Our Future

“You’re positive the world will be better if we go back?” I ask.

“I told you. From what I know, yes. If you go back the next twenty-five years there will be better then the next twenty-two here...” he pleads.

He promised a quarter of a century would be better in the other time set then this one. It was hard, to argue with those odds. I still wasn’t sure.

“Prove you’re my son,” I whisper.

Wings pop out of his back. I stare at him. He could be an angel with knowledge about me for all I know at this point.

He sighed and started pacing. Gabriel would come looking for me eventually, I didn’t want to explain who Tommy was to him, let alone how he was here. Tommy would probably mention going back and then I’d have to deal with him knowing again. His worrying and influence.

“Dad, please trust me,” Tommy pleaded.

He could be a clone for all I knew who wanted me to screw up the world.

I stood patiently waiting for him to come with proof that he was my son.

“You told Gabriel you were gay in your high school gym. Uncle Sam and Aunt Anna almost discovered you but you were lucky,” he whispers.

Nobody in our world knew that. Not even Emily. She had seen us kiss but she didn’t have a clue when we had told each other or how it came about.

“Who told you that?” I ask both curious and worried.

“You,” he stated.

It was hard. I didn’t want to doubt he was my son but I didn’t want to put too much faith in anyone I didn’t know either. With all the clones and angels and powers, it was hard to know who to trust and who to doubt.

If Gabriel were here he’d be able to tell whether he was telling the truth or lying. I would have like to have the ability to trust in him completely and utterly.

He stepped towards me with a hand reaching for my forehead. I stepped back nervously unsure what he was trying to do. Had he inherited Gabriel’s ability to transmit things to others?

“Please, just-” he pleaded but stopped. I think he realized I had no reason to trust him.

“Just think about going back. Things will work out much better if you do,” he whispered. “I got to go.”

“Tommy, I’m sorry. I will think about it,” I call after him.

So he was supposed to kill Melody or her clone. I still wondered why.

He toke off flying from the roof and disappeared. Back to His Own dimension and time line.

I sat down on the roof with my legs bent and elbows on my knees.

I wish I had some proof of what Tommy said. Some sign or vision. He’d tried to do something but I hadn’t trusted him enough to let him do it.

Why did it have to be our world that got thrown into an apocalypse?

Why did it have to be my decision about whether or not to go back?

I was normal kid up until a couple months ago, sure I had a power but I didn’t know what purpose it served. I had had a normal life, a lover...

Why did the heroes always have to be kids in most stories? Why couldn’t it be someone who knew what to do, who was experienced in life, wise?

My wings sprouted out of my back and wrapped around me in comfort. Metaphorically, I had a reason and a good one to go back. Tommy and Cameron but that was if I trusted him with the future. He hadn’t looked anything like me or Gabriel.

“Nathan?” I heard Gabriel whisper from behind me.

I didn’t look back or move. He walked up beside me and knelt. He stared but didn’t speak a word. I knew he was being respectful of my privacy but he was my boyfriend. He probably didn’t want to risk losing me but our relationship was in danger no matter what he did now.