Short Story #2- UNDO

Here's the second story. I hope you're enjoying these Short Story Wednesdays. Subscribe to my Youtube channel for regular trailer updates. In case you missed it, the trailer for this short is up on my Youtube channel. Please feel free to share and comment. 

Undo

The choppy sound of keys filled the air. Half a cup of coffee lay by the computer screen, undisturbed. A pair of dark eyes shielded by spectacles stared at the flashing screen with an unwavering devotion. The phone near the coffee cup vibrated. The eyes turned to the phone. 

“1 Message received’ the phone screen lit up. His thick fingers moved to the phone and unlocked the screen. He began reading the message. 

‘Your have recently used undo.com.’ the message read. There was no sender, no subject line and no punctuation. The number ‘00000000’ flashed as the sender’s number. Dan took a deep breath and stared at his phone. His eyes turned away. 

The glass window shivered under the chill of the night. Curtains flew chaotically against the violent breeze. The stranger stood up. His slippers slid across the wooden floor and shut the window with a soft thud. The room was dark without the light of the stormy moon. He slid back into the worn out seat that lay in front of the computer. From the corner of his eye, he observed the cup of cold coffee, sitting motionlessly on the table. He shifted his attention back to the computer screen. 

An e-mail filled the screen. The subject line read: ‘High school reunion photos’. He downloaded the photos and opened the first one. There was Sarah, Amy, Jim, Lee, Nadia and...and Julie-his eyes froze on her willowy frame. Her face still as fragile, gentle and warm as it was ten years ago. His heart began beating rapidly all of a sudden. His palms slid across his chest, becoming one with the beating of his heart.  His eyes were transfixed on the photo as his mind recalled a string of buried memories. His vision blurred. 

Her deep blue eyes haunted his dreams. Her soft lips were a juxtaposition of the image he dreamed of every night. She looked real, too real. The soft lines of her jaw had been weighed down by some fat. Her cheeks were not soft and supple anymore but etched with the scars of time. Yet, she was the same Julie. The one he had loved all those years ago. 

The arms of the noisy clock ticked, jolting his senses. He took a deep breath in. His breath remained locked in his lungs as his eyes moved to the person standing next to her. It was a man. His eyes blue just like Julie’s, his frame narrow and his hair brown. His long arms slid across her shoulder, emerging from the other side. 

So, Julie was married now. Time hadn’t been fair to him. Then again, life had never been fair.  A slow grin spread across his cheek. The nerves in his throat bulged, trying hard not to burst against the intensity of his hate. 

His fists curled up into a ball and he smashed the cup of coffee. Liquid coffee dripped to the floor, forming a pool of brown on the wooden table. The white porcelain cut a long line of red across his arm. Blood filled the deep cut. He took a deep breath it and hissed. 

His eyes turned to the pool of coffee. He looked at the remnants of the white cup. His eyes drifted to the peeling wallpaper that adorned the walls. The floor was dusty, the kitchen sink overflowing, the postbox full, the windows creaky, the taps leaking and the sofas bursting their seams. His eyes turned to the monitor. He quickly began typing a URL. 

A black page filled the screen. ‘Welcome’. The words ‘UNDO’ were inscribed on top of the page. A password window opened up. He hurriedly typed in the password. The page refreshed into another blank page that looked like a search engine. The words ‘UNDO’ were written on over it. He entered the words ‘the broken coffee cup and wound’. He pressed enter. 

A blink later, his eyes turned to the porcelain coffee cup seated smugly next to the personal computer. The cut in his hand had disappeared without a trace. His fingers ran across his smooth arm. There was no trace of any wound. He smiled to himself. The lukewarm coffee stated at him, cold and uninviting. He turned his gaze to the computer screen and got rid of the black window. He began shuffling through the reunion pictures again. He was glad that he had missed the reunion. 

His eyes remained fixed on the stranger standing next to Julie. He opened the black window again and typed the words ‘Julie’s marriage’ in the search box. A second later, the image of the stranger next to Julie disappeared. He smiled with greater satisfaction and continued to stare at the picture. His crooked mouth was straight now as the satisfaction spread across his chest. 

His phone flashed again. Another message. He picked up the phone unlocking the screen with a complicated pattern. 

“You have used undo.com. Only two more to go for today.” the message read. It was from the same unknown number. The stranger’s breath was trapped in his throat. He pushed the air out as he read the message again with widened eyes. He tried to click a few buttons on the keyboard. The website stared at him, just the same. He banged his fist on the other end of the table, sending ripples across the surface of the coffee. The message was still the same. The words swam before his eyes. 

“Damn.” he hissed through a clenched jaw. He raked his fingers through his messy brown hair. He adjusted his spectacles and took a deep breath in. He opened another window and began viewing the code of the website. It was encrypted. He let a sigh out. This was not the first time he had wanted to hack the website. He leaned back against the chair and let out a frustrated sigh. His memory reeled back to the strange encounter almost a week ago. 

It all began with an e-mail.  His eyes ran through the words that he had written a few years ago. The word document hung before his eyes. 

‘I wish life were life a computer. Press ‘undo’ and it never happened.’ 

Almost a month ago, he had received a mysterious e-mail from an unknown sender. . The e-mail contained a link to undo.con. When Dan tried to enter the URL in the search engine, it never showed any results. The site could only be accessed through the e-mail. It also required a password which had been sent with the e-mail. 

At first, he had tried it out of mere curiosity mixed with a heavy dose of skepticism. There was no way a website could undo all the horrible things that happened in his life. 

