JOHNNIE MAE KING Flash Fiction Contest Winner

Loophole - by Denise Noel

Johnnie felt herself flickering, then becoming fuzzy, she looked down at her hands, her edges finally becoming solid and then the rest filling in. She wasn’t sure what her arrival looked like to others, although she suspected some anomaly caused them to overlook her abrupt appearance in their time and space. She could appear in the middle of a packed elevator, and not a soul would comment. Displayed, but not seen. Somehow. A skill that proved useful, her unremarkeableness, her propensity to inspire forgetfulness; someone could meet her multiple times, but her face wouldn’t stick for them. For her work it was better this way, but it was lonely. And sometimes she wished just once, someone would look at her with that familiarity you give those that matter, that she would see a face light up, the mouth turn up into a smile of recognition, the eyes would squint and sparkle with memories of times past. But never for her.

Johnny had lost count, she didn’t know how long it had been she’d been traveling this way, she could 30 or 60 for all she could keep track, time wasn’t linear for her anymore. She popped through time and space, always knowing where she was, when she was, what she must do. She could be there for weeks, months, even years. Always knowing the mission knowing where and who she needed to be to succeed. She was a loophole in a long ago cosmic agreement, those with the power to control this universe (Had they made it? She wasn’t sure.) had a longstanding agreement not to interfere with humanity. But there were those who could not help but bend fate to their will. And so they used Johnnie to do what they could not do directly.

Johnnie nudged events in the direction of their choice. Her task could be as simple as slowing someone down at an intersection, thus preventing an accident at the next. But she knew in her heart that as often as her tasks could result in something positive or benign, there must also be tasks with the opposite effect. That as often as she delayed someone into a better fate, there were times when she surely ushered others into disaster. Never knowing the why or the endgame in this match of cosmic chess.

--

"This is an exciting take on Aunt Johnnie. I love her being able to blink in and out of time, almost like Quantum Leap. This story seems to embody so much of what Aunt Johnnie reflects. Well executed." - Ran Walker