On a stormy night sixteen-year-old Ben sat by his bedroom window. The storm caused the power out. There was no wifi and Ben was getting bored, he decided to go to the attic and searched through a box of old belongings which was owned by his late grandfather. There he found an old radio. To him the radio looked broken yet he carried it to his bedroom.
The thunder lightning lit up the room. In a few seconds, the radio suddenly made a noise. Ben jumped as he was surprised.
Static hissed from the speaker, then a voice emerged.
"H..he..lo c..an anyone hear me?"
Ben stared at the radio and asked, "Who is talking?"
No one replied, Ben was about to touch the radio and suddenly the voice returned which made him feel goosebumps.
"Can you hear me? I think the signal is fine now."
Ben replied "Ye...yes, who are you?"
"My name is Marie."
Ben realized he was talking to a girl, he further asked "How are you talking through this radio?"
She replied, "I just bought it a few days ago from junkies."
For next thirty minutes they talked while the storm raged outside. Marie claimed she lived in the same town as Ben lives in. Yet something felt strange to Ben.
She repeatedly talked about the old buildings that had been demolished decades ago. Marie talked about buying records instead of using YouTube music. After a while Ben asked what year it was, her reply made him shocked.
She replied, "It's the year of 1986."
Ben being angry replied, "Stop joking, this isn't funny at all."
Marie said, "Ben, I am not joking. I am serious."
Ben looked out at the storm, he could not tell if she lied as she sounded sincere. In a few seconds the rain stopped and the thunder faded. For some unknown reason the radio went silent. Several times Ben tried to talk with Marie, but the signal was completely gone.
The next night he waited, nothing happened. The radio looked broken like it was before. After a month another thunderstorm rolled through the town. The moment lightning flashed overhead, the radio crackled again.
"Ben, are you there?" Marie's voice asked.
His heart skipped "Marie!"
After that night they discovered that radio worked only works during thunderstorms. Every storm created a brief connection between them.
Marie was living in 1986. She told Ben about local events before he found them in old newspaper archives. The details of each matched exactly. Everyday they patiently waited for the storm to arrive. Marie wanted to become an engineer someday and Ben wanted to travel around the world. Even though there's a forty years gap but they gradually became best friends.
Then one storm changed everything.
Ben's voice sounded shaky, "Marie, I found an old newspaper today."
"What kind of news?"
"It says Riverside Bridge collapsed the next month on July 7, year 1986. Several people died. Including a teenage girl named Marie Rose."
Marie froze she knew that bridge but that bridge did not collapse yet. Which means it's going to happen next month.
Finally Marie whispered, "You're saying I'm going to die?"
Ben replied "No, that can't be.... We can try to change the past!"
Suddenly the thunderstorm ended and it didn't arrive for next fifteen days. To Ben those fifteen days felt like forever. When the signal finally returned, Ben already had everything planned. He asked Marie to warn local authorities and told her to stay far away from the bridge. The day of the collapse arrived and a dangerous storm covered the town. Ben sat beside the radio as rain hammered against the roof. Hours passed. Then the signal returned.
"Ben!"
It was Marie. Ben felt relieved after hearing her voice, when he realized she was alive his happiness knew no bounds. The authorities listened to Marie and inspected the bridge after several reports about structural damage after that they closed it. Ben looked at the old newspaper and the Riverside Bridge collapsed news disappeared on its own but another collapse related incident appeared.
Ben smiled.
Marie asked, "What's wrong?"
Ben replied, "A small building near the riverside collapsed," Marie said. "Fortunately, nobody was inside the building."
Ben laughed.
History had changed.
Then Marie fell silent.
"Why are you silent? Are you not happy?" he asked.
She sighed and replied "I think we have fulfilled our duties."
Thunder rumbled in the distance.
Ben again asked, "What? I don't understand."
Marie replied, "The storm is ending, Ben...."
Suddenly the signal began to weaken. Static filled the gaps between her words.
"And if history changed," she continued, "then maybe we were destined only to fix it and meant to exist until we fixed it."
"No..."
The radio crackled loudly.
"Thank you, Ben."
"Marie—"
Another flash of lightning lit the room.
For a brief moment her voice returned.
"Some signals find us exactly when they're needed."
Then silence.
The storm passed.
Ben waited for months even during storms the radio never worked again. Twelve years later, Ben became an engineer. One Sunday, he visited Riverside Bridge. He noticed a tall plaque stood nearby. It commemorated a disaster that never happened and the lives that had been saved because of an anonymous warning. Among the names listed was Marie Rose, one of the engineers who later helped redesign the bridge.
Ben smiled.
The wind carried distant thunder across the horizon. And for a moment he imagined he heard a familiar voice hidden within it.
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