The Time Warden

My name is Remi, and I am a time warden.

To those who meet me, I am both hero and villain. I have no cape, no alter-ego. If you encounter me, you will only meet me once.

My power is my penance, bestowed on me as an answer to a prayer to save the life of a 10-year-old girl, a girl I recklessly killed while racing my motorcycle.

I was a stupid kid, an arrogant kid. Born with a silver spoon in my mouth, I never had to take responsibility for anything.

It all changed that fateful day. For the first time in my 20 years, I knew this was one mess my parents could never have swept under the rug.

I prayed. I’m not even sure I believed, but I prayed. To turn back time. To pick a different location. To make a different decision. Anything. Everything. Everything, except that little girl. I thought only of myself and my predicament as I continued my egocentric prayers.

The answer came in the form of a choice I was given. I could choose to live, knowing that I would be cursed to spend every day tortured with the memory of what I’d done. Or, I could avoid her. My accident would occur ten minutes later. I would still turn the corner driving too fast, but instead of the little girl, there would be a bus. I would be the one who died. I would become a time warden.

I chose the latter.

Now, when I am called upon, to each recipient I encounter, I offer a similar choice. Live, and spend your days tortured in the time wardens’ prison in your mind or join us in our mission to save the innocent by taking the guilty.