a shot. But nothing came out, the gun was jammed. Probably from the trip here in the machine.

The second guy grabbed the little boy.

“Adam, tie the kid up and don’t hurt him,” the first guy said.

I threw the stun gun away and rushed at the first guy while he was distracted. We both crashed to the ground and his gun slid away.

The boy stabbed Adam in the hand with the pen knife and struggled out of his grip. He ran towards the furnace. Adam cursed and went after the boy.

“Don’t let the boy get away Adam!”

I looked at the hooded guy and then at the gun. We both lunged for it at the same time, fighting each other on the floor.

I could see wet cement sliding down the pipe towards Ivie’s mouth.

I kicked him in the groin and picked up the gun, aimed it at Adam and shot him in the chest. Adam clutched his chest, stumbled back and fell into the furnace. The boy ran to his sister, pulling the pipe out of her mouth just as wet cement spilled out of it.

Suddenly I was hit in the head and I crashed to the floor. The gun still in my hand, I turned and shot the hooded guy in the leg. He screamed and fell to his knees. The gun slipped out of my hand as I started to lose consciousness, warm blood dripping down the side of my head. He crawled over and put his hands around my neck, strangling me.

I clawed at his hands and face, trying to break free. I grabbed a broken shard of glass from the floor and shoved it in his side.

He screamed and I pushed him off. As he fell, his hood came off and I saw his face.

Recognition stunned me, allowing only a single gasp. “Dad!”. He pulled himself up and limped out of the room before collapsing in the snow.

I lay on the floor, breathing heavily. Unable to wrap my mind around the fact that my dad who had helped me get over my sister's death, was the same person that had killed her.

Finally, I had succeeded in saving my sister after ten tries. But all I was left with was a bitter-sweet feeling, a mixture of joy and despair. I looked at my watch. I was out of time. I ran back to the time machine and returned to the present.

When I opened my eyes again, I was in a hospital bed. Agnes was sitting beside me.

“Where is my sister?” I asked.

She frowned. “She died twelve years ago.”

I frowned. I saved her but she still died. So, what was the point?

“She died during childbirth. Don't you remember?”

Just then a little girl ran into the room.

“Uncle Osariemen, look what I made. A painting of our family.” She looked exactly like Ivie.

“Osaretin, don't disturb your uncle. He needs his rest.” Agnes said

The memories came flooding back. I did save my sister. She went on to become a teacher and married the love of her life. She died giving birth to Osaretin but she had lived a full life, just as I had hoped. By saving her, I had also saved Osaretin.

Apparently, I had gotten an aggressive form of cancer. But I knew it happened because I had used the time machine so much.

It wasn't all for nothing. I smiled and closed my eyes. I saw my sister beckoning to me. I took her hand and together we walked into the light.

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Thanks for reading. This is my 1,497 word entry for the art prompt writing contest #8 run by @gmuxx.
I also want to say a very big thank you to everyone at The Writers' Block for helping me polish up my story. You guys are awesome 😍. Special thanks to @jonknight .
Photo by @sad-dad