Page 38 of Through the Snow Globe
She nodded numbly, wanting to reach for him and pull him back toward her. What if she didn’t see him tonight? What if he didn’t make it home? A dozen thoughts ran through her brain, but before she could say or do anything else, Linus was gone. He left the room and grabbed his keys on the way out the front door.
Diana startled as it shut loudly down the hall. Then she scrambled to find some clothes of her own to wear. She’d gone to see Mrs. Guzman yesterday after Linus left. She guessed she’d start her day there once again even though the older woman didn’t remember coming to see Diana the day before Christmas Eve. At least she believed what Diana was telling her. Diana seriously doubted anyone else would.
After brushing her teeth and putting on her shoes, Diana grabbed her keys and purse and headed out the door. The temperature was frigid as she hurried across the apartment complex’s courtyard. She stopped behind Mrs. Guzman’s door, took a breath, and knocked.
A moment later, the older woman opened the door. “There you are, dear. Come in, come in.” Her neighbor reached for her arm and practically yanked her inside.
“What do you mean, ‘there you are’? Did you know I was coming?” Diana asked, hope swelling around her heart. Maybe Mrs. Guzman remembered what was going on this time?
“Well, you were the first person I thought of when I woke up this morning, so I figured I’d be seeing you sometime soon.” Mrs. Guzman said this as if it made complete sense. “Some tea?” she offered.
“What kind of tea?” Diana was leery because maybe Mrs. Guzman put spells on her teas too. The enchantment she’d done on the snow globe was an incredible gift, but Diana wasn’t sure she needed anything else to add to her confusion.
“Peppermint. It’ll warm you up. Snow is coming. Not today, of course. It’s still too cold to snow.” She gave Diana a conspiratorial look and then turned toward the kitchen where a hot kettle sat on the counter as if Mrs. Guzman really was waiting for company. The old woman flipped the kettle on and opened the cabinet to grab a mug.
“So,” Diana began, “you aren’t going to remember this, but the day before yesterday, you came to see me at my apartment and you brought me a gift. It was December twenty-third. The day before Christmas Eve.” Mrs. Guzman didn’t react to that so Diana continued. “I invited you inside, and you admired the snow globe Linus had given me.” Diana was talking fast, trying to get all the information out. She didn’t want to waste a second of this new day.
Mrs. Guzman nodded as she listened. She opened a tin full of tea bags and dropped one into the mug. “A snow globe is a magical thing.”
“That’s what you said the first time. Do you remember any of this?”
“No.” Mrs. Guzman turned to look at her.
Diana felt her body fold forward, her shoulders rounding. Of course she didn’t. Diana needed someone to be in on the secret, though. She was scared and alone in a day she’d already lived before—twice. “Okay, hypothetically, if you put an enchantment on my snow globe and made it to where I got a chance to spend one more day with someone I’ve lost . . .”
“Mm-hmm.” Mrs. Guzman poured the hot water over the tea bag. She stirred in some honey and walked it over to Diana.
Diana waited to speak again until Mrs. Guzman met her gaze. “What would I do with that new day?”
“Another day is a gift,” Mrs. Guzman said just like she’d done yesterday. “Hypothetically, you would use it to be with the person you lost.”
“But can I use the day to change what happens? Can I stop something bad from taking place? So that the one I miss isn’t lost anymore?”
Mrs. Guzman seemed to think about that response. “The snow globe’s magic doesn’t bring people back from the dead, if that’s what you’re asking.”
“He’s not dead, though,” Diana said.
Mrs. Guzman lifted a brow. “Well, then,hypothetically, if he’s not dead, you haven’t lost him, have you? In that case, I would guess you could, possibly, save him.”
“But how?” Diana took a sip of her tea. She barely tasted it because she was so nervous. “I mean, I tried yesterday. I took his bike. I drove him home a different way. The accident still happened.”
“And now you’re repeating the same day again?” Mrs. Guzman asked. The whole hypothetical pretense was out the door, but Diana didn’t think her neighbor had ever bought it anyway. “It sounds like you’re in what is referred to as a time loop, dear.”
Diana nibbled on her lower lip as she considered the idea. “A time loop? Like inGroundhog Day?”
Mrs. Guzman scrunched her white-blond brows. “What?”
“It’s a movie. The main character keeps reliving Groundhog Day.” Diana gave her head a slight shake. “But things like that don’t happen in real life.”
“No? Then why are you panicking in my kitchen right now?” Mrs. Guzman waited a beat and then nodded. “I would say life is offering you a lesson that you must learn. Until then, you’re stuck.”
As long as Linus was in this day, Diana didn’t mind being trapped in December 4th. She just wanted to make sure he came out of it with her. Intact. “What is the lesson? And who’s teaching it?”
Mrs. Guzman chuckled. “I can’t answer those questions for you.”
“Can’t you read your tea leaves or something?” Diana asked, glancing past the older woman to the tins of tea lined up on her counter. “I don’t have time to make mistakes. What if this is the last day in the time loop? I need to get it right this time.”Forever is a myth. All we have is this moment.
Mrs. Guzman gave her a gentle smile. “There is always time for tea and mistakes. That’s my philosophy. This predicament is for you to figure out. I just wish you would have chosen a summer day to repeat instead of a freezing cold one.”
