Before You Go

“What?! I can’t really change the past?” Safiya yelled at the waiter, her voice echoing in the cafe. “Yes,” the waiter calmly said.

Safiya was heart broken; her best friend Phoebe had passed away in a tragic plane crash on her way to Australia. She missed her friend terribly and felt as if a part of her was missing.

She regretted fighting with Phoebe before the flight and would give anything to see her again, to talk to her and to say goodbye. One day, while sitting in her room, Safiya remembered something Phoebe had told her about a legendary rumor.

Five months ago, before Phoebe went abroad, she had told Safiya about a legendary rumor surrounding a cafe named Resafpo Safpore. The rumor said that in a small back alley in Iligan there was a small cafe inside which there was a waiter named Rahema and the owner of the coffee shop named Ferdouze.

The cafe was decorated with three large clocks, each showing a different time,. Legend had it that the right clock told the future, the left was the past, and the middle clock showed the right time.

If you went there, you would see a woman in a black dress, but rumor had it that she was a ghost sitting in the seat where you could time travel.

She was reading a novel titled Best Friend.

The weird part about the rumor was that if you wanted to go to the past, you had to follow five annoying rules. That’s all Safiya had heard. Safiya had brushed it off at the time, thinking it was just a fanciful tale, but now it seemed like the perfect chance to say goodbye to Phoebe.

Safiya decided to take a chance and set off on a journey to Iligan to find this legendary cafe. She searched for hours, going through small back alleys and side streets until she finally stumbled upon the Resafpo Safpore cafe.

Kling klong

As she entered, she was amazed to see the three large clocks on the wall, each showing a different time.

She looked around and saw a woman in a black dress, just as Phoebe had described. Safiya also noticed the owner of the cafe, Ferdouze, who was busy preparing a cup of coffee for one of the customers.

A girl who looked to be the same age as Safiya welcomed her at the entrance.

“Welcome, my fellow customer.

Would you like a cup of coffee?” Safiya knew this girl was Rahema, the only waiter in the cafe. Safiya wanted to ask Rahema to transport her to the past, but she felt embarrassed. “What if it’s just a way to make customers go into the cafe?”

Safiya thought carefully, but she finally decided to ask Rahema to transport her to the past. “Uh, c-can y-you—” “transport you to the past?” Safiya stuttered. Disturbed by the waiter, Rahema, Safiya was surprised and embarrassed.

“What if it’s just a fairy tale?” Safiya thought again and again. “I-I’m s-sorry. I must have been crazy.” “Yes, I can,” Rahema said calmly. “But first, would you like to sit down?

You were standing there for too long,” Rahema continued. “O-okay,” Safiya replied. Safiya sat down in the chair, and Rahema approached her. “What kind of coffee would you like?” Rahema spoke as if nothing had happened near the entrance a minute ago. “I-I prefer tea,” Safiya realized her mistake. “I’m

so sorry. I didn’t mean to—” “No, it’s okay. Don’t worry about it,” Rahema said with a smile. “I’ll bring you a cup of tea.”

As Safiya waited for her tea, she couldn’t help but feel nervous about what was about to happen. She wondered if she had made the right decision to come here and try to time travel. What if something went wrong? What if she couldn’t come back to the present? But then she thought of Phoebe, and her desire to see her best friend one last time overpowered her fear.

Rahema came back with a cup of tea and placed it on the table. “Thank you,” Safiya said. “You’re welcome,” Rahema replied. “Can you tell me why you want to go back in the past?” Rahema asked.

“Well, as you can see, Phoebe and I were friends since childhood. We always dreamed about traveling around the world, but my parents did not like the idea at all. As we grew older, Phoebe had already rented a ticket to Australia, but she didn’t tell me anything about it. I was angry for not being informed, and I fought with her. And then, when she was flying to Australia, the plane crashed and I-” Safiya’s voice cracked with teary eyes.

“It’s okay, you don’t have to tell me everything,” Rahema replied softly. “I have one more question to ask,” Rahema said, but Safiya didn’t reply. “Where did you hear about our time travel cafe?” Rahema continued asking. “I-I heard it from Phoebe. She told me that she witnessed it.”

“She is one of our top customers who visit us almost every day, especially on Saturdays,” Rahema added. Safiya was surprised and asked with a cracked voice, “What are the five rules?”

“You didn’t know?” Rahema asked. “Phoebe didn’t tell me anything about the rules. She only talked about how beautiful this cafe is,” she sniffed. “And I really want to meet her.” Safiya added

Rahema looked at Safiya sympathetically and began to explain the five rules of the time travel cafe. “Of course, I’ll tell you the rules,” she said. “But before I do, I want to remind you that while you can go back in time, you can’t change the present. The past is already written, and we can’t alter it. That being said, here are the five rules:”

“What!! I can’t really change the past?” Safiya yelled at Rahema. Her voice echoed in the quiet cafe, drawing the attention of the other customers. Rahema looked at her with a calm expression.

“Yes, that’s the second rule,” Rahema said, her voice gentle. “There’s nothing you can do while in the past that will change the present.”

Safiya slumped back in her chair, feeling defeated. She had hoped that by going back in time, she could prevent the tragic death of her childhood friend Phoebe. But now she realized that was impossible.

The cafe was silent for a moment, the only sound coming from the soft jazz music playing in the background. Finally, Safiya spoke up again.

“What about the other rules? Can you tell me about them?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

Rahema nodded and instructed Safiya to follow the five rules. “The first rule is that the only people you can meet while in the past are those who have visited the cafe,” Rahema said. “If the person you want to meet has never visited the cafe, you can’t see them.”

Safiya listened intently as Rahema explained the other rules. “The second rule was about not being able to change the present, the third rule wais the only seat that allowed you to time travel is where that ghost sit, and the fourth rule was about not leaving the cafe while in the pas of future because you can’t stand up in that chair or you will be force to go back in the present”. Finally, Rahema explained the fifth rule.

“Your stay in the past begins when the coffee is poured and must end before the coffee gets cold,”