[StLee]

I was 23 years old, real time. I was 13 years old, physically. During the day I was a student. Because of my accident, I was behind my peers, so my 23 was equivalent to the typical 19-year-old. In other words, I was an underclassman.

“Are you a genius?” one of my classmates asked me. We were five minutes into a history class, but the professor was not there yet. He had the hairstyle and fashion of a person who would forever follow yet forever be put into a position of leadership. Good-looking, from a wealthy family, and not an original thought in his head.

“Why do you ask that?”

“Since you’re a kid. How did you get into college?”

“I’m probably older than you.”

The Shadow Man stood next to me. He was watching, whispering. “Tell him what you know,” the Shadow Man said.

My classmate laughed at my joke.

“It’s true,” I said. “I have an aging disease. I haven’t aged since I was 13.”

“That’s cool.” He didn’t believe me, but what else do you say to a person who has a disease?

The Shadow Man whispered to me. “There were other side effects, too,” I said. “For example, I can see into the future.”

“Uh, huh,” he said.

I started writing down a note. “The teacher will walk in at 2:07,” I said. “He will say this. Exactly.” I handed him the note.

At 2:07, our professor walked in huffing and puffing. He paused and shouted out, “Sorry I’m late. I was in a car accident and totaled my car.” He breathed hard again. My classmate looked at me. His eyes were bulging from utter surprise.

After class, the classmate approached me with more questions, all about the future. I tried to shrug him off, but he wanted to know. He was a believer. Finally, I agreed to tell him, but I had to ask him the Shadow Man’s questions.

The first two questions were general questions about his major and family background. I wasn't sure what the purpose was other than maybe to see if he was sincere in his answers. Then I got to the third and most important question to the Shadow Man.
“Do you want to know when you’ll die?” I asked.

“Will I be young?” he asked. I could see the future now. The Shadow Man quit whispering. There were three near futures possible here if I just said one thing. It was sudden, but then I felt like I was the Shadow Man in color. I whispered to my classmate, “You must answer the question first.”

“OK, then. Shoot.”

“You’ll be an old man. 84. You’ll die of a heart attack.”

“Oh, whatever. I don’t care if I die when I’m 84.”

He started to walk away, content. He looked back at me. The future was near. I whispered.

“What?” he shouted back. Future one finished.

“I said, ‘Look both ways.’”

He was puzzled. He hesitated. He had heard that expression before but couldn’t remember where. Future two had passed.

He turned and began to cross the street, still thinking. The bus carrying a visiting university’s baseball team plunged into him, killing him instantly.

The Shadow Man stood there watching. He had not meant to, but he had given me his power. Now not only my dreams could manipulate the past and future. The Shadow Man was angry.