"The Time Traveler Who Saved My Life" | Creepypasta

when I was 20 I encountered the most unusual stranger I have ever met and most likely ever will I'm 35 now a whole 15 years after a brief encounter which I cannot imagine myself ever forgetting I guess the reason for that is this one idea that has tormented my mind ever since the idea of what if the stranger put in perspective for me the idea of what if which I admit had never much concerned me before our conversation for example if you slept through your alarm one morning and were late getting to the airport only to discover you had missed your flight a what-if scenario might occur to you when you later learned that your intended flight crashed into the Atlantic and left no survivors in the following decades she would get married have kids and maybe live to a rotten old age but you would never quite forget that what if what if I'd been on that plane what if I just as easily died some 50 years ago this way it is understandable why the what-if scenario is so troubling and why no one talks about it the truth is that a what-if is not scarier or sad so much as it is disturbing because the reality is that you might not be the same or even alive that circumstance has been different it is easy to ignore events that never happened but what if they had the thought is present it infects your mind now like fear grief but like a whisper and then you realize that perhaps somewhere in a parallel universe you are in fact just a skeleton who's been sitting placidly at the bottom of the ocean for half a century seaweed gently rippling between your ribs such was not a thought that occurred to 20-year old Thomas Wells I remember the day clearly I was waiting on a bench for the campus bus the sky was pearly whites heavily overcast the scene remained surreal in my mind because no one and no thing cast a shadow the sunlight was evenly diffused I was still an undergrad with the pep in my step shuffling along the long road that was my engineering degree the bus was going to take me to my calculus class which I often dreaded but I always made sure to get to the bus stop early just in case I glanced to my watch and realized with a little shock that was 15 minutes early which I hadn't really anticipated it was all right I had plenty to think about that night for instance my girlfriend at the time Rachel waters was going to an off-campus graduation party at Mike's place and told me I ought to come along I didn't know microwell but several my friends were going it would be a fun time Rachel at a shirt I agreed very least we could get a little alcohol and loosen up a bit that was when I noticed him the man across the street to this day I don't know what direction he came from all I know is that when I looked up from my paperback novel he was crossing the streets with his hands in his trouser pockets he was wearing a tan overcoats they sweater vest underneath and a scruffy white beard on his wrinkled face he looked about 70 but he must have been younger his sad eyes gave an illusion of age that I thought might have been a false when he reached my side of the street he sat wordlessly on the bench which was too small to leave a comfortable space between us I cleared my throat and shifting my legs pretending to read my book but not quite making sense of the words at last he turned to me and said are you Thomas this time I did look up and gaze into my eyes with his sad once a crease formed between two furrowed brows my stomach gave a lurch I had a fleeting thought that this guy might be a homeless man a druggie begging for money but there was something about him that seemed too intelligent and he said my name how does he know my name yes I said finally then have we met before the old man looked at his shoes gave a small chuckle I suppose we have only once I waited for him to elaborate but he didn't if you've got a moment Thomas I'd like to share my story with you I won't take long though it's been on my heart to do with this for quite some time great I thought now sure this man was some sort of street preacher I was no stranger to religion but I had not the time nor the interest to listen to his life story I looked around embarrassed by the strange interaction but there was only a handful of students milling about and none of them seemed interested in looking our way please prompted the old man still there was something about the way he was staring at me they compelled me to pay attention and I told myself that once the bus came I'd excuse myself and get away from him so I gave him my attention that book you're reading said the man I've read it before long ago don't worry I won't tell you how it ends you've read the beginning yes I nodded chapter one ends with Mark losing everything his girl his friends his job I guess that was me at one point sir if you need money I no no no said the old man waving his hands I don't want your money I want you to listen to me Thomas that much is important I wished he would stop saying my name it was unsettling because the more I thought about it the more convinced I became that I never seen this man in my life the point is I lost everything a long time ago I made some poor decisions one poor decision really and I want more than anything to make it right but that's in the past you understand there's no use crying over spilled milk the man looked out over the street squinting I used to be a lot like you Thomas I just don't want you to make the same mistake one mistake I asked the man was quiet for a long time finally he said you got a girlfriend Thomas I thought about Rachel now we'd been together since our early high school days I wouldn't have gone to the same College if it hadn't been for her well yes yeah so did I back in the day I loved her too you bet I did probably would have gotten married but she was taken from me he looks back at me with his sad eyes and I suddenly wish she had it she died we're together at this apartment you see but she was at the front of the building and