A paradox in time

The numbness slowly dissipates as my fingers grip the warm ceramic mug. With an involuntary shiver I glance around my tiny bare thin-walled apartment. Staring in silence out a filthy window at the world below. Ever since the subsidy cuts to the veteran’s service were announced I must decide whether to pay the heat bill, buy food, or pay the rent.

I can barely make payments as is, yet I most certainly do not wish to deny the wealthy their pound of flesh. I could spend the money on food but then I would have no place to consume or cook the items. Without adequate shelter, it is highly probable that I would succumb to the freezing weather before experiencing starvation.

I am not alone. Many ex-servicemen and women live in this high rise, I fear others are worse off than me.

Sipping on the remaining drops of diluted coffee, I pour the last of my cereal knockoff Colonel Crunch. I’m one bill away from eating private pebble pops. A ’ting’ sound echoes as a giveaway toy falls from the now empty box.

I pick up a golden ring, which feels quite heavy and real, from the bottom of my chipped bowl.

Reading the instructions etched on the sides, yes, I am that one person who reads the instructions. It tells me that this magic ring has time traveling capabilities. I need to place said ring on my index finger and choose a place in time within the span of my age into the past or future. Return will be the exact time of departure.

The fine print says only one thing. ‘Enjoy your present.’

My Pappy is a wise man. Perhaps, not wise enough to run a multibillion-dollar electric car company but smart enough for me. He would say. ‘Only a fool agrees, before thinking for himself.”

I read books, there is always a catch. So, I begin reviewing how I would use this magic item and congratulate myself for brilliantly thinking of the age-old adage ‘If I knew then what I know now.’

I imagine going into the past to take advantage of the knowledge I have in the present and invest in future stocks. Once there I wonder if I would have any recollection of the future because the past will become my present and because I am in the present, how would I know the future if the past me has not lived in the future yet? Also, would I remember to jump back to my present which will be the future but still my present, and if I do get back to my present, will I forget the past, because in the present I am still debating about jumping to the past? Which will be the future me and not the present me.

I then decide to forget about travelling to the past and progress towards the future, and study the past of the future, because it will still be ahead of my actual present. I will then return from my visit in the future and purchase stocks in my present which will really be the stocks of this futures past to which I have currently jumped. Gathering information on the future present day, not my past present. I will then use the information of the future to assist me in their past, which will be my present.

Yet I realize that once I go back, even though it is back to my present and not really my past, I will forget the future, because it was a present that I have not yet lived. Therefore, making my trip to the future null and void upon my return to my present. All because I will forget the present future once I return to my past present. According to the instructions of the return time.

Where I shall find myself back in this present, warming my fingers on my diluted cup of coffee wondering what to do with the last of my money, pay rent or purchase food. While this dilemma haunts me, I’ll pour the last of my knock off cereal and see a golden toy ring falling into my bowl.

So, in review, for me to have information about investing for future stocks in my present time, I cannot go back because there is a good chance I will believe this past is my present. Thereby I will relive my life, and between you and me it sucked. Also, I will not retain investment knowledge of the future while in the past, even though it is my actual present. Eventually I’ll relive my life and find myself back in this same spot where I’ll decide to go back in time, then do this all over yet again.

Now, should I proceed to the future I should remember the past because I lived it, but once I return to the present, which is the future’s past, I will not have any investment information about the future because upon returning to my present it means I have not yet gone to the future. Instead, I will be in this room staring at a golden ring wondering how to use it.

It dawns on me:

The fine print didn’t say. ‘Enjoy your gift…it said Enjoy your present.’

I understand.

Banging upon my door snaps me out of this dream like trance and back in reality. Finding the strength, I wheel myself to the door and regret it immediately, as I stare up into the greedy eyes of the building owner.

“Where’s my rent?” He growls.

My heart pounds furiously within my chest. Suddenly his eyes bulge, and I see a speck of drool slowly seeping between his fat lips as he spies the golden ring. Without hesitation he snatches the trinket.

“I’ll take this as payment.” He informs me.

Before closing the door, I smile and say. “Enjoy your present.”