The Do-Over

           At forty-nine years old, all that Keith had to show for himself, was his vast movie collection, and $422.53 in the bank. Nothing else in his possession was completely his. He was renting a one-bedroom apartment above a Chinese restaurant. The odors from the restaurant permeated the air of his apartment.

           Keith cherished his VHS and DVD collection that he began to put together when he was a teenager. He still recalls the first movie that he ever bought; it was in 1987, and Keith stood in line at the store so he could buy one of the first VHS copies of “Top Gun” starring Tom Cruise. At that point in his life, he thought a fighter pilot was his future career.

           By the time he turned twenty, Keith still hadn’t pursued his career as the next Top Gun pilot, instead, he had a job selling ice cream at the local dairy store making $8.69 per hour. It was hardly enough to keep his movie collection going, let alone save up for flying lessons, so he put his dream on the back burner once again.

           In 1997, Keith had managed to put a few dollars away in his savings account, and he was determined to start his flying lessons by the end of the summer. But then something unexpected happened; a brand-new invention came out on the market. They called it a Digital Video Disc, or DVD for short. Suddenly, Keith could see the potential of less storage space and no video tape getting caught up inside the machine. He had to have it, but first he needed a DVD player, which at that time, retailed for $600 to $1,000. A cheap player would empty all his savings, so he decided to sleep on it.

           Later that night, he tossed and turned contemplating his decision of buying a DVD player or signing up for flying lessons. He decided that the flying lessons would end up costing more, so he chose to buy the DVD player the following day. From that moment on, he found himself paying ridiculous amounts of money for his favorite films on DVD. He rarely used his VHS player after that.

           Now that Keith was grown and lived a good part of his life already, he would spend hours reliving his childhood memories based on his favorite films of the time. When he wanted to remember his first girlfriend, Candy Pierce, he would watch the movie, “When Harry Met Sally” with Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal. It was the first film they ever saw together. He wasn’t that interested in seeing it, being a “chick flick” and all, but he planned to watch her more than the movie anyway. When it got to Meg’s infamous orgasm scene, he suddenly became interested.

           As he sat on the couch in the middle of his TV room, watching “Back to the Future,” Keith dozed off into a deep sleep. When he awoke, it was still dark, and as he tried to get off the couch and walk to the bathroom, he stubbed his toe on a table. He found it odd that his coffee table was there; he normally kept it further back.

           As he edged his way down the hall, he slid his hand along the wall to guide him in the darkness. When he arrived at the first door, he slid his hand toward the door handle and turned it clockwise. The door swung open, and Keith groped along the wall searching for the light switch. After finding it and flicking it on, he was startled to find out he had entered a bedroom instead of the bathroom, and in the bed were a man and woman. The woman was awakened and sat up screaming at the sight of the stranger in her bedroom. This had caused her husband to stir as well. Once he realized what his wife was screaming at, he was out of the bed like a jackrabbit, charging toward the stranger.

           Keith couldn’t help but stand there in shock, not just because he was in someone else’s home, but because he was staring at his parents who had both been dead for more than five years. Keith was brought back to reality when his much younger father tackled him to the ground in the hallway. Keith quickly got to his feet and ran toward the front door. Just before he left, he heard the familiar voice of his younger self asking his parents what had happened.

           Once he left his childhood home, Keith went to the only place that he could think of to hide out. He knew that his dad would have called the police, so he needed to stay out of sight. At the edge of town, down near the riverbank, Keith and his friends built a tree fort using old pieces of lumber that they confiscated from a local housing development. They called it, “The Boys Club” and no girls were allowed inside. He recalled how many hours he would spend up there every day when he was a pre-teen. That was before movies became such a big part of his life.

           The tree fort appeared much smaller to him now that he was fully grown, but he managed to squeeze himself through the hatch in the floor just the same. There were a couple throw pillows that the boys snuck out of their houses in the corner, so he stacked them up and made a comfortable spot to lay his head. Using the light from the moon, he started reading the old comic book collection that he stashed away behind a loose board when he was eleven years old. He was nearly done reading the last one, when he fell back to sleep.

           His dreams that night were restless. He found himself caught on a merry-go-round traveling at top speed, unable to jump off the ride. As the world spun around him, he would catch glimpses of his life from his childhood through to his adulthood, and it wasn’t until he saw his own funeral with only a few people in attendance, that he finally woke up. It was morning by then, and he decided to stay hidden for a bit longer. He assumed that everyone in the neighborhood would have heard about the stranger in town by now. His mother and her friends were the biggest gossips in town.

           Keith had not even had a chance to let it sink in that he had traveled back in time. He assumed that it was all a nightmare and that he would wake up back on his couch, but when he awoke in the treehouse, he knew that it was truly happening. Now he needed to figure out why he was here and how he was going to get back.

           Keith was not highly educated, so Quantum Physics time travel was not his thing. The only education he had regarding situations like this, was by watching science-fiction movies. He started reliving every time travel film he had ever watched so he could determine what to do next.

           Without warning, the floor hatch opened, and a head popped through it. The boy stopped in his tracks when he saw the stranger in his treehouse, and he began to climb back down when Keith called out for him to wait. He insisted that he meant no harm and would leave if that would make his younger self feel better.

           Young Keith paused, then returned up the ladder. He asked the stranger his name, to which his older self replied that his name was Keith. The boy was elated to hear that they shared the same name, and that seemed to break the ice between them.

           Young Keith pointed at the comic books and stated that the older Keith had found his collection. Older Keith handed them back over to his younger self and told him that he was sorry he took them out. They began to discuss the comics like they were true stories. That was how enthusiastic older Keith was about his movies too.