I was in another room and all the sudden there's this massive explosion like a cannon went off maybe about fifty at once right next to my hat all I know is that I couldn't hear anything after that for a good while and then I stumbled back into the living space to see what had happened the floor and most of the front wall were gone all together boiler explosion and once the dust cleared I could see her down in that pit just lying there hardly recognizable as the person she had been you think seeing the people you love dies going to be some sentimental scene Thomas but let me tell you that was not she was charred beyond all repair one eye open one eye out her skin missing in some places and muscle gone and others I doubt her own parents would have recognized that face but I did see it haunted me for years [Music] how did you yeah I'd see her in my nightmares that was a face I can get away from not even with a liberal amount of alcohol and you bet I relied on that stuff when she was gone as a matter of fact I became something of an alcoholic the habit followed me for decades eventually it cost me my job I'm sorry to hear that I said no longer thinking about my own time but completely enthralled by this strangers story the two of us were silent we watched cars and students pass back and forth of course said the old maid quietly I was several years out of college at the time and losing my job was just about the worst thing that could happen to me sunken debt with such a little job experience that it was near impossible to find a new one economy was rough the jobs that I did find didn't pay well I kept hopping to new ones at one point I worked four jobs you know that just keep my head above water you never married I said not intending to be rude but honestly curious never tried shrug the man it would want to God doesn't have the time or the money to raise a family our girl would want him so the only girl you ever dated was in college that's right and I had every intention on keeping it that way and Thomas you want to know why because every time another young gal comes along with an interest in you all you see is that charred mangled face stand right back at you from the boiler bed and you tell yourself you can't let it happen again yeah she was the only one for me by the time I was settled into a career I had very little money in a bad alcohol addiction my old high school and college friends had long since abandoned me partially because I asked them for money and favors and partially because they became an awful person to be around [Music] my mom was suffering from old age and I wish I could tell you she died that way quiet and peaceful but she was the second person to be taken from me it was my college girlfriend all over again car crash I had been locked up for public intoxication and she was coming to visit me [Music] the man stared at the passing cars but he wasn't really seeing them I could tell he was far off somewhere somewhere else the pain was visible but he never once choked up I I don't know what to say they said I did it you don't need to say anything boy the old man seemed to come back to reality and he turned to look at me again his voice was strong now that's what this is all about don't feel sorry for me I just need you to understand I need you to understand that these things happen to me because of one mistake one mistake led to a whole chain of events a butterfly fact which and I avoided this mistake could have changed my entire life for the butter but what mistake is that I implored utterly impatient the bus had rounded the corner and was hissing to a stop what mistake do you want me to avoid the old man sighed deeply I guess you've already avoided it to be honest in time you will come to understand the bus doors folded open and I stood up quite eagerly the old man seized my upper arm before I could board Thomas listened to me he breathed so desperate that I was suddenly afraid you have a calculus exam in two days do you not the question was so odd that it caught me off guard how how did you know there's no time to explain the exam is important do you understand it's very important and you need to do very well as of right now you have a C in the class but Thomas if you waste this test that grade will improve make your mother proud please I wish I could let go this guy wasn't making any sense in his apparent knowledge of my personal life suddenly scared me annoyed by his insistence and a little unnerved I jerked away from his arm and climbed the steps Thomas please do you understand me you must do well on this test it is very imp that was the last I heard of the old man before the doors hiss shut and I was left alone in the boss with everyone staring at me I took a seat and as the bus pulled away I spotted the old man through the window watching is eager smaller and smaller with distance he just stood there and bawled into fist watching me get away [Music] then we turned the corner and he was gone for the rest of the day I thought long and hard about what the old man had told me in retrospect I hadn't even gotten his name if I had such a detail might be important to inform the authorities but somehow I found myself unable to call the police maybe it was ridiculous but I knew somewhere within myself that his knowledge of my life had been justified there was not a madman behind those eyes but rather somebody who had endured a great deal of hardship his insistence upon my good grades was surely a well-meaning warning against his own regrets or so I thought I reminded myself that I could not end up like that not me because I had so much going for me but that had been aspyn Adam did that no matter what one wrong mistake could lead to another mistake another and another to what end did the rabbit trail go I wondered that would cause an elderly man to forewarn total strangers but you're not strangers he said he'd met you once before of one thing I was certain we had never met he was alone I concluded he had been right about one