The year is 2540. There lived a teenager in a village called Starlight with futuristic ideas and dreams that would change the natural order of time and reality.
Everyone thought Magnus was a weirdo and he wasted most of his time believing in the impossible. But who knew that it would lead him to discover something out of this world.
It was March 14, 2540. Magnus was walking across the mysterious woods. He was not supposed to use that path since it was out of bounds to every citizen that lived in Starlight. No one would even dare to cross the forest.
As a curious mind who believed in fantasy, Magnus was compelled to take that path as the forest contained many mysteries.
As he moved deeper into the forest, the trees started moving around, changing their positions every five seconds. He started to encounter more anomalies in the forest.
Suddenly, he saw a tree with weird patterns and a hole in the middle of the trunk. He reached his hand into the hole just to find an old watch.
He was very furious, and scared, because he came all this way just to find an old watch which did not even work.
Magnus soon realised there was no way back home and started to cry. Little did he know that it was at that very moment that his life was about to change.
The tears from his eyes fell on to the watch, and the watch started to power up.
The watch then displayed a date. It showed March 14, 2530 – the day his father met with an accident.
After a few seconds, the watch started to vibrate, and suddenly, he found himself on his bed, in his room, 10 years earlier.
He was flabbergasted when he checked his phone. It read March 14, 2530. The time was 8am. He could hear his dad talking with his mum.
He quickly ran to his dad and hugged him tightly. His dad, Jacob, asked Magnus if everything was okay. Jacob had planned to step out to buy groceries. Magnus didn’t know what to do. In order to prevent his dad from driving the car, he lied about having a migraine.
His plan worked. Jacob brought Magnus to his room and gave him some medicines. He then asked Magnus to get some rest while he prepared breakfast. Magnus was so happy that he would get to meet his dad again in the future.
He quickly took the old watch and set the time to March 14, 2540. The watch started to work its magic and all of the sudden, he was back on his bed, but this time, he was in a mansion. He ran down the stairs and hugged his dad, full of joy.
Magnus couldn’t believe that he was living in a mansion and that he was the son of the richest man in Starlight.
But to his horror, he quickly learnt that he had instead lost his mum and brother in an accident, exactly 10 years ago. They had gone to buy the groceries instead, as Jacob had stayed at home to care for Magnus. They died in the car crash.
Magnus was shocked and clueless.
The only thing he had in mind was to save his mum and brother from his act of selfishness.
He quickly activated the old watch and travelled back to the past. Again, he woke up in his bed and he heard his dad talking to his mum.
To save his mum and brother, he remained in the room, letting his dad go to get the groceries.
It was a difficult choice to make, and it made him tear up. He felt like a murderer because he had the chance to save his dad, but yet, he chose not to. He told himself that it was the right thing to do in order to save his mum and brother.
With his teary eyes and broken heart, he used the watch and travelled back to the present.
Everything remained normal. His mum and brother were alive, his dad has passed on in the accident.
The satisfaction that he had saved his mum and brother was more than the guilt he felt in letting his dad go.
He realised that the watch was wretched and fed on one’s desires and selfishness.
To stop the watch from ruining the lives of others, he decided to get rid of it. He broke the watch with a hammer and burnt it completely until there was no evidence that something special, yet evil, existed in this world.
He learned a valuable lesson from the journey.
The past is the perfect reality from the many possibilities that are created from different actions and choices.
Every action plays a role in balancing reality. Even the slightest change in the past can change the future in many unpredictable ways.
This has taught Magnus that there are no regrets in life … just lessons.
This is the personal opinion of the writer and does not necessarily represent the views of Twentytwo13.
To give the younger generation an avenue to express themselves, Twentytwo13 now has a dedicated space called Young Voices. If you are a young writer (aged between 12 and 17) and would like to have your article published on our news website, send your contribution to editor@twentytwo13.my.
All articles must be accompanied by the young writer’s full name, MyKad number, contact number, and the mobile number of the young writer’s parents/guardians for verification purposes.
