March 1, 2050, A
The dark room was illuminated by the many screens, the bright light coming off flooded my eyes. One door, straight behind me, was shut. The only sound was the tapping of my foot and the clicking of my computer mouse. This is where the world has left me, in a dungeon of misery, happiness, existence, and any other feeling possible to man. Soon, salvation will come and lead me to a life full of success, happiness, and prosperity. As my eyes burned from the light, I kept telling myself “All of this hard work will pay off.”
September 2, 2015, B
I was hanging out with my good friend at the time, Andros. We were in his room, finding something to keep us occupied. A simple coin flip can really fill yourself with excitement, especially when $10 is on the line. Andros tossed the coin in the air for the fifth time, while I call it “heads.” After settling on the ground, I realized that I had lost.
September 2, 2015, C
“Man, I can’t believe you called it right five times in a row,” said Andros. “I know,” I replied. “What’s even the probability of that?” “One-in-thirty-two,” I told Andros. “Luck was on my side today, I guess.” Sadly for Andros, he just gave me 10 more dollars. “Sometimes things just work out that way,” said Andros. He was always a relaxed, go-with-the-flow type of person. He adapted so well to inconvenience, something that I struggle with. “Today, on this planet, in this universe, you won the one-in-thirty-two. This is your day.”
What Andros didn’t know is that this isn’t just my day, but my life. My soon-to-be life.
March 1, 2050, A
“Ah, I remember this,” I said to myself. But I corrected, “I guess I could believe this happened.” I looked so happy when I called the coin flip right for that fifth time. Sometimes, I do wish I had these experiences. “It doesn’t matter anyway,” I tell myself. I turned my head to a different screen. The curiosity of my mind overcomes the tiredness and burning sensation filling my eyes. “Let’s look at something a little different.”
July 15, 2020, B
I laid on my bed thinking about how terrible life can be. All this time wasted for a degree in computer science. No, all this money wasted for a degree. I can’t help but think back on how careless I was with my money throughout my whole life. Not that a few hundred dollars would help much, but it’s easier to lay down and complain instead of figuring out what I’m going to do. I think back to the $40 I spent on that book I never even read. That $10 I gave to Santa standing outside the Red Cross. The $50 I lost to Andros betting on coin flips. What a waste.
May 4, 2022, C
“I can’t believe I finally graduated college,” I tell my mom. “Yes, and to make it even better, you made it through without having to pay a single penny. Scholarships may be hard to come by these days, but when they do there’s nothing to complain about. Now you’ll have to get a real job and not let that business degree go to waste,” my mother says in jest. “I know, I know. Too bad I can’t keep working at the ice cream shop.” “That was just your first step to being a rich, successful businessman,” says my mom. “It won’t be easy though. You need to work harder than ever.” “I know,” I replied.
March 1, 2050, A
“Oh, how she sounds just like the mother I knew,” I say to myself. I wonder what she would think of me now. Staring at screens, wasting a degree (not a business one, though), working on a job that would make no sense to her. I can still hear her say “At some point technology will go too far. People will be wasting their lives away in front of screens and made up fantasies. That’s why I never watched TV growing up. You know, we used to go outside and make our own fun. That’s a lost art these days.” It’s times like these that I miss her the most. I wish she would have congratulated me on my degree. I wish I would have gotten that scholarship. No point in complaining now, when I can still get everything I want.
“I might as well give it a rest for the night,” I think to myself. These feelings of sadness and nostalgia are often lost in today’s world, especially now that every ounce of happiness can be accessed at your fingertips, personalized just to you. I try to keep it balanced, as not to lose my humanity. Before I am able to exit my chair, a stream of thought leads me to the girl who was once my fiance. “Since I’m feeling nostalgic for sadness,” I say to myself, “I’ll see who else shared my grief of losing her.”
December 20, 2025, B
Sitting in my living room, I get a call on the phone. Maria was in a crash, a bad one. It was icy out on the untreated roads. It also doesn’t help when a drunk driver hits that ice, sending the car into a lane soon to be filled with sounds of terror. My best friend, Alex, picked me up and began driving to the hospital. I wonder if she will be alright, if there will be complications, and how this could even happen. I was worried about so much in my life that I forgot to appreciate the good things. We arrived at the hospital, but what’s the point? She died on the way there. “My fiance of eight months, gone forever,” which is what I thought.
I laid in my bed for a while after that. It didn’t make me feel better, but it helped me feel sad for myself. One day, Alex came to talk to me. He’s not very good at these things, so I didn’t expect much. “How are you doing?” “How do you think?” I replied. “You know that I’m here for you. If you need anything, just tell me. Not just me, but your family too.” “I know.”
If there’s one thing I learned watching these, it’s how much I say “I know.”
March 1, 2025, A
I know I was in the mood for nostalgia and sadness, but now I’m too sad. Sometimes it’s difficult to put yourself in other people’s shoes. Sometimes it’s difficult to put yourself in your own shoes. That’s common nowadays too. However, it’s really easy to relive traumatic moments. I change my eyesight to another screen. I see a little boy, exactly like me. In fact, he is me. The boy rides his bike home from his friend's house, past the funeral home. “A lot of cars in there, must be a funeral” the boy says. I miss the naivety of children.
The boy makes it home, where his mother is preparing dinner. “There must be a funeral at the funeral home today,” he says. “Yes,” the mother replies. “A little girl named Maria. She was your age, killed in a house fire.” The smell of chicken radiates through the house and into the boy’s nose. “How sad,” I remark, too focused on what is for dinner.
March 2, 2050, A
I continued my search through the many screens. I am getting close, so close. Then, I remembered an email. My Perfect Universe Inc. representative wanted to know how my search was going. He’s just doing his job, so I know he really doesn’t care. At the end of the day, they do this for anyone willing to give everything they own away. It’s a great deal for the consumer. The work really is great, though. I replied to him, saying that I found a good one. “All formative memories are positive and no traumatic memories,” I type. I pull this one up on my screen to look at further.
I see a man, about 50 years of age. He has everything he needs. A life fitting for a billionaire: multiple cars, multiple mansions, a business that terraforms planets for habitation, three kids, a dog, and a wife named Maria. He is one of the most powerful and respected people on the planet. He is by far and large the smartest version of me, the hardest working, the most successful, and the happiest. What he doesn’t know, however, is that I exist. I exist in a universe, on Earth, that has technology beyond his belief. Technology that allows me to see him, along with the millions of other versions of me. He has everything you could want in that universe. I have the one thing I need out of every universe. For my universe, it is commonplace to search your life in other parallel universes. It is also commonplace to visit a universe of your desire, kill the version of you living there, and live the life you always wanted.
Blurb
The piece was made for a Science Fiction class that I took in college. The concept is on a possible future where we know of alternate universes, and are able to view and access them. I was inspired by Max Tegmark's book Our Mathematical Universe: My Quest for the Ultimate Nature of Reality, which shows some evidence for alternate universes. I am very bad at using the writing process, so I wrote the story in one sitting and never went back to fix anything. I am thankful that Baylie took the time to look through it and clean it up!