thing though I had a calculus exam in two days I would probably fail if I continued to practice the same negligence study habits regardless of the old man's mental state he sure he kicked me into high gear about this exam which was apparently of God to your importance I studied for the rest of the day in fact I studied so diligently but I almost forgot about the graduation party and surely would have if it had not been for Rachel's phone call it was only when I started talking to her that I realized how tired I was until there might not even go to the party I would rather just stay in and study she was disappointed of course she said she didn't want to go if I didn't and that she liked to see me if that was possible we were taking the same calculus class so I suggested she come over for dinner and maybe a little study date and Rachel said that would be nice and we agreed on a time and hung up that night we studied calculus instead of going to the party at times having more fun than math and at some late hour when he parted ways for the next day or so I wondered a lot about the old man but told no one about him not even Rachel oh she did seem curious about my sudden studying hobby my conversation with that man seemed almost private almost dreamlike and I nearly convinced myself it had not actually happened that is and so my mother called me sobbing that thank God I was okay when I finally calmed her enough to ask what on earth she was on about everything made sense the previous night the night of the graduation party Mike's apartment exploded at 11:34 p.m. due to an overheated boiler the phone fell from my face this changed everything I don't remember much about that day I remember running down to the dorms front steps in my robe and snagging the first local newspaper I could get my hands on I didn't have to look very far it was the front page news apartment boiler explosion kills 24 more injured read the headline in the coming hours I learned that several my friends had been killed and perhaps I was the only one who knew just how close Rachel and I had come there's only one who knew that we should have been there so I should have been the one staring at her flaming corpse he should have died but she did it I never told Rachel just how lucky she was to be alive that she figured out all on her own when she - at the local newspaper and dissolved into tears maybe that was when I realized just how much I loved her it took a few years but after we were both graduated we decided to get married that is to date the best decision of my life second only to studying for calculus I found a great job working at an aerospace engineering company and Rachel supported me all the way my success at the company brought in a heavy paycheck and though it took time away from my family I rarely felt the urge to touch a drop of alcohol I wish I could say everything made sense from the moment I laid my eyes on that newspaper headline but in truth it didn't for some years to come I spent many sleepless nights thinking about that old man theorizing and then criticizing my theories I knew who he was I thought but a piece of the puzzle was still missing a piece that turned up as I knew it would later my life some 15 years after the boiler incident a man by the name of Scott willows called me up out of the blue Scott was an old high-school friend we had never quite parted ways he made his living as a theoretical physicist in Wisconsin centric phone call they requested my engineering assistance for a particular project one which he claimed my revolutionize modern scientific thought that was quite the statement I thought the next day Scott showed me his model for temporal displacement a theory which was above my comprehension but in layman's terms sounded astonishing impossible really but it couldn't have been impossible because I knew Scott's theory was a success it was the missing piece because I knew Scott's theory was a success it was the missing puzzle piece and in that instance I knew what I had to do I had to stop Rachel and myself from attending that party I had to save us the way the old man had saved us I'm 35 now but Scott's theory is well underway as of now is being critiqued refined and soon we'll be tested and until the opportunity arrives I will wait patiently because I know my plan will work I know will work because it has already worked it is now up to me to complete the circle to this day I'm haunted by what might have been what if the man had not visited me what if I'd gone to the party instead and what if that newspaper headline had bread 25 killed instead of 20 for an old man once told me the answer to all these questions and it is that which haunts me most but there is one thing of which I'm absolutely certain when the prospect of turning back time has become a reality I will pay myself a visit and stop what tears might have been [Music] hey everyone I hope you enjoyed today's video if you want to see more let me know in the comments below and tell me what you thought of this narration make sure to follow me on Twitter for updates and if you'd like to get early videos shout outs and much much more I'd appreciate it if you check out my patreon page it's a place where you can help support my channel while getting awesome rewards in the process and every pledge helps out a ton no matter the size so if you'd like to see all the rewards I offer and consider becoming a patron in mean a ton to me if you click the link in the description and just check it out and don't forget to show some love to the amazingly talented authors who make these narrations possible I have a good night everybody Cheers [Music]

Channel: ClancyPasta

Views: 82,317

Rating: 4.8944883 out of 5

Keywords: creepypasta, reading, narration, nosleep, creepypasta reading, creepypasta narration, nosleep story, scary story, scary stories, horror stories, creepy story, asmr reading, asmr story, reddit stories

Id: 3zmiW27hNNk

Length: 27min 7sec (1627 seconds)

Published: Sat Apr 28 2018