Skipped

TRIGGER WARNING FOR MENTAL HEALTH AND KIDNAPPING THEMES

Monday, 12:35 AM

8/10/----

Things just don't feel right. I can't explain how or why but it feels like today has already happened and hasn't started yet at the same time. Maybe I'm just going crazy, I haven't slept in days, weeks maybe. I can't. Something is going on and no one is talking about it. When the shift first happened it was almost impossible to tell what had happened. But I knew, I saw it. The sun was setting, it was almost off the horizon but still visible. The sunset had been beautiful, I'd sat watching it from my apartment window. And then when it seemed like only I was paying attention, it skipped. There was no setting, the sun was just gone. Twilight had begun and the sun had never set. I figured it was just a weird illusion of the light. Maybe the clouds had blocked the view and it just appeared that way but the sky seemed to darken too many shades too quickly. But weird things happen that's part of life, maybe in twenty years scientist will find an explanation for the suns sudden disappearance.

Then two weeks later a few minutes that played out exactly the same as the minutes before it. Again most wouldn't notice but I did. I was watching the TV from my couch, I live in a small studio apartment. One wall is made up entirely off window which I'd hated at first but since time became confused it's been helpful for keeping a watch out. The apartment itself is cramped, the window being the main selling point to our landlord. I have a small couch with an old TV sitting on a small entertainment center, tiny enough that I can't see the screen well if I'm standing. My mattress is on the floor behind the couch and is a mess of blankets and pillows thrown around from night terrors. It had been a few weeks since the first time skip and I couldn't stop thinking about it. Anyways, that day I believe two months ago, yes two months ago it happened. The news was playing, I was crouched on my couch with only the TV on and the curtains closed even though there was no need to considering it was 2:00 in the morning. The news was on, they were talking about a girl who'd gone missing. I only remember because I knew the girl. We used to live next door to each other. I remember her black hair and how she always wanted me to come outside and play with her.

She was missing, no one had seen her for three days. I'd listened to every word the reporter said hoping I was wrong and that it was a different girl. They gave her name, current address, hair, height, eye color, everything they could. "We ask at this time that if you have any information you contact local police." Those words stuck me. I checked the time on my phone, it was 2:37. Only 911 would be taking calls and this wasn't groundbreaking information. Me knowing her that is. No one knew me so it didn't matter if I knew her, I didn't even know her current address until just now. I moved away before she did and I never even said goodbye.

I don't know why I was so overwhelmed with the urge to find her, to tell someone I knew her. It's not like I could even if I wanted to. The only people I knew were my coworkers and I work from home. I knew them from video chats and emails. No one would ever know that I knew her. And it was at this moment, this exact moment of spiraling and panic that it happened. Violently with no transition the news switched to talking about the sports game that went on earlier today. It made no sense, it looked like two clips got mushed together without an end to one or beginning to another. I tried to go back, to see if I had missed something but when I tried going back it just went to the start of the sports story. Nothing on the girl, nothing about someone missing. I was frantic, maybe I'd spaced out longer than I thought. That can happen, panic attacks make hours go by without knowing how long its truly been right? That's when I noticed something, the time said it was 2:24. That can't be right, my TV has to be wrong to I fumbled for my phone. The screen blinked on.

2:24.

How? How was it possible for time to go back. I know it was 2:37 when I checked last. I didn't see it wrong, I couldn't have. Time had gone backwards and I knew it. I waited for the news to cover it, to jump on the story of time folding itself back. The story never came. I joked about it to coworkers and no one laughed. At best there was a pity laugh from someone with their camera off. I and I alone knew what had happened. Or everyone was pretending not to know, a way to play some cruel trick on me. I watched carefully for those moments and was rewarded when they became more frequent. Multiple times a week moments would skip forward or replay. It started as a few seconds, a couple of minutes and now whole days will skip or play over and over. So I'm starting this journal. I'm going to keep track of every minute of every day and figure out what's going on. I know no one else believes me, it became all I could talk about to anyone. Clients at work, my mom on the rare occasion she calls, my neighbors when we passed each other in the halls. I got fired from my job, they said it was for being too distracted at work but I think they knew I was getting close to something.

