Altered steps 🧡

" This is a work of fiction. All characters are imaginary."

Marshall stood near the black car, his coat pulled close against the night. The fog hung low, and the cold wind moved through it slowly. Five minutes passed with him standing still, lost somewhere in thought, when a light tap on his shoulder made him flinch. He turned, surprised, and smiled nervously. “It’s you,” he said. “Yes,” she replied. It was Marine—his childhood friend. They had grown up in the same town, the same neighborhood. Their families had known each other well. Then, suddenly, her father was transferred for work, and she left with her family. There was no proper goodbye. Marshall only remembered being told she was gone. That was sixteen years ago. “Marshall… are you alright?” Marine asked, hesitating. He paused. For a moment, he was a boy again—confused, standing in the same streets, trying to understand how someone could disappear so completely. Her voice pulled him back. “Yes, I’m,” he said, smiling lightly. But the answer felt incomplete. Marine asked what he was doing there so late at night. “I was just passing by,” Marshall replied after a brief pause. She nodded, accepting it, though something in her expression suggested she sensed more. Then he asked her the same question. Marine looked away for a second, thinking. Finally, she said she was waiting for her fiancé. Marshall’s hand froze as he was about to pull something from his pocket. A fiancé? He slipped his hand back, feeling a tightness in his chest he didn’t react to. “Oh,” he said. Marine noticed, then looked away. The wind grew colder. She said she should go. As she took a few steps forward, a car stopped in front of her. She got inside. Marshall heard the engine start and slowly turned. He saw the man only briefly—black hair, sunglasses worn despite the night. For a moment, Marshall thought he recognized him. Or maybe he only wanted to. The car drove away with Marine inside it. Marshall stood there, unmoving. When he finally began to walk, his steps felt slightly different—not slower, just altered.