Righting my wrongs

Natasha sat on the tiled floor, legs crossed with the TV remote in her hand, her jaws dropped and eyes virtually bulging out of their sockets.

She couldn't believe what she was hearing in the commercial. “Wow, could this really be true,” she thought, “a machine that could time travel a person back to the past for just five minutes?”.

Yeah, it was true that she was in the 22nd century, a time when literally everything and anything could be made possible by the people she regarded as crazy scientists. But this was too good to be true.

She stared at the TV again, trying to comprehend the words that came out of the lady scientist's mouth. But her mind wouldn't let her, she was so distracted by the image of the little travel box which was held by the other scientist.

The image of the time travel box brought a sort of unexplainable hope and light to her already shattered world, and her only wish was that it could do exactly what the scientist said it could. If it did, she wouldn't let such a golden opportunity slip through her slender fingers.

Yes, five minutes seemed too limited for anyone who wanted to go in time and change destiny. But for her, it was just, she would do everything humanly possible to make sure every second counted. Even if it meant sacrificing her last breath, she would ensure she went way back in time to right all her wrongs.

According to the words of the lady scientist, the time travel machine would be released for use to the public by this weekend, a day from now, and that was just great.

Being someone who had very limited time on Earth, it simply meant she could go see herself for the very last time before she went on the journey beyond, and maybe just maybe her younger self would heed to all her tales and would avoid all the catastrophes she had built, changing their ill fate into a fulfilling one.

Soon enough, the commercial came to an end, she switched off the TV, sighed and stood up to her shaky feet, slowly making her way to her room. Once there, she walked straight to her dresser, looking into the mirror, she couldn't recognize the pale lady who gazed back at her. Though she was just twenty-five, the person she was staring at right now looked way more than fifty years old.

She was so emaciated and frail - her cheeks were hollow, her eyes were deep-set with dark circles, and her once vibrant red hair was now dull and thin. It was as if she were looking at an entirely different person altogether.

A tear ran down her eyes as her mind slipped back to her younger age. She could feel the energy that had bubbled through her, how naive and innocent she looked. She just couldn't believe how she had turned from that little pure Natasha, who was so full of life and energy, into this wild-looking girl who had barely a week left to live on Earth. The thought made her heart feel heavy, but also strangely content because now It felt as if the universe was giving her one last chance to redeem herself before she went on to whatever was next.

With a sigh, Natasha picks up a book and pen, which had been abandoned on the table, knowing fully well how her younger self was a curious lass, a letter from the future would definitely pique her interest, no doubt and that was exactly what she was going to give her: a letter not just from the future, but from her own future self.

Laying on the cold tiled floor, Natasha took the pen and began to scribble her heart out into the book.

July 4th,2176.

Dearest younger Natty.

Hello little beetle, you may not believe it, but this letter is coming from your future self. That's right - it's you, from the future! And to prove this to you I will tell things which only you know about.

Your favorite place in the whole world is the little lake you named after your father, it's located at the deepest part of the woods behind grandma's house, you love that place so much because it is the only place that always reminds you of your dad and it's a place you could always go and pour your troubling heart without any care in the world.

Your favorite color is black because you think it makes you look mysterious and different from everyone else, your favorite genre of novels are mysteries and adventures, your favorite food is anything made of seafood,your favorite holiday is halloween because of two things, firstly its the only time of the year that you could truly be free to go to speak to father and secondly it's the only time you could dress up as your favorite movie character (Wednesday). I could go on and on but I think this is enough to prove myself as you from the future.

I know you're probably wondering what made me write to you. Just so you know, I come in peace. I understand that right now you might think you know everything there is to know about life, but trust me when I say that there's so much more to learn and experience.

I have seen things which, yet you haven't, and I must tell you of a truth, the path you seek isn't worth any soul. It's a path of misery and destruction, a path that would exploit your usefulness and leave you a useless shell, a path that would turn you from holy to hellish. I have threaded upon it, and it became the gravest mistake of my mortality.

