A Dish of Fish

As soon as we got into the house, Tara began to fry the fish we caught.

"This shouldn't take too long, Ricky," Tara said.

I was at the table while Tara was frying the fish. My stomach was growling.

"That smells so good," I said to Tara.

"It does," Tara replied. "I put a bunch of seasoning that I found in the cupboard over the fish."

When Tara finished cooking the fish, the pieces turned out to be very small.

"They sure shrunk a lot," Tara said. "There's only enough food for one dish."

"You go ahead and fill your tummy up, Tara," I replied. "I'll hold out for the night."

"Ricky, don't be silly!" Tara responded. "I'll have half of the dish, and you can have the other half."

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"Yes!" Tara replied.

Tara began to consume the fish on the dish.

"Yummy!" Tara said. "This is so tasty."

After Tara finished half of the dish, I took the other half and went to the bed to eat.

"Wow!" I said. "This fish does taste pretty damn good."

"I'm glad you like it," Tara replied.

"For our food for tomorrow, I think we should try and do some hunting," I said to Tara.

"I agree," Tara replied. "Fishing is just too tedious."

Well, that was some tasty fish. It's a shame that we didn't catch enough to make two full dishes though. Hopefully, me and Tara will have better luck with the hunting tomorrow than we did today with the fishing.

Me and Tara are talking. Her voice is getting hard to hear. The room is spinning. It's getting dark. I'm going to faint...

I'm in this dark place. I can't move. There are all these nightmarish creatures around me. I can hear screaming and crying coming from the distance...

I continue to remain frozen in this dark place. I can still hear the cries and screams coming from the distance. These nightmarish creatures are still here and surrounding me. I see a dark figure with dark hair, dark horns, and dark wings coming towards me. I know who it is. It's Gabriella...

"Hello, Richard," Gabriella says. "My oh my, you are so young now."

"What do you want from me," I reply.

"Hahaha!" Gabriella laughs. "You may not know it, but I've known you for a lot longer than you even realize."

I look at Gabriella with much anger in my eyes. "What do you mean, demon."

"Oh, don't be so angry and hurtful, Richard." Gabriella laughs. "Is that any way to treat someone that you've known your entire life?"

"I don't know you..." I reply.

"Hahaha!" Gabriella laughs. "Of course you do, but you were never aware."

I try to attack the demon, but I can't move.

"Do you remember this world and time that you are in now?" Gabriella asks. "Both you and that other brat, the one you know as Tara, you were both here at some point in time before now."

I again try to attack the demon, but I can't move.

"Hahaha!" Gabriella laughs. "I'm going to have so much fun with you!"

Suddenly, Gabriella, the nightmarish creatures, the sounds of crying and screaming, and the darkness fade away. I'm lying on the floor. Tara is holding me...

"Ricky, are you alright?" Tara asked. "You passed out again, and you hit your head pretty hard on the floor."

"I'm fine, but I saw that demon Gabriella again," I replied. "This is getting pretty messed up. Let me get up from this floor and pull myself together, and then I'll share the details with you."

​

"Sure thing, Ricky," Tara responded. "Here, let me help you up."

I keep hearing the cryptic words from the Keeper of Time that continue to haunt my mind... What the hell is going on? I was just a happy guy trying to live life and make a living for myself. I met a beautiful girl named Tara at the Oasis. We fell in love, got into a relationship, and then we got engaged. Life was going great. Now, time and the unknown are tearing me apart. Me and Tara are trying to survive through time and adversity, I have a demon taunting and stalking me, and I'm beginning to see myself fade away from reality. I think the Keeper of Time may be right. If I don't figure out what it is that I need to do, my existence really may be forever lost. I may not even be a memory anymore... How much time do I even have left?

Despite all of the chaos circling around the fate of my own existence, I do know that I cannot give up. I've carried on this far. Whatever it is that's trying to annihilate me, I have to find a way to stop it. Even if time itself is my greatest nemesis, I have to survive... Me and Tara have our lives to live and enjoy together forever in love. We will get married and have a family of our own. I cannot and will not let the doom clock purge me from existence...