The Moment That Returned

The Moment That Returned

He went back to say sorry. But was it too late?

by (NM)

James was a man of logic. A software engineer by profession, he believed in numbers, timelines, and clean-cut algorithms. Emotions, to him, were like corrupted code—unpredictable, messy, and hard to debug. He lived alone, worked late, and rarely spoke unless spoken to.

His small apartment was filled with blinking machines, lines of code on every screen, and the quiet hum of servers syncing with distant clouds. But hidden beneath all the automation was a regret—a memory buried so deep, even James couldn’t code his way around it.

One stormy evening, while experimenting with a digital backup recovery system, something strange happened. He’d written a code to trace lost time stamps in deleted data files, but the screen blinked with an unfamiliar prompt:

"Do you wish to return to the moment you regret the most?"

James froze. He didn’t remember programming this. He checked the logs, rebooted the system, but the prompt remained.

Curiosity overwhelmed logic. He typed YES.

Suddenly, the room spun wildly. Numbers and memories blurred. A rush of emotions flooded him. When the spinning stopped, he found himself standing in his childhood home, twelve years ago.

His mother was there, softly saying:

"Son, never treat love like a game."

James’s heart clenched. He was at the moment he had rejected Maya—the girl he loved. Back then, he pushed her away because she was too emotional for his taste. He was too young to understand love beyond logic.

This was his chance.

Gathering courage, he approached Maya and apologized sincerely. Her eyes widened with shock and hope. But as she spoke, her voice trembled:

"I loved you, James. But you weren’t there when it mattered most. It’s too late now."

Before he could respond, time twisted again.

Back in his apartment, James blinked, tears rolling down his cheeks.

On his screen appeared a final message:

"You cannot change the past. But you can forgive yourself and choose a better present."

From that day, James began living differently. He learned to listen, to feel, and to cherish the people around him. No longer just a man of numbers, he became a man of heart.