It was a relatively normal day for Will. He finished a small job then made his way to the local supermarket to buy some groceries. He heard some commotion going on around him as he shopped but he didn’t think much about it. As he walked to the door, the store’s PA system clicked on and the garbled voice of a middle age woman announced something that was impossible to understand. The machine was old and in need of replacement.
Will walked his groceries to his car and started to load them into his trunk when he noticed an odd sound behind him. He looked around and spotted a small child crying on the ground. It looked like she tripped and fell face first into the ground. Her hands and chin were covered in a thin layer of gravel and blood.
“Hey there, are you alright?” Will asked as he leaned down beside her. Without saying a word, the girl threw herself into him and wrapped her arms around his stomach. The force knocked Will back onto his ass.
The little girl yelled, “I want to go home! Please! Please!”
Before Will could say anything, a teenage voice called out to him from the direction of the store. “Thank goodness you found each other! I was really worried there for a second. I promise I’ll get on my managers back about fixing that speaker.” Will turned to see a young, male worker jogging up to him. “Do you want me to bring your groceries out to your car? It’s the least we can do.”
“It’s okay, I have my grocer…” Will’s voice trailed off mid-sentence. He looked down at the kid and saw that her crying face was now partially obscured by a blouse. On his arm, Will saw a faded infinity sign tattoo that wasn’t there a minute earlier. His fingers were long and thin, and he had a simple gold band around his left ring finger.
“Mommy, please! I want to go home!” The girl continued to cry into Will’s stomach as he sat on the hot asphalt ground.
