The Younger Me

(prompt from writing prompt-re tumblr: 

You’re sent back five years in time to have a conversation with your younger self for two hours and forty-seven minutes. No more, no less. )

“A classroom?”

That was my first thought when I opened my eyes. I was sleeping at one of the desks in a classroom. I stood up and looked around. The boards, drawers, furniture - everything suggested that it was a classroom of my school, a classroom on the second floor to be exact. 

“Ting!”

I looked down at my wrist. There was a wristwatch there that read 2:47:00 with a small text below it saying, “Find yourself.” I noticed I was wearing my school uniform with a tie and the brown waistcoat that was removed from the dress code around three years ago. I really loved the coat. It made me look smart. 

With another ting from the watch, I realized that it was not the time to admire the old uniform. The watch was counting down and I did not know what would happen when it reached zero.

I checked the corridors - it was empty. I heard a faint noise from outside and went to the windows of the nearest classroom to check. It seemed that the students were boarding their buses. That explained the empty corridors. 

I started making my way to the buses. On my way, I noticed the substitution sheet pinned on the notice board. I checked the date - 27 August 2016 ?! 

I double-checked, even pinched myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. I was not. 

I had somehow ended up five years in the past! 

Did that mean I had to find my younger self when it said, “Find yourself”? 

Is she even here?

Or have we exchanged places?

Only one way to find out.

 I rushed downstairs to search for a younger version of myself. I hurried through the crowd, eyes scanning around for her. I found her standing near the fence with Shravya. Luckily, her bus was late today so I was able to find her quickly. 

I went and stood near her. I guess she was able to see me as I saw her eyes dart towards me, a confused look on her face. Before she could say anything, I hushed her. 

“ I don’t think anyone else can see me. I ran all the way down the stairs and none of the teachers there stopped me or questioned me.” I whispered. She did not turn around, but I knew I had her attention. I continued, “ I know you have any questions, so do I. But let’s talk somewhere else.” 

“Shravya, call for me if the bus arrives. I just need to go to the restroom real quick.” 

With a thumbs up from Shravya, she walked away. I followed behind.

“So, who are you?” she questioned.

We were standing in the restroom on the ground floor.

“I am you and you are me.”, I stated in my most majestic voice.

Her confused look made me laugh.

“Sorry. I just wanted to use that dialogue. It sounded cool when the character said it in the show. But it is true. I am you from the future.” 

“ Well, you do look like me. So, how old are you?”

“Seventeen.”

“But how come you are here? Are you sure you are not just some look-alike messing with me? Or am I dreaming?” She pinched her arm, “ Ow! Definitely not a dream.” 

I just shrugged in response, “ I only know as much as you do. I somehow woke up here with a wristwatch that is counting down my time here I guess as we speak and a message to find myself.”

With that, I checked my watch. Only two hours were left and till now the only thing I know is I am invisible, inaudible, and intangible like a ghost to everyone except this younger version of me. 

“ So, you are me from the future?”

“Yes.” I could see the gears of her brain moving. “Why do you ask? I think I explained that already.” I asked.

“I didn’t grow much, did I? You are short.” She scoffed.

“You meet your future self and that is the first thing you say? For your information, I am already taller than my mother.”

“Oh really?”

I hesitated, “ Ok, maybe not taller, but I sure am as tall as her.”

“Anyways, can you tell me about the future?”

“ I don’t think I should be talking much about that. It will ruin the fun and surprises for you.”

“Oh come on! Spill it already.”

“No.” was my simple reply.

We stood there in silence.

“I think you should go back now.” 

“ Oh yeah! Let’s head back.”

We walked out of the building.

“Hey! Why is everything so...still?”

I looked around and noticed that everything was, indeed, still.

I looked down at the watch. The previous text was now replaced by a red dot. I tapped on it and a holographic screen appeared. The glow from the screen surprised the younger me.

“What is that?” She looked pretty intrigued.

I simply shrugged at her question and started reading, “ The time is paused. Talk while you can.”

“Whoa! The time has really paused for us.” 

“At least you can talk freely now, without looking crazy,” I said.

“I wonder if…” she ran to the nearest student and tried taking their bag. It didn’t budge at all. 

