What one Becomes

Just how I came to lying in the middle of a grassy field to this day I couldn’t figure out, but there I was staring up at the blue sky. I rolled to my side as I rubbed my eyes when I looked again, I saw my friend lying less than ten feet from me.

“Tony?” I said, sitting up and scooting closer to him.

“Tony wake up!” I said, giving him a little shake.

“What?” Tony said in a groggy voice.

He came to a sitting position and pushed his black hair from his eyes. I looked down at his fantasy adventure shirt and back at him.

“Did one of your shows happen to us or what buddy?” I asked him.

“Where are we?” Tony asked, squinting at the sun.

“It’s what I asked you?” I said.

We heard another groan coming not to fare from us.

“Jules?” I said, spotting my girlfriend. I stood up and hurried towered her.

Jules sat up and looked as confused as I felt.

“You okay?” I asked her, pushing her red hair from her face.

“Are those planes?” she asked.

I followed her eye line and finally noticed the massive city surrounding us with what looked like hundreds of bugs flying in and through the buildings. Where were we, this couldn’t be New York? Or Seattle, or any other big city I’ve been to.

“No,” said Tony when he reached us. “Those are cars.”

Tony smiled so big I worried it would split his face in two.

“Guys I think we’re in the future!”

“This can’t be the future because that’s impossible!” Jules said for the hundredth time as we walked down the busy streets, which was like New York except the cars were in the air going near a hundred miles an hour. “Then How do you explain those?” I asked.

“This is amazing!” Tony cried, rushing up to us. “I just asked a guy what year it is and guess what!?”

“Oh no, tell me we’re not in the future!” Jules cried. “My mom is going to kill me!”

“This is the future though!” Tony cried. “We’ll probably end up going back to the past and nothing would have changed!”

“Just how far into the future are we?” I asked.

“Forty years, almost exactly!” said Tony.

“And is this New York?”

“No, we’re in queens!” said Tony. “Imagine New York though? They probably have floating buildings.”

“That means we’ll all be around fifty-three,” I said. “We should see what’s happened to us in the future!”

Tony’s enthusiasm suddenly vanished. “Well I can guess what happened to me,” he said.

“Don’t be silly Tony,” said Jules. “You shouldn’t listen to your dad anyway.”

“Yeah,” I said. “Now we can go see proof to see if your dad is right about you being a loser or not.”

“Jon!” Jules said.

“What!?” I asked. “If we don’t like our futures, we can change them, right?”

I started to walk away.

“Jon, wait!” Jules cried.

I didn’t look back but I knew they were following me.

Tony was quit as we walked down the street where our old school should have been. It was then a street filled with advanced shopping malls and car stores. I figured if we got back to one of our houses, we could figure out what happened to us.

“It’s okay Tony,” Jules said. “I’m sure you turned out alright.”

“I don’t think I want to know if I did,” said Tony.

“Welcome to the future!” a speaker blasted. “Welcome to the future that’s been dreamed up by the one and only, Anthony Shopman!”

We all looked towered the large screen that was flashing pictures of flying cars, just as it changed to a picture of a middle-aged man. The man had slightly graying black hair clean-shaven with glasses, he was dressed in a fine suit.

“Is that my dad?” Tony asked.

“No, your dad would be super old,” I said.

“He said Anthony Shopman, Tony,” said Jules, excited. “that’s you! Come on let’s see what you have built.”

She grabbed Tony’s hand and jerked him in the direction of the building. I shook my head in disbelief and followed.  

It was like a mall, we walked right in. The ceiling was very high with cars and other machinery I didn’t recognize. It was actually more like a museum.

“Lady’s and gentlemen!” a voice suddenly came over the intercom. “Please welcome the man that made this all possible, Anthony Shoppman!”

A loud cheer echoed through the building. I spotted a man that much be future Tony up on one of the balconies, standing next to a couple security guards.  

“You want to get a closer look?” I asked Tony.

He nodded excitedly.

We made our way to the middle staircase just as future Tony thanked everyone for coming and to enjoy the displays. We reached the floor, there were just a few people standing between us and future Tony. I smiled at Jules and wondered what happened to us in the future.

“Let’s ask him where we might be,” I said, taking her hand.

“Wait, you guys!” Tony cried.

“What?” I asked.

“Haven’t you seen Back to the future?” said Tony “We can’t interact with our past selves or something bad might happen.”

“Come on Tony I’m sure it’s fine,” said Jules.

“Hey, Jules!”

We all turn to see a woman walking towered us. Jules looked confused and opened her mouth to say something to the woman.

“Hey Marci,” said another woman, walking passed us and giving the woman a hug.

“Is that?” Jules whispered.

“I think so?” I whispered back.

“How was your day?” the Marci woman asked.

“It was tiring,” said the woman called Jules. She turned her head and I knew she was my girlfriend, an older version of her with hair cut short and wearing a blue dress suit. “I was in and out of surgery all day.”

“Saving lives yet again,” said Marci.

“I’m a Doctor?” Jules whispered in amazement. Jules hated blood and was one of the most squeamish people I’ve ever met, guess she got over that.

