The Diary of a Time Traveler
What would you do if you knew, you had an eternity in front of yourself and even more?
Would you still hurry to arrive in time?
Would you still cherish every second of your life?
Clouds of sorrow were pushing over the silence of the city. A peculiar shady weather imprisoned every human being in his house. A gray picture painted with loose stripes. A terrible cold comprised the atmosphere so that the streets were as empty as never before.
Approaching a small hut that held something different, something special, it appeared as if it was glowing out of warmth and welfare, yet there seemed to be no one at home.
Mysterious winds crept in through the open windows, slowly flipping through the pages of a book next to it. Suddenly the book remained open. The open pages looked like a diary entry. With finely written letters, someone’s genuine life story unfolded in this book. It was the story of a man who had the ability to travel through time. However, this man traveled only under precise circumstances. He got into certain situations from which he had to derive precious life lessons.
I.
It was diary entry no. I, where our time traveler got to witness a typical life episode. In the middle of a busy train station, crowds of people were rushing to get on the train.
A moment more, and a noise was heard. Then it was gone!
A young girl remained behind almost crying, as the train already left in front of her.
It was the moment the time traveler understood how precious a minute can be when you don’t have it.
II.
Paginating further, the blowing wind reached another diary entry. Here, the time traveler was in a stadium. A competition was unfolding. The participants were sprinting fiercely.
Each one of them fostered a burning desire to be the winner.
One second too late and the flame of hope went out inside the heart of the one who had to get the silver medal now.
It was the moment the time traveler understood the value of a single second. How much a single moment can mean!
Page after page became more exciting.
III.
The next diary entry depicted a weeping woman. She was sitting next to a closed coffin. Her eyes were black with grief and pain. She almost had no strength left in her. She sat there day and night, hour after hour. She had buried her own life with that of her husband. That’s how bad it could hurt.
So precious and priceless was the life of someone who had lost everything together with the beloved person.
IV.
The end of the diary was summarising conclusions, simple lessons that anyone could notice if he wanted and thus, look at life differently.
The time traveler wrote in large-print letters:
“When I was a child ,
time crawled.
When the youth dreamed out of me ,
time wandered.
When I was in full power
time flew.
When I approached the elderness,
time poured.
And now, as I step out of life,
TIME HAS PASSED.”
Step by step, the man understood the meaning of time.
Sharing time from each of our days to meaningless activities, we realize that life passes, and we learn to appreciate each moment — but until we reach that point — we die.
The turbulent wind comprised the entire house. It was getting stronger and stronger so that the light went out. So did the fire in the fireplace.
Next to it was seated an old man, a former time traveler, who, despite his experience, unconsciously fell into the trap of time, into the infinite and unbreakable belief that there was enough time.
He was slowly swinging on a chair with a clock in his hand, at which he was constantly staring.
He felt the suffocating pain of this lesson in all of his bones as was sadly expecting
- the unavoidable end.
Note:
The story serves as a reminder of my early passion for storytelling and that I should invest my time in meaningful activities, spreading emotion and reaching hearts.
It was originally written in German language and submitted to my first literature contest. The German version was published in a booklet in 2010 by the German Embassy and Goethe Institute in Romania. It happened only now that I remembered the story and decided to rewrite it in English in order to share it with my audience.
📲💌 Read more content like this on our blog and follow us for the best in mindful travel, creative living, cabins, and many more.
