Just in Time

There’s no way it should have worked. The damn thing had no basis in science, and yet, there I was.

An older, wiser, scarred version of myself stood across from me—a soft smile, a quiet disposition, and a calmness that defied our current circumstances.

“Nice job, you finally did it. You’ve got about three minutes,” he said.

“You’ve done this before?” I asked.

He reaches up and scratches the stubble on his face. A contrast of dark brown and bright white with specks of gray.

“Countless times. The loop has to continue, after all. Two minutes and thirty seconds.”

“Okay, well, do I find true love?” I ask.

He laughs. “As close as you can get, yeah. Two minutes left.”

“Wait...do you already know what I’m going to ask?”

He shakes his head. “Every timeline is different. This one is ours. One minute, thirty seconds.”

“Okay, okay. What about my career? Did I win the Nobel Prize for my work?”

A fragile smile crosses his face. “I don’t think you want to know the answer to that one. Come on, one minute left.”

That same calmness sweeps over me. A taste of that certainty that he exuded. Just a taste.

“Will I ever be happy?” I asked.

His smile grew. “Now we’re talking.”

I wait, but he remains silent, just staring forward.

“Well?” I asked.

“You’re happy when you let go of the uncertainty. When you stop living in the past, obsessing over the future, and wasting your present. I wish I had realized that sooner. Don’t make the same mistake.”

A flash of light, and he was gone. I stood, grabbed a nearby hammer, and smashed the machine. It was the pinnacle of my life’s work. It was also a monument to my obsessions. It had to go.