I was in a daze for a few hours. I tried to work out what had happened. It was like I’d gone back in time…but just a few seconds. I didn’t think I really had. I’d had some kind of seizure; that was the only explanation. Nothing happened for a few days after that and the whole thing became a sort of vague memory.
I thought about going to my doctor, but what would I say? Excuse me doc, I think I time warped the other day, a bit like Doctor Who but without a Tardis. Maybe it was just all imagination anyway.
Then it happened again but this time I knew that something really strange was going on. Some kid, probably 12 or 13 years old, ran out of a local shop in front of me. He was being chased by Ali Arkwright; we call him that ‘cos his shop’s a sort of Asian ‘open all hours’ and he does look a bit like a well tanned Ronnie Barker. The kid had nicked something and he was off like a bullet. He ran straight into the road, right in front of a moving car. I heard his leg break like a branch being cracked and then he went flying over the bonnet onto the roof and then onto the road behind. There was this sort of squishy thud as he hit the tarmac. The bones in his leg were sticking out through his skin and blood was spurting from the wound. The poor mite was out cold and his head was twisted ‘round too much for my liking. I couldn’t believe my eyes. Me and Ali just looked at each other. I thought I was going to be sick; I’m not good with blood or accidents. That was when the shatterback thing happened again. That’s what I call it. It seems a good description.
Anyway, suddenly I was back outside Ali’s Emporium and the same kid is coming out of the shop, but this time I grab him. I guess it was instinct. Ali grabs him as well and drags him back into the shop. The kid swears at me and calls me every name under the sun. He even spat at me, the little bleeder. He didn’t realise that I’d just saved his life. I looked towards the road and saw the very car that hit him go by. That was spooky.