The Once and Future Me

“I come from the future!” said the voice dramatically.

It was odd… the person standing in front of me in the parking lot looked exactly like me, except he was dressed a little differently.

“Ummm, I’m running late,” I said, shoving past him. People are always stopping me in the parking lot and wanting to chit-chat. 

“Stop!” commanded the voice, even more dramatically. “I come bearing a message… (dramatic pause) FROM THE FUTURE.”

“Let me guess,” I frowned. “You’re Year-From-Now Jack and you’ve come back to inspire me to kick my healthy living journey into a higher gear?”

“Not so much,” Future Jack shrugged. “I’m actually from tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?” I said, scratching my head.

“TOMORROW,” he boomed dramatically.

“Like ‘tomorrow’ figuratively or ‘tomorrow’ literally?” I asked.

“You know, I still get those two mixed up,” answered Future Jack. “Like, I just tweeted that I ran on the treadmill until my heart literally exploded...”

“I hope you’re not here to tell me to live life as if I were going to die tomorrow,” I said sternly. “Because last time somebody told me to do that, I maxed out my credit card at Brookstone.”

“But you needed that spinning tie rack and helicopter-mounted digital camera,” argued Future Jack. 

“Why are you here then?” I asked.

“To give you this reminder,” smiled Future Jack. “The tomorrow you’re committed to doesn’t start with me; it starts with you.”

“How’d you get so smart?” I asked.

He gave me a smile and a wink: “I’m older than you.”