“I just wish I had a little more time to spend with my kids,” said future Jules.

Her and the Marci woman started to walk away, towered future Tony.

“You have kids!” says Tony. “I wonder if I do?”

“I wonder when you’re going to show up here Jon?” says Jules.

“Mom Dad!”

A kid around our age, maybe younger walked up the stairs, she had dark hair and brown eyes.

“Marci you’ve met our youngest,” future Jules says as she and future Tony as well as some other adults walked closer to us. Yet something was wrong, Future Tony and Jules were holding hands.

“Ah yes!” says Marci. “Tell me, young lady, how is it having two famous people for parents.”

“She just tries not to get embarrassed,” future Tony laughs, he puts an arm around future Jules and kisses her.

My face and ears feel as though they’re on fire, I turned and hurried down the stairs.

“Jon wait up!” Tony cried.

I hurried down the stairs, not sure where I was going.

“Jon, wait!” Jules cried.

I stopped, I was at the bottom of the stairs and turned back to them.

“You kissed my girlfriend!” I cried.

“No that wasn’t me!” Tony stammered.

“Well, you two end up married, why?” I said accusingly.

“Calm down Jon,” Jules reached me and grabbed my hand. I pulled away. “Come on we have no idea what happens in the future.”

“Besides my best friend and girlfriend marrying!” I snapped. “Are you two sleeping together now?”

“What no!” cried Jules. “I have no idea why things turned out the way that they did.”

“I swear there’s nothing between us!” Tony cried.

I knew they were right, but I also knew that it was both me and Tony that had a crush on Jules before I asked her out. As far as I knew he still did.

“I need time to think,” I said, I hurried towered the exit.

“Jon, wait!” Jules said.  

“Don’t follow me,” I yelled back at them.

I hurried outside as fast as I could. Once there I leaned up against the building and tried to breathe normally. Lucky for me there were too many people around me for anyone to pay me any head.’

If my friends married each other then what happened to me? Was I married? Had kids? Maybe a famous career. Was I still friends with Tony and Jules?

It was then that I spotted him, a young man. He was around sixteen and was standing near the entrance, he looked suspicious glancing around and had a hand in his pocket. But it wasn’t that that drew my attention, it was that he looked like me. He had brown hair and green eyes with a thin face. He had my families’ bushing eyebrow. He could have been my older brother, or son, or grandson now.

“Hey, you!” I called out to him.

The kid turned to me, I started walking towered him. He took off. I ran after him; he ran down the dark alleyway between the two buildings. Once I turned the corner, I found myself in an alleyway but the kid was nowhere to be found.     

“Hello!” I called out, walking forward.

I was suddenly seized from behind and my back was shoved against the brick wall. The kid I was chasing was holding me there, his face inches away. He held up a lighter, it was close enough to my face that I could feel the heat from the small flame.

“Why were you following me?” he demanded.

“I just wanted to know what you were doing?” I said. “Can you let go of me.”

He did but only took a step back.

“Why do you want to know?” he demanded.

“Do you know Jon Kane?” I asked instead.

The boy’s face grew dark, like a cloud came over it. my heart sank.

“You mean the man that was my grandfather?”

“Was?” I asked.

“Haven’t you heard kid?” the boy continued. “Jon Kane was shot in the face over a month ago.”

“What?” I said, I suddenly felt very, very cold. “By who?”

“My father,” said the boy angrily. “And now he spending the rest of his life in the slammer, while some rich guy is dedicating his new car model to him today.”

“Why is he doing that?”

“Guess they were friends in high school or something,” said the boy. “But if he knew even half as many people that my grandfather hurt, he would be cursing his name. not dedicating something to him.”

The boy pulled out a canister of gas and a lighter.

“Not if you’d excuse me,” the boy said. “I have to go make a statement... hey what’s wrong with you?”

I collapsed into the ground as the world began spinning around me. I heard the boy’s voice sounding further and further away.

The next thing I knew I opened my eyes and I was lying flat on a bed. I sat up and looked around me.

“Did you see anything?”

I looked over. A doctor in her mid-twenties stood next to my bed in the blank room. It all suddenly came back to me. Then the add in the paper for the sleep experiment, I owed Chad over a hundred Dolores and needing the money.

“Jon?” Dr. Grave asked, I remember her name being Grave.

I looked at her and said; “What was I supposed to see?”

“You were supposed to see into the future,” said Dr. Grave. “And did you?”

“No, I didn’t see anything, sorry,” I said.

Grave swore under his breath before pasting a smile on her face. “Well it looks like back to square one,” she said. “If you go to the reception and get some electrolytes and she will also have your check.”

“Hey Dr. Grave,” I said.

“Yes?”

“If I did see the future, is it set in stone?” I asked. “Or will it change, or can it be changed.”

“The future is more like playdough then rock,” said Dr. Grave. “At least that’s what I believe.”

I walked out of the clinic that day feeling uncertain but more determined than ever. If I can change my future, I will. No matter what it takes.