Tonio and the Blue Light

Both of them then worked on the plan. Tonio was to be transported back to the time when he was still twenty-four. There, he must observe himself for one day to find out if the machine has really transported him back. He was also going to slip in a cash check worth one million to himself so his past self would have a secure future. By the third day, he must go to the park inside the city and sit beside a bench to wait for a blue light. This would be his gate to come back home to his own time. The plan was as simple as that. The bargain was the money that Tonio knew he wouldn't enjoy, but his other self would. And this bothered him. Because of this, he made a plan of his own.

When the day of the plan arrived, Tonio went to the lab dressed in a fine suit Dr. Gonzalo gave him. After wishing each other luck and hugging like old friends do, Tonio went inside the machine. There he sat and waited. A few minutes later, a blue light appeared. He felt strange sensations swimming across his body. He felt he was being deformed.

After what seemed to be like an eternity, Tonio woke-up. He was at the park where Dr. Gonzalo told him where he would be. Scrambling to get-up, he brushed the dirt from his suit and started to walk towards the office he used to work at twenty-eight years in the past. It was early morning, about six-thirty. Right on schedule, he thought. This is the time when his past self would come scrambling in the office to start his chores. He remembered all clearly the lack of sleep he had during those days. After selling newspapers, he would then become a janitor. Stupid boy, he thought. Doesn't he know that all the things he worked so hard for would be gone in an instant? What took him nearly ten years to save would be gone in a matter of seconds.

Then he also thought about the endless possibilities and opportunities that he can offer himself right now. Clutching the check inside the suit, he also checked the other envelope he brought from the future. It took him a hard time to get what's inside the second envelope. He had to enter the city library, which in fact, he did for the first time.

Standing outside the door of the building, he couldn't help but reminisce on those moments. Up to now, he still remembers Sonia. He can still recall her small lips, soft eyelashes, eyes that spoke. Everything about her was beautiful. For the first time in years, he again felt the pain brought about by a love that never transpired.

He managed not to say hi to the guard whom was his friend in the past. He was such a nice man, about twenty years older then him then. But looking at him right now, it felt funny seeing that he is himself is older than the guard. A few moments later, he saw himself walk in. Would the Tonio of the past recognize him, he thought. Maybe not. His right leg is limping and he had grown accustomed to wearing a beard. The white in his hair is quite evident and the sparkle in his eyes are now gone. He stared at himself when he was young. He couldn't believe how time changes man. The energy emanating from his past self and the eagerness to pursue a dream is what he sees in him. If he did not know what would happen to him, he might have felt proud.

He watched his young self enter the building, saying hi to the guard, and then running for the stairs. He felt compelled to say to his past self not to run because someone left a ballpoint at the stairs where he would slip. And the young Tonio did. He remembered quite clearly now that that is where he got his scar on the left side of the cheek.

Yes, he said to himself. This is all true. This is not just a dream. Dr. Gonzalo's time machine works. He is in the past. He could see himself and touch his young self if he wants to. For once in his life, he also felt he has control.

He decided to stroll the city for a few hours. He ate the restaurant he couldn't enter before. Dr. Gonzalo has indeed planned everything. He has stacks of old cash which he would later give to his past self as well as the check. He went to the mall and actually bought something. He went to most places he failed to see when he was young because he has no money. He felt free.

When it was almost seven o' clock in the evening, he decided to go near the town plaza to see himself sell cigarettes and stuff. He sat near the waiting shed where he knows he would have a better view of himself. A few minutes later, his past self arrived. It's the same routinely things he did. Looking at him working like a horse and thinking of the latter past of his life, he felt pity for himself. He almost cried if not for the people around him. The pain of the past kept springing-up and the ache he went through crept like a cold wind covering his body. Again, flashes from childhood to the orphanage to the day he had an accident flooded him. He got up, went to the nearest hotel and felt his tear drop during the rest of the night. Tomorrow would be different, he promised.