“It seems we can’t interfere with anything.” I followed behind, “ Let’s just walk around and chat. Don’t you want to ask me anything?” I inquired.

We started walking around the ground. I checked the watch. We still had one and a half hours left. 

A few more minutes had passed when I noticed something.

“ You are wearing leggings. It’s still too hot for that, don’t you think?” 

“You’re from the future, right?” she started after a pause, “You should know why.”

I was confused at first, but then I remembered, “ You mean your recent games period?”

She nodded. 

I have leg hair...more than other people, especially girls, usually have. That always made me a bit self-conscious about myself, but whenever my mother suggested waxing it, a part of me refused to do that. Somewhere inside me, I wanted others to accept it and not suggest getting rid of me, it is natural and should be normalized. 

“I know they were just kidding so I laughed it off, but it still hurts. Like, can’t they just ignore it? I know my flaws, they don’t have to point it out like that. I know I also may have done something similar in the past, so I shouldn’t be offended, but I still hate it when they point it out like that ” She finally let it out.

I could understand the feeling. We were the same person after all. 

“ If it makes you happy, I don’t remember hearing such comments after that one, well, except Mumma. She still worries about it.” I smiled at the thought of my mother and continued, “ To be honest, it does look a bit different, but the only thing we can do is not think about it. People will point it out cause it’s different. That is human nature. We ourselves have done that, knowingly or unknowingly. That is what I picked up in these 5 years and this is what you must remember.”

She hummed in understanding, “ By the way, do you have any other advice for me?”

“Just don’t get too dependent on your friends? Maybe even expand the social circle a little, so that you don’t end up alone in your future just because you don’t know how to start a conversation.” I chuckled at the last statement.

“ Am I alone in the future?” 

“Not exactly. You do have friends to talk to but sometimes when you are not with them, you end up sitting at a corner, waiting for someone else to approach you cause you have no idea how to approach them.”

“Like how Winnie says, You can’t stay in your corner of the Forest waiting for others to come to you. You have to go to them sometimes,” She added.

“ Exactly!” 

“ And even if you end up being the only one, just grab the opportunity and make friends along the way, don’t wait for someone else to step forward first.”

She nodded with a smile.

We continued our walk, enjoying the peace and already comfortable with each other’s presence.

“Also, don’t hate Shravya”, I stated.

She cringed at that, “Umm...I don’t ‘hate’ her. Dislike, yes, but I never hated anyone. Hate is a bit...too much.” 

“Well, don’t ‘dislike’ her then. She is not that bad. She is quite nice actually if you ask me.”

“Seriously? But she is too bossy, and she acts like a know-it-all all the time. It’s annoying!”

“Are you sure these are your words? Your feelings? Are you sure you are not influenced by anyone? Can you say for sure you are not fed these thoughts by someone else?” 

She went quiet. The hesitation was clear on her face. 

I sighed and continued, “ Try to think. How did you feel about her before? Before they approached you about this.”

“Well, I did say that she was a good friend.”

“Exactly. Stick to that for now. Observe for yourself, but before that neutralize your thoughts. You will be able to avoid a lot of arguments and disagreements. Listen to others but don’t just believe it. Don’t let the world affect your mindset.” 

“What about the other rumors?” She asked.

“If you ask me, those are just nonsense that you need not waste your time on. Like, does it even matter whether those are true or not? You are just wasting your time and energy overthinking stuff.”

“Can’t say it does.” she nodded.

Suddenly, I felt a hot breeze hit me. I looked around and noticed that people have started moving again.

“Looks like our time is over.” 

“It sure does.”

 We bid our farewell and she started walking back to the fence.

“Wait!” I shouted behind her.

“What?”

“One Last piece of advice! Start listening to Korean music or watching Korean dramas.”

“Why?” she had a confused look on her face. Of course, the sudden mention of Korea would surprise her.

“Trust me or you’ll end up listening to people rant about it, while not understanding anything. So as they say, if you can’t stop them, join them.” 

With those last words, a thick fog surrounded me, blocking my vision. I started feeling dizzy and soon succumbed to the darkness that enveloped me. 

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