rileesaurwrites t1_iud4uzr wrote on October 30, 2022 at 12:53 PM

PART 1

“Well, gosh.” I run my fingers through my unruly mop of brown hair. I never thought I would be dusting off my old time machine again. Back in 2016, I swore that I would never touch it again after I spent nine months trying to ensure the pigeon became domesticated, as originally intended in history. I learned my lesson about playing around with time. But that was different. I was younger. Immature. I thought I could toy around in the past without affecting the present, and boy was it hard to fix.

This is totally different though. Changing the past is wrong and unnatural, with so many unintended consequences. But surely there can’t be any harm in fiddling around with things that haven’t even happened yet. I don’t believe in fate or destiny or anything of the sort. So I don’t think a little peek into what is only one potential future will do any harm. And its for such a good cause.

As I plug my old time machine box into the wall, i can’t help but wonder at the unlikely sequence of events that led me to drag it out of storage. For thirty five years, I existed on this planet without a single friend to call my own. My own parents disowned me and threw me to the curb the day that I turned eighteen because they couldn’t handle the smell of my experiments any longer. Yet I was not discouraged by their lack of faith in my abilities, and I went on to have a successful, albeit lonely, career.

I invented the cure to cancer in dogs, I helped to manufacture the first robot that can cook a 5-star meal, and I worked on the brain chips that half of all Americans now have implanted, among many other fabulous inventions. Despite my success as a scientist, it was not until my mid thirties that I ever attracted the attention of a single woman. And what a woman she was.

Two years later, here I am, beyond all odds about to become a father… and I am absolutely terrified! None of my work has ever been so complex as raising an entire human being. So I thought to myself… why not cheat the system just a bit. I’ll just take a tiny glimpse into the future to foresee any mistakes that I might make as a dad, and then come back all the more prepared for being a proper father.

The old time machine box beeps to life, at long last, and I am jolted from my thoughts. Well, I sure designed this thing simply enough. All I need is a date to travel to and a place or person to appear by. When I’ve seen enough, a press of a button on the small remote will bring me right back to the moment I left. It’s really rather ingenious.

After a brief pause for thought, I figure fifteen years should be enough time to see how I’ve been doing. Now who to travel to…. My wife, I suppose. That should be a safe bet. She shouldn’t be too afraid to see me. After all, I did tell her about my past adventures with time travel, although she may be a bit annoyed that I didn’t throw out the console like I promised. Nevertheless, she should have some great insight into how things are going with our child, and once I return she’ll never live a future where she finds out that I time traveled. That’s all squared away then. 3…2…1…. POOF

The first thing I notice is that I’m in a different bedroom than I’m used to. Gosh, I suppose we’ve moved in the last fifteen years, so that’s to be expected. And my wife and I- Woah!! I guess I haven’t lost my passion in all of these years. Do I…. Interrupt?

I don’t have to ponder the situation for long because my wife notices my presence.

“AHHHHHH!”

rileesaurwrites t1_iud4wqr wrote on October 30, 2022 at 12:53 PM

PART 2

“Sorry, sorry darling. I can explain,” I rush. I wish I had thought this through just a bit more. I really should have admitted to my plan and warned the her from fifteen years ago to expect me. Too late now though.

She jumps to grab some sheets to cover herself and only then do I realize that the man she is with is not me! I guess I’ve really screwed up these last years. At least now I’ll have the chance to fix it. All of these thoughts race through my brain before anybody speaks another word. The man lays in the bed in complete shock, mouth open wide.

“Nate?!?” my (ex?) wife cries out. “Oh my God! I haven’t laid eyes on you in fifteen years! Where have you been? Why are you here now?” As she speaks, her expression changes from one of shock to one of anger. She picks up a pillow and chucks it at my head.

“You disappeared on me! I was pregnant and you just disappeared. And now you have the nerve to show up all of these years later and just waltz right into my house?!” Her emotions are cycling rapidly and by the last words she is nearly sobbing. The man laying next to her has not yet closed his mouth.

“I- I- WHAT?!?” I manage to get out. “That’s all wrong. I would never do that. I’m so excited to be a dad. I just- I came to see how I was doing and pick up a few pointers. I-“

“You show up after fifteen years to see how you’re doing?!? You haven’t been a dad at all. I’ve only had stories to tell Junior about you. I grieved you. Just get OUT before I call the cops!” She breaks down in a downpour of tears, no longer able to contain it.

I fall to my knees on the carpet, the devastation beginning to kick in. “I don’t understand,” I whisper. “Please, please just tell me the last time you saw me.” I have to figure out why I left, so I can make sure it never happens in my new future. This is not at all what I expected to find. How could I have done this to her?

She is still so beautiful even after all of these years. I can tell she is struggling to pull herself together and the dim wit next to her is doing nothing to comfort her. He just continues to stare slack-jawed at me.

When she has controlled her tears enough to speak, she begins in a soft and distant voice. “I still remember it like it was yesterday. You acted so normal that morning. Maybe a little extra cheery, and maybe that was a sign. When I got back from my morning walk you were just… gone. You left some crappy old video game running and that was that. I figured…. It was all too much for you. I know how scared you were to become a father. I thought you just left.” The tears begin again.

Something that she said registers in my brain. I look up from my position on the floor, unable to rise from my knees. “Some…some video game?” My eyes go wide. “No… No it can’t be… NOOOO!” I roar, feeling it reverberate through the room. “You turned it off. You turned it off, didn’t you?!!” I scream. Her eyes are wide with fear now, and she clutches her blanket closer to her.

I frantically scramble to my feet and pull out the remote meant to take me back to the safety of my home and pregnant wife, instead of this nightmare. I mash the button hard, and then harder. Nothing happens.

“NOOOOO!” I sob again. Just like that, all of my dreams are destroyed. I should never have tried to pull a fast one on the universe. I wanted to be the best dad possible, but instead I ended up being the worst.

Behind me, the door suddenly slams open, hitting into the wall. A young man with a head of floppy brown hair stands in the doorway, obviously petrified but trying to put on a brave face.

“Mom, are you alright? I heard yelling.” He freezes when he spots me, standing at the foot of the bed with the useless remote grasped in my hand.

“Dad?”