Copyrights reserved by the author. If you are in doubt, please click on 'Copyrights' and read the details.The trouble with time machines is they can go both ways By J. G. Fabiano What a wonderful summer week. At least it is for people who don't have to be anywhere except for a place on the ocean. Last Monday I arrived at my favorite part of the beach where the surf meets the sand. It was an odd day because there was a cool thick fog directly on the beach. If you walked a half mile away from the water it became extremely hot and humid because there was no sign of any kind of a fog. Also since it was an early high tide I spent the day moving my chair so the ocean wouldn't fall too far away from me. Thinking of absolutely nothing I discovered my dilapidated old beach chair had a remarkable capacity about it. It could look into the future. Or at least allow the sitter the ability to see where people were heading into their future. I discovered this by simply opening my eyes. The fog must have helped because I watched people as though I was turning the pages of some novel. People popped in front of me seemingly from out of nowhere and because they had little sight of me played out what there future might be. At first I heard them. There were four young girls all giggling their way toward the water. If they walked ten feet to their right they would have stepped on me. At first I couldn't understand what they were talking about but when they stepped into my part of the fog I could hear them clearly. They were all challenging each other to jump into the ocean. If this had been sometime in January the challenge would have interested me. But, since it was a July afternoon the thought of diving into the water was not so special. The deal they were trying to make was they would all run into the water together so none of them would chicken out. The ring leader of the group was the smallest one. She kept on jumping up and down as a cheerleader would at a football game encouraging all to do what she wants them to do. I would assume this person would start many activities in her lifetime. She would have to be some sort of councilor or even a teacher. The other three girls finally agreed to do what their friend wanted them to do. On the count of three they all jumped on their toes and ran into the ocean. Or at least most of them did. The tallest of the group decided to hold back a bit and walk behind the other three into the surf. It was not as if she was not going to do what she agreed upon. She would simply take her time and do it with some elegance. This young woman was destined to be the employer of the councilor because she did not start the activity; she just did it on her own terms. So, my dilapidated old time machine easily pegged what two out of the four young women would become. They would stand out in their perspective fields. As for the other two, I assume they will simply be somewhere in the middle of what life gives them. The tall girl was the last to fall into the fog and disappear into their futures. Smiling to myself I watched a young boy of about ten or twelve slide past me on the newest toy of the beach. It is called a skim board. He was very good at it. At first I did not see where he came from because he appeared out of the fog. But, after he slid by me he turned around and slid past me again. He jumped the small waves and turned in the surf as though he had done this a million times before. He was obviously a beach kid so he probably did slide over the small surf for most of his young life. Then an older boy slid into my view. He was not as good as the younger boy but did have the capacity to stay up on the board without having his teeth meet the sand. Then something odd happened. The first boy started to look as though he just started riding his board. He fell in front of me as the older boy watched. Then the older boy started to show him some things that would make his ride easier and more fun. This confused me for a couple of seconds until I realized the younger boy wanted to make a friend. Since he knew he was better then the older boy he understood if he showed him up they would never become friends. From this conclusion I knew the younger boy would become a politician, a lawyer, or probably both. He knew at a young age how to make a person he wants to befriend comfortable. The older boy would probably become one of many who stand in a crowd applauding the people who instinctively knew how to play the game of life. After one long skim together both boys fell back into the fog never to be seen by me again. For the next few minutes I found myself alone surrounded by the thick cool fog. It looked as though it barely moved and it echoed the sound of the surf as though the entire beach was in some large gray box. Just when I was about to fall into a serene state I heard 'cooing' behind me. At first I thought it was a pigeon but then with the 'cooing' I heard the sound of small feet running towards me. Before I could turn around a small girl holding an even smaller pail ran past me. When she reached the water I heard another pair of small feet heading toward me. This time it was a young boy holding a bigger pail. When he reached the water the small girl had already filled her bucket and was heading back from where she came 'cooing' all the way. I doubt if she saw me because she came within inches of my chair and never missed a step. The boy then whizzed past me chasing the young girl into the fog. A few seconds later I heard the 'cooing' once again with the little girl flying past my only to do the same back carrying a full pail of water. The boy kept up the pace but was always a little bit behind the girl. My dilapidated old chair did not have to work hard to figure this one out. As in the past and into the future women always work harder then the men in order to prove to themselves and the world they are not only as good as men but better. The future will show women will do a better job because how, as men, can we screw it up anymore then we have. As for the 'cooing' I figured out it was some sort of victory scream stating the future is not that far away. As quickly as the two children appeared they disappeared leaving me once again alone in the fog. A young man then appeared before me. I don't remember him walking past the chair or even walking from either side of the beach. He seemed to come out of nowhere. He stood ankle deep in the water staring out into the horizon even though it was impossible to do so through the dense fog. I assumed he was in his twenties and I also assumed he was contemplating his present and his future. Maybe he was thinking of his new wife and new family. He could have been trying to figure out how he could move to one of the most beautiful places on Earth. He stoically stood there for what must have been ten minutes moving only to pull his feet from out of the sand. Then something happened that was a bit disturbing. Unlike the young girls, the two boys, and the two children, he turned around and stared down at me. It was almost as if he thought he was staring into his own future. At first I thought he looked a bit afraid but then smiled as if he liked where he was destined to be. A few seconds later he disappeared into the fog as he appeared a few moments before. What a wonderful summer week. I discovered my dilapidated old beach chair could look into people's future and I also discovered it could also look into my past. The End.
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