Now, almost a month later, Dan had become completely dependent on the website. He tried to hack the website and discover its origin but it was perfectly sealed. There were no loopholes in the coding. Dan had begun to suspect that something this perfect could not be real. How could someone have created this website? He wanted to meet the programmer. 

The door bell rang. Its sharp sound vibrated through the stationary coffee mug. Dan stood up and walked to the door. With a rapid swoop, he opened it. There was nobody outside. He shut the door, muttering about the noisy kids in the neighborhood. He went back to this desk. It rang again. This time, he hurriedly reached for the door and opened it with marked irritation. 

His jaw fell open. His pupils dilated. The figure on the other side of the door was unreal. It was Julie. Of all the people in the world, it was Julie. The minute he saw her, he knew. Her clear blue eyes pieced his heart with the intensity of a bullet. He had imagined this scene in many different ways but this was unprecedented. 

Dan froze. He didn’t know what to say. He had been silent all these years. He had harbored this unrequited love in his lonely heart for the longest time. Now, this loneliness felt natural. He didn’t know what to say. He had grown accustomed to the silence.

“Ummm...Dan?” she asked, her eyebrows raising. 

“Yes?” Dan said, pretending not to know her. 

“I’m Julie,” she began in her soft voice. The gentle caress of her breath made him weak in the knees. Nothing had changed. “Do you remember me?” 

Of course I remember you. My thoughts have been filled with you ever since I can remember....

“Julie....from school?” Dan said instead. 

“Yes, it’s me.” Julie said with a broad smile. She moved closer to Dan and embraced him. His heart rate shot through the sky. This thing was really working. The Undo engine had made his wildest fantasy come true. He smiled to himself smugly. 

“Come in,” he said, his chest high. His grin spread out, covering his cheeks. From Julie’s back, he could see the messy apartment. Thankfully he had not turned on all the lights. A heap of dirty clothes lay on one end of the room, covering the room with its stench. Dan quickly moved to the corner and closed the laundry bag. He moved it away, shoving it into the next room. The light was dim and eerie. He opened the window. 

Julie moved uncomfortably. She didn’t know why she was here. 

“Please sit.” Dan said. He picked up the newspapers and magazines that lay over the couch. It had been ages since someone had visited this place. His breath was quick and jagged. Julie sat on the couch, her pale blue eyes searching the room.

“Coffee?” Dan asked awkwardly with the papers in his hand. Julie nodded awkwardly. He was oblivious to the surroundings. His heart thundered. He had gone back in time. He had gone back to the awkward boy he was in high school. 

“No...no thanks.” she said. She edged forward, knocking over the empty vase on the table. It fell to the floor and shattered. 

Dan leapt to the computer and typed ‘broken vase’ into the undo search engine. The broken vase miraculously put itself together. Dan turned around and saw Julie looking at the brand new vase with shock coloring her face. Her hands covered her mouth. Dan realized that she didn’t know about the undo engine. Cold sweat broke out. 

“What...what was that?” she asked. 

“Ummm....that...” Dan was tongue tied. How was he supposed to explain this? 

She glanced at the computer screen. Slowly, she got up, her fragile form making its way to the computer. She looked at the page on the computer screen. 

“What is this? Undo?” she asked, placing herself on the chair before the computer. 

“Uh....actually...” Dan decided to tell her the truth. But before he could say anything, she began pressing keys on the computer. His stomach suddenly felt weak as if a black hole were pulling his soul. 

“What....what are you doing?” he asked. Julie hastily typed the words ‘Dan’ in the search box and pressed ‘enter’. 

Dan’s eyes fell on his form, reflected in the mirror. He could not see his legs. It was as if they did not exist. Yet, he could walk. He hurried to the computer screen and opened the website. The name in the undo search engine was his. The wave of void spread to his stomach. He was rapidly disappearing. 

“What is happening? Stop it right now.” he said, trying to edge closer to the keyboard. 

“Sorry Dan, your time is up,” she said, her voice cracking. His eyes enlarged. He stared at her without expression. 

“Julie? What does this mean?” he asked, shocked. 

“I created this search engine,” she said, her voice low. Dan suddenly remembered that she had studied computers at University. “It was an accident.”

“But then...why...” his voice was breaking. 

“Today’s the deadline, in case you forgot.” she said. She opened the e-mail that Dan had received a few weeks ago. It was the e-mail containing the password. The expiry date was written on it.

“What is this supposed to mean?” Dan asked.

“Undo was supposed to be the future of the internet. It was the ultimate way of linking things and events to the internet....something like the future of internet of things.” she explained. “But it all went terribly wrong.”

“What!?”

“I sent you this e-mail last month,” she said. “I wanted you to test it out.” 

“It worked. It worked perfectly.” Dan said.

“I know, but something went wrong. Something went wrong when you erased my marriage. You see, the engine doesn’t handle past events very well. I haven’t found a way to program those.” she said. 

“This is crazy. Why am I disappearing?”

“Your disappearance is the only way to restore balance to this system. It is affecting the time of our world.” she said. 

Dan had almost completely disappeared. Only his face remained.

“Who did you choose me?” he asked. “Why did you send this e-mail to me?”

“Because I know you loved me...from long ago.” she said. “I wanted you to have this chance.  I’m sorry.” 

Dan’s lips curved into a smile as they disappeared with the cold air. The window remained open. 

Julie’s solitary frame hung over the keyboard. Her eyes steadily observed the void that remained where Dan had once been. Moonlight poured over her, lighting her tears up. She hung her head. Tears poured down her cheeks. They were wispy and ethereal in the moonlight. It was the end of another era. It was the last time somebody used that website. 


- P. Wish