“That Night”

Author’s Note: This is a Take Ten to Write story and has not been proofread for errors. If I feel inspired or if there’s interest in the story, I’ll post a revised, edited, and extended version at a later date. Happy reading!

Prompt: Write a story titled “That Night”.

I still remember that night in excruciating detail. That night, my life changed forever.

It was just before midnight on the coldest day of the year. It was a record-breaker, actually, for the lowest temperature in the last fifteen years. But that’s not important. What’s important is where I was.

I was in Hunting Park near the old oak tree. Apparently, this tree was the last of its species, a rare kind of tree with solid black bark and bright leaves that changed colour with the temperature. Being the coldest day of the year, the leaves had turned a frost blue-white, starkly contrasting the darkness of the bark.

You’re probably wondering why I was in the middle of a park on the coldest day of the year just before midnight. Well, here’s the short story: I don’t know.

To this day, I can’t remember exactly how I got there, or what my purpose had been. The moment just suddenly appeared in my memory. I had no recollection of what I’d been doing just before then, or how I’d gotten there, or even how long I’d been there.

Even stranger was the fact that I couldn’t remember blacking out at all. There was a gap in my memory, but it seemed as if I had just jumped forward in time. Or maybe it was backward. At the time, I couldn’t tell.

I’ll tell you right now: It was both forward and backward. How? Well, it’s complicated. But again, that’s not important right now.

I walked around the big black tree, marvelling at the vibrance of its leaves. My cheeks and eyes stung with the cold, but I tried my best to ignore it. I had this intense feeling that I needed to do something. And that that something was related to this tree.

So, I continued staring at the oak. I stared for what felt like hours (in reality, it was three and a half minutes) before it happened.

Well, you know what I mean. It was just magical. But again, I won’t waste your time by describing it. You know what happened after that. You experienced the same thing.

So, that’s my story. That’s how that night changed my life completely.

Now, do you have any more questions?

Final Comments: Okay, so yes, I did run out of time at the end, which is the main reason for the ambiguity (sorry about that). At the same time, I enjoyed writing in this type of POV and I’ll probably try it again sometime soon!

Overall Rating: 😳