Faith - Judy Albietz

So now, Lily punched back down the fear rising in her gut. There was no guarantee for humans traveling through the Time Portal. Not only was she scared of dying but she also was scared of the process—of what the process of time traveling would do to her. Will my body’s molecules be taken apart and not be able to get back together again? I have no choice. She thought back to Sam’s statement of how this was totally unfamiliar territory. For Lily, the first—and only—time she had time-traveled, she had been unconscious and Sam had been with her. Sam had tried his best to describe it for her, but he cautioned that his experience was that of a time-traveling dog and not a human.

Before it’s too late, I have to tell him. Lily thought. She and Sam were standing side by side as she started to step into the Time Portal.

“Sam, I want you to know—“Lily started to say, but stopped. She couldn’t see him as her body was propelled forward. Then misty strands of pink, green and purple clouds were coming at her from all sides, weaving her into a cocoon. “Sam!” she called. No answer. She tried to look back but couldn’t even move her head. Her body was frozen. She closed her eyes.

That morning Sam had explained the Time Portal. “We are not sure how your body will react when the Time Portal takes you in. You will be absorbed. You might feel trapped. Take that as a good sign. I wish I could go with you … to protect you.” A soft whine had come from Sam’s throat as he squeezed his eyes shut. Lily had reached over to hold his big head in her arms.

The risk. This was something they didn’t talk about. The rule. The rule that humans couldn’t travel through the Time Portal. She’d survived the first time, but Sam had been with her. And he couldn’t go with her this time. And this was the only way to stop the infection that was killing the Time Portal. She and she alone had to take the anti-virus back to her time, back to the nano-second before the virus invaded in the first place, back to before Sam ever entered her life.

Now that it was too late, she regretted most of all how she’d held back in the first place. Never told him just how much he meant to her. Now she’d really lost her chance forever. She asked herself what’d stopped her. Yeah, she thought. If I die he’ll never know. If I live, I’ll have no memories of who Sam is or how much I love him.