Looking back . . .
"This is it. The day I've always dreaded…has finally arrived." I thought to myself as I flipped through the pages of my math text-book. "Examination day," I muttered. Studying Math in my room….let me rephrase that…studying was something no one ever thought I'd do. I guess you could say books and I were like water and oil…we don't exactly mix well. Just opening a book and reading those tiny printed words on a page makes a wave of fatigue overpower me. Don't get me wrong! I'm not dyslexic! I just hate studying. The only reason why I try to study is to prove my dad wrong about what he said. He looked at me one day and said he doesn't trust my future. That's a pretty mean thing for a dad to say to his fifteen year old son. So I was going to prove him wrong and let him know that he cannot see my future! Well there was a day I saw my future…I've said too much. In time you will understand me.
"You're studying? That can only mean one thing! The day you've always dreaded has arrived!" Kosuke said as he walked into my room.
Kosuke was my best friend…we're the same and by the same I mean we are both really dumb. My dad also looked at Kosuke one day and said he doesn't trust his future either. Kosuke couldn't sleep that night. I guess you could say my dad was somewhat a prophet of doom.
"Want some help?" Kosuke asked.
"From you? No way! I'd rather get a 'D' for my exam," I replied.
"Oh...So what would you get if I helped you?" Kosuke inquired.
"Probably an 'F' or an 'N', worst case scenario is I get a giant red X mark drawn on all the pages," I replied.
"Wow…sometimes you sound like your dad," Kosuke said.
Yes…Kosuke and I argued a lot…but we resolved our quarrels in seconds. That was a nice thing about him…he kept no grudge against anyone.
"You guys look as if you're studying," my dad said as he walked into my room.
"Well you know us, we strive to please you," Kosuke responded as he got a shut-up look from my dad. What's the shut up look you ask? The shut up look was the way my dad looked at you. His eyes piercing into yours like arrows fired at your body telling you to shut your mouth up. That's the shut-up look.
"Very well, you'd better get at least a 'D' this time," My dad said as he walked away.
"Wow…off all the grades it's a 'D' your dad expects you to get. Not even a 'C', he really must have low expectations of you. I wouldn't even like to know how you feel now! You must feel disappointed with yourself…or mad...y-you just wanna tear yourself up to pieces and go mad!" Kosuke said as I looked at him, in a matter of fact way. "Sorry," he added.
My mum would have been supportive of me…she left my dad for over three years now. Don't know why...Every time I asked my dad he just never replied so I stopped and presumed she got tired of him. I mean who wouldn't?
That night I had another dream where I was in a world filled with a different kind of species, Aliens to be exact. I had been having the same dream for weeks on end and for some reason my dad never seemed to get worried.
The next day was my Math exam. After the tests, we were handed our results. I was so anxious to see my score. Did I pass? For once had I proven my dad wrong? Turns out I didn't. I got the red X mark on all my pages. My heart ran out of my chest. I even got a counseling note. What would my dad think of me now? It was then I pictured my future…and it didn't look too good. I was one of those dudes playing a guitar and singing in the city with my hat on the ground filled with 5 cents and a 50 cent, by passers by.
"Hey Sam…you smell like a failure!" Billy the bully said as he sniffed my bag.
"No I don't!"I replied.
"Hey… Greg! What does Sam smell like?" Billy asked Greg, A friend of Billy and they were both bullies.
"Hmm...A failure!" Greg replied as he sniffed my bag as well.
I got home that day to find my dad waiting outside the house for me. He looked as if he was ready to mock me. I could already see over a million wrinkles on his face. 500 wrinkles meant he was going to nag me throughout the day. 100,000 meant I wouldn't get a breathing space with all the quarrelling but today it was a million. I just wanted the earth to swallow me. He must have prepared a whole failure speech for me.
"I wish I was a time traveler. I'd just re write the Math test again…and maybe get a C on it or even a B." I thought to myself.
That night I had another dream. But this time it looked real. I dreamt about mum and we talked. She said I should always remember the dream and that we might meet again.
In the morning I told my dad the dream. That was when he told me the whole story. My mum, being a time traveler, had been sent on an urgent message from her superiors about the future involving an invasion and that the earth could be destroyed. My mum had been gone for only an hour.
The thing is… one hour in my mum's planet is equivalent to five years in earth's time. My dad also said the only way I could have talked to her was if I made a wish to be a time traveler. That's the only way my powers could be activated. I stopped listening to what my dad was saying as soon as he said I was a time traveler. I fell into a trance where I corrected the mistakes I've always regretted making. I could be rich! Or better yet…I could retake the tests again!
Telling a fifteen year old boy he could now travel through time is not exactly a good idea! Well back then to me it was good to me. It was great!
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Anyway, my name is Chiaki and I'm a time traveler.