11:56:04

The yawn was heard throughout the entire bedroom. It was the sleepy roar of a tired lion. The young man had already changed into his pajamas and had been up for hours after just enjoying himself. But now the time was late, and his energy was gone. Turning on the tv and putting on a stream that was just 24/7 rain and thunder sounds, he climbed his lanky body into bed. With the press of a button all other lights went off, and he was left with just the dim glow of the tv that was warming and calming.

He fidgeted on the mattress as he got himself comfy and took one last look at the clock on his nightstand. 11:55. Not all that late for someone like him, but he was particularly tired tonight and had work in the morning. Wasting no time, he closed his eyes with the last thing seen being the clock changing to 11:56. Just a few seconds later, he was out.

He fell into the deepest sleep he had ever experienced. And it happened so quickly. It was like a blink to him. When he closed his eyes, he opened them again and he was no longer in the land of the awake, though he didn’t realize it at first. Because what he saw when his eyes opened was his room as he saw it before he fell asleep. The tv’s audio and scenery was even there. His eyes darted about the room, but he otherwise didn’t move. It looked like everything was in place. Though there was something different. From what he saw, everything looked like it was painted roughly onto the walls. Lines were blurry. The room seemed to warp in areas like looking through a fishbowl lens in and out. Everything had a dark mirage coming off it. Like they were on fire with a black flame that didn’t burn.

It was all starting to register with him. Especially when he thought about the last thing he remembered. He looked at the clock on his counter. 11:57. That’s right. He went to sleep. He remained perfectly still though as his body just didn’t have any energy to move. It felt like he was made of solid lead and was too heavy to move a muscle. Weirdly he kept imagining himself quickly jumping up, only to realize he was still frozen in place. He gave his eyes a clench and took a deep breath and with what felt like titanic force he managed to sit up and was on the edge of his bed. That was the first step and with the next he managed to stand. Then he took an actual step. Then another. When he got to the middle of his room everything suddenly melted away, and the scenery changed completely.

Looking around his mouth was open with awe at the sight. It was a city block but none that he had ever seen before. And it didn’t look normal either. Aside from the same burning mirage everything looked otherworldly. The buildings took angles and slants that would’ve been impossible. Everything was colored in mauve and magentas. Even the moon in the sky was the odd color and even though there was no sight of it, he could hear rain and thunder. The television’s sound still penetrating his thoughts. Furrowing his brow, he thought of what was going on and that’s when he saw images flash in his head. Suddenly he saw himself. It was like watching a recording of himself as he saw his day at work. But it wasn’t the previous day or any day he remembered. He saw himself walking to the breakroom and finding a giant cake on the center table. It was for someone’s birthday and that’s when he remembered that it was indeed a fellow employee’s birthday tomorrow. Is that what he was seeing? Tomorrow?

“What the hell?” He exclaimed with a voice that was more booming than he thought. He covered his mouth and his wide eyes darted about. He wasn’t sure if he was alone in this place, but he quickly got his answer.

“Ssshhh. They’ll hear you.” A soft voice whispered from around the corners of one of the buildings. His head jerked about to find its source and that’s when a young woman stepped out into the light of a streetlamp.

“What?” His voice was loud again, and he caused himself to jump at the sound.

“Ssshhhh. You trying to get yourself killed?” She chided him.

“Sorry.” He finally spoke in a whisper. She came over to him and looked him up and down.

“New here, huh?” She put her hands on her hips and smirked.

“Where the hell is here? Where am I?”

“Tell me. What do you last remember?” Her question made him think back to when he was in his room.

“I laid down to go to sleep. It was Eleven something. 11:56 or something. I was tired and have work in the morning.”

“Did you happen to see the time on your clock when you woke up here?”

“Yeah. 11:57. What does that have to do with anything?”

“You’re in the leap.”

“The…leap?” He raised an eyebrow and began to scan everywhere around him.

“Yeup. The leap. Did you know that a day isn’t exactly twenty-four hours? It’s actually precisely twenty-three hours, fifty-six minutes, and four seconds. That is Earth’s actual time of rotation. That’s part of the reason we have leap year you know? Hence the name of this place.” She crossed her arms and had a proud smile, feeling good about educating someone.

“Ok. What the hell does that have to do with where I am?”

“Our clocks of course read a full twenty-four hours. So, if you fall asleep during that four-minute gap between the actual rotation of Earth and our recorded one, you fall into a space that time blends together. It’s kinda like a nexus of sorts. It’s where the present begins to meet with the future. It’s where today turns into tomorrow.”

