Tomorrow is the last day of September, which happens to be my favorite month and all the more reason I'm upset that I wished it away. I met Kit again this afternoon for tea and croissants out in the garden. Before long, I found myself spilling even the craziest of details about my voyage into the past.

"And I mean it was real! So real. I can still hear the jazz ringing in my ears." I sigh, brow furrowed. My back slumps against the willow trunk.

"Maybe it is real." Kit agrees.

"You just agreed maybe it's in my head," I frown.

"And maybe it is in your head. Maybe it's all make-believe, but why should that mean you cannot get back to it?" Kit asks, head tilted.

I consider his words as I stare too long at his curled hair. I consider the splendor they offer.

"Do you really think?" I ask.

"Sure," Kit nods. "But now that I think about it, you did always used to make up fake worlds with crazy adventures. Remember that time you led a treasure hunt to the isle of what you called it."

"Hey! Not helping," I fake pout.

"Nah, I'm sure you can get back. You just need to find the proper way back. You said it was a mirror?"

"I did," I answer. "It was up in the attic. There was a whole wall of mirrors up there."

"That doesn't mean it will always be a mirror," Kit counters. "You have to be open to find it anywhere."

"And since when did you become an expert on finding alternate realities?" I laugh, almost rolling my eyes.

"Is anyone an expert on this?" He laughs.

I watch Kit stand from his spot under the low-hanging branch and roll his trousers up around his ankles.

"What are you doing?" I ask.

"Just cooling down my feet," Kit replies, slipping off his boots and stepping up to the pond's edge.

"It's barely hot," I tell him. It's true. Crisp fall air has replaced the stagnant summer heat.

"I have already been up for hours mucking the stable stalls. How was your sleep in?" Kit teases.

"Fair enough," I say through a yawn. I stretch back on the grass and watch the swans scatter across the water as Kit dips his toes beneath the rippling surface.

"So, tell me more about this magic mirror," Kit says, looking over his shoulder. "What did it look it? What did it do?"

"Well," I begin, parting my lips. "At first it looked like any old mirror that just showed any old reflection." I think about this long and hard before putting it into words. The familiar dark light comes to mind and the static buzzing fills my ears.

"And then?" Kit urges.

"Then it sort of glowed, but with a darkish light. It was still somehow very bright."

"Then that's it!" Kit exclaims excitedly. "That must be the tell."

"The tell?" I raise my eyebrow.

"Yes. Its tell. Just follow anything that's glowing."

"Follow the light? That's your advice?" I question, smiling with exasperation. "Most people would advise to not follow the bright light."

"Most people are not experts on finding alternate realities." Kit smirks.

I think back to all the times over the past month when I stood or laid in front of the mirror begging the universe to light it up –to open the portal –to make whatever happened happen again!

Did I see any other mysterious light emitting from anywhere else on Emmerson Estate's grounds? Perhaps it's possible that I missed it since I was never really looking.

"So, I just wait and look out for the bright dark light again?" I ask Kit.

"That's what I would do if it were me trying to get back to some place I wasn't even sure really existed," he says encouragingly.

"Okay," I say, defeated. I stand up and walk closer to Kit. "From here on out, I am on the hunt for the bright dark."

"You'll have to let me know how it goes," Kit says. "Tell me if you wind up in any new decades."

"Haha."

My feeble laugh dies quickly and is replaced by a very real panic. I hadn't even considered that perhaps I would end up in an entirely different year! I need to get back to 1921 –to Cleo –to Dawson.

I've been unable to shake the draw, the overwhelming sense that something is luring me back, like some incredibly strong magnet is pulling me. I see it all every time I close my eyes, but I see Dawson most. I hear his velvety voice beckoning to me.

...

Kit stayed for dinner at Aunt Vi's behest. It was nice to have some company that didn't mainly exist to gossip over crumpets in the tearoom. Really, I think Aunt Vi is just relieved I'm talking to actual humans again and not living in some fantasy dream inside my head.

I showered after dinner and put on a new skirt and cardigan for dessert tea with Aunt Vi. I even broke in my new boots for the occasion.

After only twenty minutes Aunt Vi announces she feels unwell and our dessert is unceremoniously cut short, much to my delight. I glance at the fading daylight through the cracked window. It's still light enough for one last stroll through the garden.

"Don't stay out too long, Bette. The evenings are getting quite cool. You'll catch a chill," Aunt Vi calls from the staircase.

"Yes, Aunt Vi," I answer.

"And be a dear and shut that window. Must have asked Rosie ten times..." Aunt Vi trails off.

"Of course, Aunt Vi," I say.

Aunt Vi waves me away as she retreats up the stairs; she pulls her crochet robe around her tighter still.

I spin and latch the window shut, catching a breath of fresh air in the face.

I cross the foyer, my heels clicking on the marble, and I disappear into the library. I weave through the shelves and through back door that empties into the overrun garden.

Twilight settles in the sky as I walk under dusty periwinkle clouds spotted with pink and yellow. The brisk air makes me extra thankful for my cardigan as I sit in the dewing grass. The pond reflects the world of purple above me; the swans are painted pearlescent under the sky.

I crumble up what's left of my iced biscuit and drop it into the water at the edge of the pond. The rainbow swans swarm the shallows, their ruffling feathers like flashes of white light.

The more I stare at the swans, at fluffy plumage and luminescent eyes, the more see white. Only, under the darkening twilight, it's almost dark.

I remember what Kit said about being open to find it anywhere.

This is it.

I sidle closer to the water, watching as its surface glows. I lean far over to peer into its depths. It looks as if dark water is rising to the surface in earnest. It becomes bright and brighter. My face is only inches from the expanse.

I can hear a faint static hum...