Thursday 1:56 AM

8/17/----

Time skipped again. A full day this time. I remember last night, I've been watching for the skips in time. It would be a few seconds here and there. I'd watch someone walk on the street by my house and then they would do it again. I can't see what happens when it goes back, it just does. I wish I could explain it but there isn't a reversing of any sort it just loops. I know it's not deja vu and I also know that I'm not crazy. It really does happen, no one else notices it though. I tried looking all over the web, on forms, even posting asking if anyone had noticed it. Nothing yet but I can't be the only one, someone else has to see this happening too. I think they're scared to admit something isn't right. People tend to try and hide from the bad things that are happening in the world, not me though I'm not afraid to talk about it. I emailed any professor on the topic that I could. Anyone who knew about science and time or the gravity of the Earth possibly being shifted. No response yet but I'm positive it's because they're looking into it.

Last night was different though. I remember staring at my phone screen waiting for the clock to strike 12. It was going to be the girl, the one who went missing, it was going to be her birthday. I don't know why it was so important to me but I needed to acknowledge that it was her birthday. So I stayed up and watched the clock tick. When it hit twelve I watched as the date jumped, but not one day forward. It went from Tuesday to Thursday. Her birthday never happened. I looked at my calendar, the photos and emails on my phone and computer but all of it said that it was Thursday. Nothing to show that Wednesday had been skipped, just the knowledge that it had. I don't understand what's happening, I'm going to call...someone. I don't know who just yet but someone and get an explanation.

Sunday 10:45 PM

9/02/----

It's been a week, a full week that just went away. I've called everyone I could think of. I called every science institution and even the government. They all told me I was crazy in one way or another. Some were nice about it and said I could report the time jumps and see what would follow through but I know they were just saying that. Others laughed in my face and called me insane, told me I need to get a life. I haven't sleep in a few days or weeks. It's hard to keep track anymore. You never realize how much you rely on time until it leaves you completely. At least once a day there's some sort of skip. I can't sleep because then I'll miss it, I'll miss the quick second where a bird flies past twice or a dog barks the exact same way over and over. I know I'm not going crazy though even if none of the forums have gotten a response. Someone else has to be seeing this they just have to. The girl whose been missing, Lidia, I did some research into her. It helps kill the time when I'm watching my laptop count the seconds. Lidia was supposed to graduate college this year, she was an engineering major. She'd gotten taller since I'd last seen her now being closer to 5'8 and still had her long black hair. The day she went missing and the news only covered it once is the only time a day hasn't repeated something exactly like the moment before it.

She has to be connected to all of this I just don't know how. Not yet at least but I will soon. The odd thing is that she's not missing anymore. Everything something has skipped on played out again it's always been the same and nothing has changed. Even when a week skips by things are still normal, as if that week had never existed at all. I'm going to find Lidia and see if she knows anything. I should probably shower and eat first though because I haven't left my apartment in almost a month and barley gotten out of bed.

Wednesday 5:10 PM

I finally found out Lidia's address and now I'm waiting by her apartment complex to talk to her. She has to know something, I can't accept that she went missing and then didn't. Something must have happened beforehand, maybe I missed a skip in time once and in those few moments she was able to change her fate because she was someone who knew about the time skips. I'll find out soon enough I can hear her car pulling in.

LOCAL NEWS STORY 9:00

"We're here to outside of victim Lidia Martinez's apartment after reports say she was last seen being lead by another young woman away from her building. The young woman, now identified as Casey Andrews, was seen waiting outside Lidia's apartment since 4:30. Lidia and Casey have not been seen since. It's been over 48 hours and there has been no news of either girls. Lidia is described as 5'8 and 120 pounds with black hair and green eyes. We ask at this time that if you have any information you contact local police. Casey as seen from footage around the building is about 5'6 and 90 pounds, she has thin brown hair and dark brown eyes. It appears Casey was in an unwell state before the disappearance of Lidia. Posts were found of her claiming skips in time and losing track of days. A journal found in her apartment says that she was seeing moments replay and making claims of whole days or weeks not happening. Little is known of her due to her being a recluse and recently being laid off from her job due to the claims she had been making. Coworkers expressed concern over her mental health, claiming she never seemed to do much other then stay in her home. We will continue to update as the story progress. And now onto the sports section for tonight..."