Another Life

I knew him before. But how? Based off a dream I had.

Walking down the stone walkway, I felt like I was in another time. Streetlights modeled to look like gas lights flickered in the darkness left by the setting sun. Old brick buildings with a rustic charm lined the streets with marble steps leading up to large double doors. I wouldn't have been surprised to see women in hoop skirts and lace and men in powdered wigs milling around. I found a sort of comfort with this old-timey feeling. I felt comfortable.

A slight breeze blew through the half empty trees scattering orange and red leave around my feet. I kept walking towards the open commons area while pulling my wind breaker tighter around my body. The chill on my skin had my senses on fire. I felt more than alive and I was enjoying every minute of it.

Ahead of me, a figure stepped out of a small shop. Pulling the door behind him, he zipped up his jacket and looked up and down the street. Seeing me, he smiled and waved. My heart skipped a beat. I knew who he was, I went to school with him. But that didn't explain the feeling that I had known him for far longer. Being new to the area, I could barely call anyone by name. But I knew his name.

"Gabriel," I breathed his name as a smile parted my lips. He walked towards me and I had a sudden urge to run to him, minimizing the distance between us as soon as possible. But I waited. We met in front of a large, white marble building with Grecian columns down the sides. Savings and Loan was cared in elegant letter head above the large oak doors.

"Hey Charlotte," he greeted me with a smile.

"Hey Gabriel," I smiled back trying to place why his features looked so familiar. A model in a magazine? No. Resemblance to an actor? No. Distant relatives? No. I couldn't place it. Having only known him for a week, there was no way I should feel like we had known each other for years and years. I felt comfortable with him. I felt that if I invited him over to my house, we could sit and stare at the T.V. in silence, not uttering a word, and be at total peace.

"What are you up to at this time of day?" he asked looking towards the sunset. My reply came naturally.

"I was just taking a walk. I had the itch to get out of the house. Plus, this is my favorite time of the year. I better enjoy it while I can."

"Ah, you do seem like a winter lover," he said with a chuckle. The way he hunched his shoulders against the wind told me he thought otherwise.

"And you seem to be quite the summer lover," I teased back. His laugh made me laugh. It was infectious.

"Yeah, you can say that again. I don't like being cold. And I like the sunshine."

"I guess that's why we always met in the middle." Wait. What?

Gabriel gave me a pointed look.

"You were thinking that too?" he asked with his brows furrowed.

"Yeah. I- I don't know. It just kinda... came out," I blushed. What was I thinking? We had never met anywhere before, especially not over a period of several seasons.

Right?

Gabriel craned his head toward mine, like he was sharing a secret, "OK, this might sound kind of weird, but, does it seem like we've met before to you?"

My heart fluttered. He felt it too? 

"Yeah," I whispered, "It feels like I've known you for years."

His eyes lit up. I had a sudden urge to close the distance between us. To reach up the several inches he towered above me and wind my arms around his neck. To brush my lips against his. And it all seemed natural. Like an old habit that I had never gotten rid of, just buried beneath a layer of more bad habits. There was something about him that I just wanted to melt into, but I had no logical reason why. I just never wanted him to let me go. Ignoring my sudden urge, I hesitantly reached out and touched his arm.

A rush of heat hit me like running into a brick wall. I had touched him arm before. In confusion, reinsurance, and love. Just not that I completely remembered. But I had. 

"What just happened?" Evidently Gabriel felt something going on too. I went to take my hand back, but he clasped his over mine, and another wave of pure lightening washed over me again. My whole spine seemed to tingle.

"Gabriel...?" I looked up at him. I was confused, yet excited, and I knew he was feeling the same way. There was glint behind his eyes that seemed to say he was ready for adventure.

"Charlotte," he took his hand and gently touched my cheek, bringing me closer to him. We gazed into each others eye's for what seemed eternity. We were so lost in each other, that we didn't notice when a figure stepped out of the shadows of the bank. 

The figure cleared its throat, "It's about time."

Gabriel and I jumped back, but we didn't let go of each other. We turned to see an older woman with her hair tied up in a bun, leaning against a column.

"Ms. Baker?" Gabriel squinted to make sure he was seeing things correctly.

"Who else would it be?" The sarcasm dripped heavily from her lips, "Teachers have lives outside of classrooms you know." Gabriel didn't seem to know what to say to our English teacher's biting words.

"What do you mean 'it's about time'?" I asked her. It was odd of her to appear out of seemingly nothing while whatever was happening between me and Gabriel was going on.

"Exactly what I said: It's about time. I've been waiting for this moment for centuries!" She sounded exasperated, but Gabriel and I just stood there, stunned and confused.

"Centuries?" Gabriel asked what I was about to, "What on earth are you talking about?" Even though it was hard to see in the waning sunlight, I was pretty sure Ms. Baker rolled her eyes.

"I mean, I've been waiting for you two to finally reunite for good for centuries, and I think this time, it'll stick." The looks on our faces must have told her we needed further explanation, "I've been watching over you since the very first time."

When those words left her mouth, and image flashed across my mind. Me and Gabriel were in a barn. I was wearing a pink and white lace dress. My bodice was tight and the hoops in my skirt made it hard for me to plop down in the hay, but I did anyway. I jumped down in the hay next to Gabriel who was dressed in a long-tailed, button up jacket. We looked like something out of civil war history book. We giggled and wrestled in the hay. My sandy blonde hair came unpinned as Gabriel pinned me down. I gave in, just happy to be in his arms. I reached up and ran my fingers through his slicked back brown hair. He slowly brought his lips down upon mine and the image exploded.

I turned to Gabriel, my heart pounding. The look on his face said he had the same vision I had. Although, something in my heart told me that wasn't a vision. It was a memory. I had known him before.

"You see, we have a lot of work to do. We should best start moving before we're compromised," Ms. Baker gave us a pointed look and began walking away.

I reached for Gabriel's hand, only to find his already searching for me. Tightly clutched to each other, we faced our future, and what seemed to be our past, with uncertainty. But with Gabriel by my side, something told me there was nothing to fear.

Author's Note

This was based off a dream I had, so like with most dreams, there were gaps I needed to logically fill, and I'm not quite sure if it makes sense. But it was just too good to pass up.

Reviews

[krish]

well written...........

[Ember Beyune]

For the first two paragraphs I wasn't drawn in. Descriptions of settings often don't draw me in unless they are particularly strange. In the third paragraph is where you got me. From there I got draw farther and farther in until I couldn't stop reading. This story reads like the opening to a larger story it reveals a little about the characters but implies there is a lot more to them. Overall this story is great.

[jennilouhoo]

Thank you! I certainly feel there's more to this story, even if I haven't discovered it yet! For the first two paragraphs, I think it might be a little dull because I was trying to transpose it from the dream I had and I was trying to figure out a way to set up the feeling that I got from the dream. That was the tricky part. Thanks for the review!