The Watch – Part 202:

(In Tom’s perspective)

After I had downed three glasses of water, I said my thanks for the fifth time and left the café. I felt so much better. I was back to my normal-self once more. I was smiling for about a minute before I realised that Sebastian and Amy were nowhere to be found. I still need to figure out where I am so that I can get my bearings. All I do know is that it’s in some busy city centre, but I don’t recognise it as anywhere in London, or even England for that matter. I only know I’m in an English speaking country.

‘Ok,’ I breathed, ‘maybe there’s a tourist information centre,’ I suggested to myself. Surely there should be some clues as to where I am. Then I got a brainwave. The prices on the menu in the café. The currency will tell me exactly where I am. I turned around on the balls of my heels and found the menu on the window. Pound Sterling. I’m in England. OK, so where about am I in England exactly, then? However, all thoughts about where I was were suddenly and instantly clouded by how hungry I felt. My stomach growled loudly. Travelling here really drained my energy. The only problem is that I don’t have any money, and I don’t have my bank card to draw any out either.

I never imagined being in this position. I never left the house without my phone or my wallet, but due to certain and unexpected circumstances, I’m trapped in the middle of a city, with no money and no phone. If I can figure out what city I’m in, maybe I can go about making my way home.

What if Sebastian and Amy are looking for me? Should I stay here until they do? I can’t be sure how long that’ll be though. Wherever they are, I hope they are OK. If only I had the watch. It would be so easy to press a few buttons and teleport back home. But I don’t have the watch, and so I have to go about things via the long way round. And I can’t do that without any money. And I can’t do anything without any energy. Once I’ve gotten some food inside me, I can then sit down and really think about this.

So what do I do first?

‘Ah, I know,’ I said thinking aloud. A couple of people turned their heads towards me with confusion. I quickly bowed my head and starting walking away. I can go to the bank, say that I’ve lost my debit card – which I technically have – and then go through a (lengthy) procedure to access my account to acquire some money so that I can go about my business and get home. That’s an idea and a half. Right, so, where’s the bank?

‘Excuse me,’ I said, asking another random stranger. ‘Do you know where Natwest is?’

‘Er…’ she said, thinking. ‘Oh, um… if you go back that way,’ she said, pointing back where she just was, ‘and take a right at the lights, it’s on your left.’

‘Thanks,’ I said.

‘You’re welcome,’ she said, happy that she helped someone and we went our separate ways. At the lights, I pushed the button and waited for the red man to chance to the green man, signalling that it’s safe for us to cross. The beeping noise sounded and a group of us all crossed at once. The bank was exactly where she said it would be, on my left. There was a bit of a queue, but that didn’t matter. As long as I can withdraw some money, then the queue can extend to outside.

As I was queuing, waiting for the staff members to deal with everyone’s requests. In front of me was an elderly couple, both with walking sticks and hunched backs. There were holding hands as they waited, which I found really cute. The longer I waited, the more I zoned out and focused on my thoughts once more. The last thing I remember is being in that box, talking to Amy, and waiting for Sebastian to come and rescue us, and that strange tingling feeling just before I found myself lying on my back in the middle of that alleyway. Maybe Amy was teleported to some other part of the city. Maybe even to the opposite side of the country. Did something go wrong with Zaylor’s plan? He wanted us to answer his questions, so I can’t imagine him suddenly pressing some button to teleport us to some random place, and I know that Sebastian wouldn’t have done anything like that. He would have smashed through the glass and took us home. It wouldn’t matter how tough the glass was, he would have smashed it with ease.

I think something went wrong with Zaylor’s plans. That has to be the only option that sounds reasonable. Wherever Sebastian is, he’ll find Amy and I. Hopefully, I can get back home so that I can contact him to let him know that everything’s fine and that I can then help find Amy. I don’t know if he has his phone with him. Is the watch able to pick up telephone calls? It probably can, but I doubt that I would be able to call it with Sebastian’s mobile number. I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it. At the moment, let’s just focus on getting some money so that I can actually do something.

I hope that Amy is OK. Suddenly being in a strange place is very disorientating. If it weren’t for that pile of rubbish, I doubt I would have recovered as quickly. I don’t have to worry about Sebastian. He’s fine. He has the watch. I wish I had the watch. It would be nice to simply teleport back home in a matter of seconds, less than that. Now I’m just retracing my previous thoughts.

‘Next,’ I heard someone say. ‘Next.’ I felt a tap on my shoulder. I snapped out of my train of thought and turned around.

‘You’re next,’ the man said, pointing at the counter.

‘Oh,’ I said, a little surprised. ‘Thanks.’

‘Hello,’ a woman who looked to be in her mid-thirties said with a smile.

‘Hi, I lost my bank card and I was wondering if I could withdraw some money out. I need to get home, you see,’ I explained.

‘No problem,’ she said. ‘What’s your name?’

‘Um… Tom Edward Alexander,’ I said. She tapped my name into the system.

‘Date of birth?’ she asked.

‘Nineteen-ninety-seven,’ I answered. ‘Sorry, seventh of July, nineteen-ninety-seven.’ She smiled at my blunder and tapped in the date into the system.

‘And your home address, please?’

‘Um… eighteen Woodland Drive,’ I answered.

‘I’m sorry, Tom, but it doesn’t appear that you are on the system,’ she said regretfully.

‘What? I don’t understand. I’ve been banking with you for years.’

‘I’m sorry, but you don’t appear on the system. Are you sure you’ve given me the correct details?’

‘Yes,’ I said a little too bluntly.

‘Well, I’m sorry, but you’re not on the system. I can’t help you if you’re not on the system,’ she said sternly in response to my sudden bluntness.

‘Right, OK,’ I said. ‘And you are completely sure that the system is working fine?’ I asked.

‘Sir, the system is not down. I’ve entered the details that you’ve given me and correctly, but I’m afraid to say that you are not showing up on the system. I can’t help you if you are not on the system.’ That’s probably going to be the only answer I’m going to get no matter how much I try and push.

‘Well, then,’ I said before leaving. Now what do I do. How can I not be on the system? I’m in England. I’ve been banking with Natwest for years now. Why am I suddenly not showing up on their system… unless…

No. Please don’t tell me… Oh, it’s so obvious now. I’m not home. I mean, I’m not back home. I mean, I’m not in the world that I come from. I’m in some random parallel world.

TO BE CONTINUED…

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)