“So, what’s with this vision I just had? I saw myself at work with a birthday cake. And it’s someone’s birthday tomorrow.”

“You saw tomorrow. In the leap you can see into the future. Just imagine what you want to know and if it involves you and isn’t a result of luck, you’ll see it.”

“A result of luck?” His brows furrowed as he thought about that remark.

“Yeeeaaahhhh. I’m sure your first instinct would be to look at what the winning lotto numbers are. But unfortunately, such random scenarios are impossible to see as that part of the future is always in motion. Nor does it directly involve you.”

“Well shit. The universe still polices that, huh?”

“Yeah.”

“But what do you mean by get myself killed? What’s going to kill me?” He forgot his whisper for a moment, and his voice elevated in volume and that was when they heard a noise from one of the dark alleyways. It sounded like an animal letting out a deep bellowing growl. The woman grabbed his arm as her attention snapped over to it.

“Chronivores.”

“Chronivores?”

“Yeah. The leap is not uninhabited. It’s not just where the present meets the future, but where the past is left behind. And in the past the world before is, well, eaten.”

“Eaten? The hell?”

“Yeah. Time moves slowly here to the point of nearly freezing. But in the real world when the four minutes passes and the recorded time ends, the past is consumed in its entirety by the chronivores. And if you make too much noise they’ll find you and eat you as well. If they eat your conscious in the leap, back in the waking world your body will just die in bed, and you’ll lay there rotting until someone comes and finds you.”

“Jesus.”

“Yeah. So try not to make too much noise. Look. Let’s move on. They’re nearby and will be sure to sniff us out. Come on.” She pulled his sleeve and he followed as they left the street behind, taking one last look back at the dark alley where they heard the creature. She led him several blocks away and checked her watch. “The leap is about to fade away in a few moments. Well. Few moments for us.”

“What happens to us when that happens?”

“We just wake up. We wake up back in bed with memories of everything we’ve experienced in the leap. So. If there’s anything else you want to know about the future than think of it. But be careful not to go too far forward.”

“What do you mean go too far forwards? What happens if I do?”

“If you think too far ahead into the future, like a few days or more, you begin to disrupt the timeline. They’ll sense that and it’ll bring them right to you. And there’s no way out of the leap until the time is up. So, once they get a scent on you there’s no escape. I’ve…seen what it’s like when someone gets eaten by a chronivore. It’s…god it’s not pretty.” Her words drew a grimace from him, and he wondered if he even wanted to look forward into the future. But the curiosity was too great, and he closed his eyes and thought.

He started to see more recording style images of himself as he drove to the grocery store and found they brought back his favorite soda. This drew a smile on his face and got him excited. He noticed it was several days in the future as he saw signs that read the sale of the day and he recognized the day of the week.

“Wow. This is incredible.” The joy made him forget his whispering and the woman looked back at where they came from.

“Damn it. Keep it down.” Her eyes began to show a panic as she could feel like something was coming towards them.

“Sorry. This is just so cool.” He began to think again. This time he went further. He wanted to know more. But this started to cause distortions in the city around them and the woman saw it. The buildings began to ripple and warp. They looked like they were made of rubber and began to move like they had a life of their own.

“Hey. Hey. You’re going too far.” She looked back again but the man didn’t pay attention to her. He was too caught up in learning everything he could about the coming weeks. The growl echoed through the alleyways. The woman’s mouth dropped and she took one last look at the man who was so engrossed in what he was doing. “You’ve screwed up man. Shit. I’m out of here.”

She bolted and the man snapped back just in time to see her run off around a city block.

“Wait. Wait. I.” He whispered out to her, but his attention was drawn back to the sound in the dark alleyway. He was frozen in place as he heard it drawing near.

They were strange footsteps. Sounding like sharp tips clanking against the concrete. Whatever it was, it had claws and it got louder as it drew closer. The alleyway was cloaked in darkness, and he could only see the shape of something that blended in with it. It got larger and he heard the unearthly sound. Like a crocodile’s bellow mixed with a grizzly’s growl. It began to emerge from the shadows.

Back in his bed the clock read 11:59 and he was peacefully asleep. His breathing was steady and calm. A normal rate for someone deep in REM. But then it stopped. His breathing ceased and he laid there. The clock changed to midnight, but he did not wake. His body was now lifeless in bed as the time continued to pass. It wouldn’t be until days later and many missed calls that a concerned friend filed a missing person’s report, and he was found where he died.