The forest stretched before him, silent and endless. Shadows twisted between the trees, stretching long and thin under the pale morning light. The man's breath came in ragged gasps as he stumbled forward, his voice hoarse from calling her name.
"Ahensa!"
Only the whisper of wind and the distant murmur of the river answered him.
Panic clawed at his chest. She had wandered before forgetting things, forgetting him but never like this. Not without a trace. Not into the deep woods, where the river ran cold and merciless.
His old bones ached as he moved, but he didn't stop. He couldn't. His heart thundered in his ears as he reached the riverbank, his hands trembling as he scanned the water's surface.
Then he saw it.
A pale shawl, half-draped over the rocks at the river's edge. A hand her hand limp and lifeless beneath it.
The world around him collapsed. His knees buckled, and he fell beside her, hands grasping at her cold body, pulling her close. Her skin was like ice, her lips parted slightly, as if she had been calling out for him before the water claimed her.
"No," he choked, rocking her gently. "No, no, no…"
But she did not answer.
The river's song seemed louder now, mocking him, whispering the name he had called a thousand times. Ahensa was gone.
The Curse of Time
He buried her beneath the great oak tree where she used to sit and hum forgotten melodies. For days, he did not move from her grave. He whispered to the earth, hoping,praying that she would whisper back. But silence pressed against him like a weight he could not lift.
Time lost its meaning. The sun rose and fell, but he remained, a hollow shell of the man he had been.
Then, one night, he wandered.
His feet carried him through the forest, past the river, down paths he did not recognize. He walked without thought, without purpose, until he stumbled upon a clearing where the air felt… different. Heavy. Thick with something unseen.
And then he saw it.
A figure stood before him. Tall, ancient, draped in robes that shimmered like shifting sand. Its face was obscured, but its presence sent a shiver through his bones.
"You have disturbed the balance," the figure spoke, its voice neither old nor young. "And now, Time itself will punish you."
The man did not understand. He had done nothing but suffer. What crime had he committed beyond loving too deeply?
"I have lost everything," he whispered. "What more can be taken from me?"
The figure tilted its head, as if amused by his ignorance. "You will see."
Before he could move, before he could breathe, the world around him shattered.
The Loop Begins
Darkness swallowed him whole. It was not the darkness of night, but something deepersomething endless. It pulled him down, tearing through him, unraveling his very existence.
And then light.
He gasped as air rushed into his lungs. His body felt… different. Lighter. Smaller. The weight of age was gone.
He opened his eyes.
He was no longer in the forest. No longer an old man.
He was sitting in a classroom, the chatter of schoolchildren filling the air. His hands young, unfamiliar gripped the edges of a wooden desk.
Confusion crashed over him like a wave. He turned his head, heart pounding.
On the blackboard, the date was written in neat chalk strokes. Decades before Ahensa had ever entered his life.
He was a boy again. And somewhere, out in the world, Ahensa was waiting to meet him for the first time.