           It suddenly dawned on older Keith the reason he was there. He was being given a do-over, a chance to fix his past mistakes. He had to convince his younger self to focus more on his dream and save as much money as he could, but he needed to do it in a way that won’t allow young Keith to figure out who he was speaking with.

           Older Keith asked his younger counterpart what he wanted to be when he grew up, to which young Keith replied, “a baseball player.” Older Keith had forgotten that he had a passion for baseball at that age. He remembered watching Tommy John of the New York Yankees pitch against The Toronto Blue Jays in game three of the series. It was a great game, but the Jays beat them 2 to 1 in the final inning.

           Older Keith encouraged his younger self to keep believing in his dreams, but he told him that it would take hard work and a lot of money to make it in whatever career he chose to follow. Young Keith seemed to be letting it all sink in. He began to ask how he can save that kind of money, so older Keith told him to avoid buying things that he “wanted” and save for what he “needed” instead. With that, older Keith left the treehouse and began walking down the street.

           Keith spotted a police cruiser coming toward him, so he tried to look casual and avoid eye contact, and as the car passed, Keith though he was safe, but the lights and siren came on as the cruiser did a U-turn and headed back in Keith’s direction.

           Keith took off running as fast as he could, but his beer belly and lack of cardio from years of doing nothing but watching movies, had him gasping for breath in less than a block. He looked behind to see the officer catching up to him on foot, and as he turned back to face forward, Keith went face-first into a low-mounted sign. Everything went black seconds later.

           When Keith awakened, his head was pounding. As his vision began to clear, he found himself inside a luxurious apartment with a magnificent view of the park below. Unsure of where he was, Keith began to call out, “Hello!” to anyone who might be there, and moments later, a stunning brunette woman entered the room and said, “Hey babe!”

           “Babe?” Keith thought to himself. “Who was she talking to?” The woman told him to get dressed and come out for breakfast. She told him that the food would be ready shortly, so he had better hurry. He wasn’t sure who this woman was, but he could eat, so he got up and went into the bathroom to freshen up. When he looked into the mirror, he couldn’t believe his eyes; his beer belly from too many six-packs was now a six-pack of muscle. In fact, his whole body was in incredible condition. After splashing some water on his face and fixing his hair, he admired himself a little longer.

           Keith found some clothes in the bedroom and got dressed before heading to the kitchen. As he entered the kitchen. The brunette leaned over and kissed him, then set his food on the breakfast bar. Keith thanked her and began to dig into his Belgian waffle smothered in fruit. It was delicious. He couldn’t afford to eat like this at home, so he took his time and savoured every bite.

           The woman insisted that he hurry, however. She claimed that he was going to be late for practice. “Practice? What kind of practice was she talking about?” he wondered. She told him that Oliver was waiting in the car downstairs for him, and she gave him another, longer kiss followed by a pat on his buttocks before pushing him out the door.

           Keith didn’t know what kind of illusion he was having, but he was in no rush to have it end. He took the elevator down fifteen floors to the lobby of the building and walked out the front door. He could hear people calling out his name and taking his picture. He thought that maybe he was in trouble with the law, so he began to walk quicker and hid his face slightly.

           A man sitting in the driver’s seat of a brand-new Ferrari 296 GTS yelled out the passenger-side window for Keith to get in. Wanting to avoid the onslaught of crazed people chasing after him, and because he was excited to see what this car looked like on the inside, he climbed inside.

           The driver revved the engine and spun the tires as he darted down the street like he was racing in the Indianapolis 500. Keith looked around for something to hold onto and the driver laughed. “What’s up with you today, Keith? You aren’t acting yourself,” the driver said.

           Keith assumed that this guy must be Oliver, the man that the brunette was talking about. “How’s Jessie, that fine-looking wife of yours?” he asked. “Wife?” Keith thought. He couldn’t believe that he was now married to such an amazing woman. He just smiled back at Oliver. Oliver just shook his head and smiled back.

           Minutes later, the car came to a stop in the parking lot of Yankee Stadium, and Oliver asked Keith if he was ready. He wasn’t sure what he was supposed to be ready for, so he replied, “yes” not wanting Oliver to think that he was going crazy, though Keith thought that might be the case.

           They walked inside the gates and the security guard just gave them a nod and let them through. He assumed Oliver was friends with the guard and is letting them see what it was like to be on an American League field. Keith followed Oliver to the Yankees dressing room and they pushed open the door. The room was filled with players from the Yankees team, and Keith thought they were about to get kicked out, so he spun around and headed back to the door. Anthony Rizzo, the first baseman yelled out, “Where are you going?”

           “Nowhere,” Keith replied as he headed for the bench.

           “Hurry up and get changed,” Oliver said. “We need to be on the field in five minutes.”

           Keith looked behind him tried to figure out what locker his clothes were in, then Oliver recommended that he get into the office and get changed or else they were going to have a late start. Keith looked at the door to the coach’s office and saw his name upon it. He was the pitching coach of the New York Yankees. It was beyond anything he could have imagined.

           Keith could not believe that his life had changed so much because of the one suggestion that he gave himself as an eleven-year-old boy. His childhood dream had come to fruition years later, and now that Keith had come to this realization, his lost memories from this new reality began to replace his former memories of insecurity, depression, low self-worth, and near poverty. He got his do-over and would never doubt himself again.

           When he returned home that evening, Keith walked in to find Jessie reading a book by the balcony. He walked over to her and kissed her like it was the first time ever. She asked if he wanted to watch a movie, and he agreed, so she pressed a button on a remote, and several shelves of DVDs began to roll out from one of the walls. There were hundreds to choose from. A large-screened television had lowered from the ceiling as well and centered itself with the leather sofa. Jessie chose a movie and inserted it into the DVD player. It was “Top Gun.” They sat on the couch and cuddled for the perfect end to a perfect day.