Rustling palm leaves sounded quietly in the early morning darkness as they rubbed against each other. An unusually cool breeze pedaled a leaf across the graveled yard outside the bedroom window. The steel black gate of the halfway house drummed lightly as the wind pushed it backwards and forwards between the eroded concrete brick walls. A cock doodled in the distance, chocking on its saliva before it could finish. Night lights around the house kept the yard lit giving clear sight to passage around the house. A nearby street light beamed through an opening in the curtained window of Cupid’s room. As he woke into a snooze he vividly recalled the bright lights he had seen whilst he slept on the couch. The morning dawned on him and he knew he was at a halfway transit house in Accra. He hadn’t thought about how he got there or what he was doing there just yet, but he could hear housemates in a concerned discussion standing by the main gate.

There was a ‘thudding’ sound on the bedroom door. The handle pulled down as a roommate opened it, holding two buckets of water from the well. The phone alarm began to ring. Cupid reached for it to check the time. It was 05:00am. He looked at the date but didn’t take much note of it. It was Tuesday, 2nd June. He rolled out of bed into slippers that were at the bedside and opened the devotional guide on his phone. He freshened up at the washroom then went to sit outside to meditate on the readings. The morning was breaking with birds singing-in the day, awaiting the sunrise. He felt blessed to hear their sweet singing. The words from the devotional guide echoed through his mind indefinitely as he empathized with the context. Flashbacks struck through his mind, interrupting his meditation. He recalled the bright lights, the lucid dreaming, seeing himself sleeping on the couch and the odd feeling just before he woke up.

Half an hour later he started on his cleaning mission, moving from his room to other areas in the house. The place seemed quite tidy already. The housemates who were awake had also started out on their chores. It was almost 6am when he put on his shoes, warmed up with stretches then left the house for a morning run. The unkempt gravel roads made an easy obstacle course. Dodging pot holes and hopping over gutters made by the runoff rain. He felt odd as he started off. He stood in one place and jumped up and down several times feeling his weight. He felt much heavier, and stronger. ‘oh well’. He ran down one route for about ten minutes then turned back for a run to the house. It was about 6.30am when he got there. One of the housemates commented on his efforts,

“Ei chale, Mr Cupid Elliot the runner man….”

laughing and mocking him with name calling at the same time. Then it was straight to the washroom for a wash-down. Whilst dressing up he noticed his beard had grown unusually. He was confused as he recalled shaving a few days ago.

Maha, the mocker was ready to head out for work, about a thirty minutes walk away. Cupid decided to escort him and get something for breakfast. ‘More exercise’ he thought to himself. Near the corner of their road a lady had setup a table selling porridge and cossè for bread. The oil was hot and ready for a fresh fry. Cupid’s appetite made up his mind to buy some for his breakfast. Maha sat on the bench and waited for his serving. It wasn’t long before they were on their way, taking snapshots and video clips of their journey.

“Are your parents back yet?” Maha asked him.

Cupid’s was thrown off his agenda for a second then asked,

“What do you mean? My parents live in South Africa.” As he thought about it he recalled, “Oh snap, my parents do have a house here.”

Looking at him in disbelief Maha broke into laughter, “You foolish man!” He continued laughing at him.

Cupid was getting annoyed with his insulting comments as he recalled that his parent’s house was not too far from Maha’s workplace, about a ten minute drive away. He left Maha at work then set-off to his parent’s house.

Around 0800am he got to the gate. The thick grey wall made it easier to recognize. He rang the bell and waited, curious about who would come to the gate and jumping against the wall to get a glance into the house. The side gate unlocked and the familiar face of the houseboy poked out.

“Ah bra Elliot.”

Stunned at the confrontation he replied almost without thinking.

“Good morning. How is it going?”

He couldn’t recall his name immediately but it was at the tip of his tongue. His body moved through the yard as though it knew it like the back of his hand. He picked his bedroom keys from the board of keys then unlocked his room. He stood by the door peering in as flashbacks recollected his memory. The curtains were closed but the sun beamed enough light through them to see everything in the room. The bed had been lifted against the window’s wall making more space in the room. There was a three seater couch against the adjacent window wall with two bedside tables on both sides, a laptop on one. An A3 brown envelope lay on the dressing table next to a black folder bag. He turned on the laptop hoping that it would have finished loading by the time he had opened the curtains and windows. He picked the brown envelope and pulled out the papers in it. A statement of account, clearance form and a Digital Technology Diploma graduation on Saturday, 27th July 2019.

“2019?” He mumbled back to himself. The sheet of accounts also showed recent transaction from 2017, 2018 and 2019. The laptop had loaded Windows XP and was waiting for a login. He typed it in quite naturally as the device logged him in and loaded his profile. The date on his phone read Tuesday, 2nd July 2019.

“This is impossible.” he thought to himself. The date on the laptop read the same thing. He dropped back into the couch and stared up at the ceiling. He began to grasp that what had happened to him the night before, was actually 17 years ago. The beam of light he had experienced in the living room must have teleported him into the future. He tried to make sense of the whole situation. The bright lights, lucid dreaming, problems he was having with the Digital Technology, the event began to seem inevitable to him. He rushed to check the contacts on his phone. As he flicked through the names only a few of them were familiar to him. Then he stopped at once. Realizing the technology he was using on the phone.

“Okay, now this is another level of lucid dreaming.” He spoke back to himself. Now he believed that he was dreaming but everything felt too real to him. He decided to make a call, but to who? He started flicking through the contacts again then his finger slowed down as it dragged over the name ‘Toni Tales’. His girlfriend at the time in 2002. He pressed on call…

“You have no call credit remaining! Please top up then try again.”

“Really, really?” He remarked as he looked around the room for a clue to some money. There was a light brown wooden cupboard in front of him. The handles seemed like a delicate brazen bronze. It seemed to be calling to be opened.

“Ooooopen me, ooooopen me….” He got up, walked towards the wardrobes and opened them.