Turn Back Time

Turn Back Time
Form: Flash Fiction

I left the car in the village square car park. It wasn’t a car park back in the day, of course. During the week the buses would turn around here and head back to the city. On Sundays, there would be a little farmer’s market and local traders. Judging by the notice board the farmer’s market was still a thing. In some ways the years melted away, but in others, the here and now was still there.

I stood there for a few minutes getting my bearings. There were still shops on the lane, but they didn’t look the same. A modern convenience store that probably sold everything but what you wanted. What used to be the local branch of my bank, which had probably closed years ago, was a tourist shop selling tacky souvenirs and postcards. Oddly enough the bridal shop was still there, with a ghastly meringue of white lace in the window, much like it was before, maybe the same dress, I thought.

I began walking down the lane towards the river. The old Tudor cottages looked the same, and the King’s Head pub hadn’t changed much. Next door the chandlery store was still there, of course, selling all things yachty. Turning the corner, the white walls of the village hotel glared into my eyes.

I walked onto the little riverside hard, looking out at the river. The little boats had gone, replaced by the expensive and grand yachts of the wealthy. I wasn’t surprised the yachty fraternity had already started to take over before I left for the city so many years ago. I continued my walk round the corner past a car park that used to be my school, into the old village.

I stopped at the brick cottage on the corner of the old manor estate. How many times had I run through that wooden gate after school and up into the front bedroom to change out of the dull grey uniform? It felt strange standing here. I recalled the day I left home, loading my suitcases into a taxi to take me to the station where a train would carry me to my future.

I didn’t feel sad, more bemused. The idea of moving back here now I am older is not such a good idea, a reality check, there can be no turning the clocks back.

©JezzieG2022