Not This Time

Prologue

The beautiful, petite woman in black left the audience's jaw hanging when she made her entrance.

With an air of confidence, she gracefully made her way to her seat.

"It's a great honor to be in the presence of the person behind the award-winning novel 'I'll Stop Loving You', Ms. Cassandra Lin."

The host filled with enthusiasm extended his right hand to accommodate her however, the esteemed guest only gave him a small smile.

Silence hanged in the air until he reluctantly offered her to seat.

"We don't have much time left and I have a lot of questions for you so let's get down to business."

"By all means."

"Ms. Lin, ever since your debut you never had any public appearance. In the past you refused many interviews and even turned down a lot of events, so why now?"

"I wanted to separate my personal and professional life. I think of Cassandra Lin and Lisa as two different people." She answered "The truth is I only accepted this interview because..."

"Because?" He repeated

"Because it's the exact time, place and moment I needed to start the time-loop."

It didn't take a minute before he understood what her words meant.

He thought she was kidding by using a line from the novel. He remembered it from chapter one wherein Sunny, the main character, was asked the same question during an interview.

He chuckled "Now that I think about it, this setting is very similar to how the story started. Say, Ms. Lin, are you perhaps in a loop?"

With a playful smile she shrugged "Who knows."

"All jokes aside, let's talk about how you wrote this masterpiece. A year after its publication you achieved novel stardom and 'I'll Stop Loving You' ranked one. There are many speculations and assumptions but we would like to hear from you what inspired you to write Sunny's story. Could it be an unrequited love?"

She leaned back in her seat.

"Originally, I wrote this story to direct my depression and to ease my regretful conscience but one thing lead to another and it's now where it is. 'I'll Stop Loving You' became the embodiment of my regrets."

He paused to take in her answer before he jumped to another question.

"Sunny's anguish because she couldn't be with her lover was given emphasis at the end of the novel. Sunny pose the question 'If you were given the chance to turn back time, would you try to change the future?' We're wondering if you were ask the same question, how would you answer?"

She parted her lips but before she could voice out her answer a familiar melody danced in the air.

"Sunny."

A wave of nostalgia swept over her when she heard the faint voice calling from a distance.

She blinked.

"Sunny."

And when her eyes fluttered open light ocean blue eyes and long flowing black hair came into view.

A cute little girl in a fancy pink dress stared at her.

She looks strangely familiar.

Something isn't right.

"Sunny."

That same sweet voice called her attention. She turned her head to where the voice is coming from.

She noticed how the little girl moved with her at the same time.