Back to the Past, Future
It was a beautiful day, temperature in the 70’s and not a cloud in the sky. I was walking through Bryant Park on 42nd Street in Manhattan and I felt as if my mind was in a fog. I purchased a cup of coffee from the coffee stand on the corner and then went wandering through the park. I walked past benches filled with readers, thinkers and make believers. I saw jugglers, bowlers and sunbathers. Beautiful women dressed down for the unusually warm October day; men in groups talking and laughing loud enough to get the attention of the listless walkers and bench sitters around the park. A man was playing a guitar but no sound seemed to come from the instrument — only the occasional grunt of frustration from him. There were people gathered around him waiting for the songs to be played…they just sat around and waited in silence.
As I walked and took into the sights and sounds — my stomach began to burn and it shot up through my chest into my throat. It felt like an extreme case of heartburn and I needed to sit down.
I sat down and I rubbed my eyes. I opened them and the weather changed instantly. The temperature had dropped and it was raining. The whole park was cleared out save for the man playing the silent guitar, although he was now alone, some people walking quickly and some bums sitting underneath the trees to the right of me.
I stood up, dazed and really confused, began to walk back my office on 33rd street. As I walked I sensed a major change, not just the weather, but something else — I couldn’t place it.
The rain made the city streets smell even worse than usual, an Asian man was collecting recycle bottles from a huge pile of garbage and the sound of thunder filled the city.
I looked at my phone to see the time and if I had any alerts. A text alert telling me that there was a winter storm warning in effect for the New York City area. I smiled, someone messed up and sent the wrong message. As I walked I noticed that I was in Union Square and not Bryant Park. That really sent me into a tailspin and I knew that something was wrong. I ran under cover into Whole Foods and looked at my phone again. It was my old phone and the date said March 7, 2013. It was then that I realized what had occurred. I knew what I needed to do and right away.
I called Molly, who’s number I had memorized for a situation such as this; who told me to come in right away. I took the Q train to Avenue U and was met there by Truman who drove me straight to the office without even saying a word. When I got there I was quickly briefed.
“It seems there have been some unintentional time displacements, we have no idea of the whys at this point but we have people looking into it.”
“So I am not the only one.” Holding my stomach and grimacing.
“No, apparently we are seeing it happening around the globe.”
“I thought I was one of a few who was able to travel?”
“Well, one of a few on the east coast of the U.S.; there are hundreds around the world; most of them in the Middle East and India. I suggest we take your vitals and then you go and relax. You weren’t prepared for this trip and we need to make sure you are o.k.”
“Alright.” I went into a room with a bed and a television set. I quickly lay down and fell asleep. I am unsure how long I slept for but when I opened my eyes Molly was there watching over me.
“What is it?” I asked her.
“We need to speak.”
“What happened?”
“Sit up, have a sip of your tea first.”
“Tell me what’s happening.”
She took a deep breath.
“According to social media activity for the next couple of weeks; you are…” She paused.
“What?”
“You are going to die tomorrow.” She said it quickly and very low — it took me a couple of seconds to grasp what she said.
“How can that be if I came from the future?”
“The past can change the future.” She said.
“But I am fine, I mean, my stomach hurts at times and I am overweight but; how do I die?”
“A heart attack as you walked to work from the subway station.”
“How? I don’t understand this.” I am confused, scared and wondering if I am about to have a heart attack right now.
“We know you aren’t really supposed to die yet, Freddy. But for some reason, since you came back this morning, the history has changed.”
“Well, how do I fix it?”
“You need to go to your regular Doctor and let him examine you.”
“When?”
“Tomorrow morning, we already made an appointment for you at 10am.”
Apparently I was given hypnosis of some kind to take away any memory of having time traveled.
I went home that night, had dinner with my kids and my wife; when I told them I was having pains in my stomach and that it was scary; they joked around that I was exaggerating.
“Well, I’m going to the doctor tomorrow morning anyway; maybe I am getting an ulcer.”
I drove to the Doctor the next day and as I walked there from my parking spot, I felt a pain, once again jumping from my stomach through my throat. It was intense and I was scared.
What happened after that I have written about already — somehow I wasn’t supposed to be alive but for some strange reason — the universe sent me back in time to have a quadruple bypass operation which saved me. I have written about that here.
My memory of my traveling came back to me a year after my operation; March 8th 2014 to be exact. It was then that I “ran into” Molly and the Presidents on my train ride back from the city. She stood in front of me and sat down next to me when the train began emptying out. She looked familiar to me and when she looked into my eyes and said some words to me — I was suddenly aware of everything.
“I want to go back to 2017 now; I don’t want to go through all of that again.”
“We can’t have you go through all of that again, knowing what you know. You need to go back to the future again.”
“Sounds like a movie.” I said and laughed. Molly smiled, the presidents stood there grim faced.
“Are you ok?” She asked me.
“You, this process saved my life. Why? Isn’t that changing history?”
“We don’t know why it happened, Freddy. You were the only one who traveled that day.”
“I thought you said there were hundred’s of others?”
“We didn’t want you to panic; it was out of the ordinary. Consider yourself special, consider yourself alive to make a positive difference in this world.”
“Like what?”
“Only you have the answer to that question. You are one of the few who can time travel and you have saved countless lives already. But I don’t think that is what you were saved for.”
“Why?”
“You’ll find out when you are ready to. No more questions, please; Freddy?”
“Yes?”
“Thank you.” The train stopped on Bay Parkway and they got off. I sat there in a daze and closed my eyes.
Two months later, back in November of 2017, I was on a train heading for work when a man with a guitar came on. He began to play, but no sound came from the instrument; only the occasional grunt of frustration…
I began to feel a sense of displacement so I closed my eyes…
“The next and last stop is Kings Highway.”
