Silence
I was ten when I found out I would be a Time Traveler. This is a story about how I discovered it from my 25-year-old future self.
This is also a story about silence and second chances.
When an odd-looking guy magically appears out of nowhere, claiming to be your future self, it’s not easy to believe him. But as I said, I was ten. I was watching too many cartoons. So, of course, I believed him.
I asked why he was back here — at this specific moment in time. For me, it was just like any other lazy Sunday afternoon.
“I wanted to see the whole gang,” he told me.
It was summer. My grandparents called everyone over for the holidays: Mom, Dad, Sis, Uncles, Aunts, Cousins, Nephews, and Nieces. “The whole gang,” our Grandpa used to always say.
“Everyone’s sleeping actually,” I said.
“I know. It’s nap time,” he smiled. There was so much sadness in that smile, and I just couldn’t see how I grew up to be that sad.
“What if someone wakes up?” I asked. He told me not to worry. Apparently, nobody would be able to see him except me.
“There are levels to Time Travel,” he explained as we walked past each room. Everybody was sleeping, snoring, or dreaming.
“It has a lot to do with money, access, and other factors. Let me tell you. Even Time Travel can be commodified. ”
I could have asked him what “commodified” meant, but I didn’t want to look stupid. Yes, even I was talking to the future me.
“You are weird,” I finally said, after seeing him spend so much time looking at everyone.
He chuckled and asked me to sit down with him in the hall. We could see most of the rooms. That’s when I started pestering him with questions about the future.
“How does the future look like?”
“It’s a lot, to be honest,” he replied. “Too many things to make sense of.”
He could see his vagueness annoyed me. “I’m sorry. It’s just that… I’d rather you make up your mind about stuff.”
I had no idea what he meant. So I just shrugged. That’s when his watch started vibrating. It was underneath his long-sleeved shirt, so I didn’t notice it before. While marveling at the watch, I also noticed multiple cuts on his arm. They ran the length of his wrist. He saw me looking and pulled back his long sleeves again.
“Sorry, it’s time to go,” He sighed.
“Already? I thought you were here to save the world or something.”
“No,” he smiled. “I guess I was just trying to save myself.”
This time, he didn’t look so sad. When he spoke again, his tone was more serious and purposeful.
“There’s not much time left. So let me tell you this. In 15 years, you will be facing the biggest crisis of your life. Just nod if you are following.”
I nodded, but I wasn’t so sure if I was following.
“You’ll be surrounded by silence. So much of it. And loss too, unfortunately. It’s just the way life works. That’s when you need to remind yourself that…there was silence before in your life too. Like what you have right here and now. It’s peaceful, isn’t it? Do you know why that is?”
I shrugged again. A teardrop trickled down his face, but he continued.
“Because you have so much goodness in your heart, Arnav. You just need to hold on to that. Before it’s too late. So that’s why I am here. To remind myself that silence is not so bad if your heart is in the right place. And in 15 years, you are going to do the same.”
THE END
