A Conversation Across Time

A child sits alone on a park bench a couple of blocks from his Grand Parents house...

Their eyes are red...

Their nose is dripping...

And their shirt collar is wet with tears...

An older person walks up and asks the child why they are crying in a voice not truly male or female...

The person wears baggy pants and a pink wristband...

Their hair is brushed over one eye and their other eye is adorned with intricate makeup which seems to blur several features of their face...

The child responds "I'm not supposed to talk to strangers."...

The elder responds "I'm not actually a stranger. I'm a very good friend of yours from the future."...

The child responds "How do I know you aren't lying?"...

The elder says "I know something you've never told anyone else."...

The child responds "Nu-uh."...

The elder says "Yes I do." before whispering in the child's ear...

The child exclaims "How do you know that?"...

The elder responds "I told you. I'm from the future how else could I have known?"...

The child says "But I've never met you."...

The elder responds "But you will in time."...

The child says "Okay. But how do I know I can trust you?"...

The elder says "I knew the secret you never told anyone else."...

The child says "I guess."...

The elder says "So what's wrong?"...

The child says "Well I made Daddy mad."...

The elder says "How did you do that?"...

The child says "I spent my time play dress up stead of football."...

The elder says "And that made him mad? Why?"...

The child sniffles and responds "Cause daddy says boys are supposed to play football not wear dresses."...

The elder says "That doesn't seem very fair. Football can be fun I guess but you should be able to do what you want."...

The child says "That's what I thought. I don't know why he got mad."...

The elder says "Don't worry he'll grow out of it."...

The child says "But he's already grown."...

The elder says "Not quite. He still needs to grow in some ways. I think you'll help him do that."...

The child says "But."...

The elder says "Trust me by the time you are my age your daddy will have grown almost as much as you."...

The child says "But how?"...

The elder says "You'll have to find out. Now let's get you back to your Grandma and Grandpa's house."...

The child says "Okay." smiling a little...

The two walk side by side back to the child's grandparents house...

When they get there they ring the door bell and the child's father answers the door...

"Where have you been? We've all been worried sick about you." the child's father asks...

"I went to the park and I met this guy from the future." the child responds...

"Get inside." The child's father says...

"Yes daddy." the boy says before he scurries off inside...

"The future eh? Don't you ever touch my boy again Fag-got." the child's father says before slamming the door...

"So very much you will grow father." the elder says before walking back down the road and into the future...



This story is based on a real event from my childhood. My father when I was 11 spanked me for playing dress up instead of sports while at my grandparents' house. That was to be the last time my father ever spanked me but it was an important event none the less. A gay man escorted me home when I ran out of the house. I never learned the man's name and I never learned how he knew that secret. But he did help me out and his prophecy about my father growing up came true to an extent but still has not come to full fruition. The description of the man has been changed and the exact details of the conversation with my father have been changed but the message remains intact.