My dear, truly speaking, resisting such a path wouldn't be in any way easy, forces from different parts of the world would pull you towards it. But you must stand firm and always remember who you are.

Our first initiation to that path would be sex, and from there it would only get worse.

Dearest, I beg you to never indulge in any form of premarital sexual interaction.

I especially urge you to avoid any form of relationship with Nathan, our first cousin, surely he would come with his tricks, but I tell you flee away from him, don't even have second thoughts about it because beneath him and his sweet talks lies our first step into the path of hellish torment on Earth.

Now in the matters of making friends and trusting people.

Natasha paused writing, and sighed, she shook her head as tears ran down her eyes, reminiscing the choices of friends she had made in the past, those were mistakes she had made, and she won't let her younger self go through such. With a heavy breath she continued writing the letter.

I had made so many friends and trusted so many people in my life, I tried being sociable, and I forgot that making friends and trusting people were delicate subjects that should be threaded upon with absolute care and in the end it backfired, all my friends became my foes, all my trusted companions became the best traitors and those acts of theirs broke me and placed me in a desolated and tormenting situation that I couldn't pull myself out.

Please my dearest younger self, be cautious about the kind of friends you make because the adage “show me your friend and I will tell you who you are” really sends a vital message to all souls, and now I get its message but for me, it's too late to put it into practice. So I beg you, remember this, the kinds and sets of friends you make in this life would determine who you would turn out to be.

Furthermore, the act of trusting people so much that you could even keep a secret with them is really risky, and can tend to turn out an upsetting obstacle as the time goes. So please be careful who you trust, and remember that not everyone has your best interests at heart.

Next on my list to talk about is our self-esteem, truth be spoken we both know that our self-esteem is really low. We listen to all the words people say about us and not just that, we also let those words get to us, yes I could still remember when we were just 6 and Greg called us a plump pig, all through the week we didn't come out of our room, we just stayed indoor staring at yourself in the mirror and from then onwards, we started taking natural herbs and tea in an effort to slim down.

See here dear, that shouldn't be the way you ever react to any form of name-calling, especially those from bullies like Greg and Emily. Please don't let people's words change your perspective about yourself or anything else because if you try pleasing everyone just the way I had done, you will end up hating the monster you would turn yourself to and at that point, people would still have more words to say about you. So dear, try building up your confidence, be courageous and ready to face any form of oppression or bullying.

Finally, there's one more thing I must tell you before I draw by curtain. This thing I'm about to say was something that took me a long time to figure out. My dear, a virtuous mother like ours would never lead her child astray, rather she would try to sculpt and mold her child into a great human, so please never hesitate to run to our mother for help and advice. It's true, at some point our mother might behave mean but know it that for every action she takes it's for our own good.

In times of difficulties when everyone would desert you, leaving you to solve life's puzzle on your own, our mother wouldn't leave you, she would stand by you and support you with everything she owns, she would pull you into her motherly warmth using her undying love to caress your problems until they all fade away. So please don't shy away from her, always relate to her in every detail the events of your day-to-day challenges and battles because only then can she help straighten you into a proper us.

Seek her motherly talks, advice, blessings, and encouragement. They are the best gifts a child can ever receive from a mother.

Now at this point, dearest younger self, I will place my pen in a basket full of love, though I still have a lot of words to write, but I will let you figure out those ones yourself. Just please hearken to these little words of mine, and you will be able to overcome the rest.

With all the love in the world,

Your older and wiser self.

After ending the letter, Natasha put down her pen and took a deep breath. It was evident in her eyes and actions that she had more things to write, but there were a few things which were best hidden, and she knew better than to reveal such things to her younger self, so that her younger self could become the best version of themselves and not the failure version she herself had become.

Taking an envelope out of her drawer, she placed the book which she had used in writing the letter inside the envelope and sealed it up neatly, then she went and placed it on her dress-table. Glancing at the sealed envelope for the last time, Natasha left the room.