Fortune Cookie

Image by Stefan Keller from Pixabay



One more. Just one. last. trip. back.

Gareth took a step toward the portal and clutched his side,
hissing in pain. That was his kidney. Failing. They say it’s dangerous for two
versions of the same person to touch. Now he knew why.

His organs were shutting down.

But he could still fix this. Change history, and it never
happened. He hadn’t touched the original, just another version of himself that
had stumbled into him while searching for the original.

If only he had remembered which restaurant they’d been in.
If only the portal lasted longer than five minutes. If only there weren’t so
many versions of himself back there already. They were bound to bump into each
other eventually.

He started moving again, ignoring the pain wracking his
body. None of it mattered, because he’d found the original Gareth, eating a
number two with egg rolls, oblivious to Tina two tables behind him, the unrequited
love of his life.

Now that he knew where Gareth Prime was, all he had to do
was wait for those other two to bump into each other, then drop the fortune
cookie on Gareth Prime’s table.

He stepped through the portal, and found himself on the
sidewalk outside the Lucky Dragon restaurant. Through the window, he could see
his previous self, just gaping at Gareth Prime. What an idiot.

But where was the other one?

He coughed, spraying the window with blood. No more time. He
pushed open the door, focusing only on Prime, fingers clutching the cookie. His
vision narrowed, then the idiot stepped in his way. He shoved him aside and
stumbled forward, reaching out with the fortune cookie, but missing the table.

Gareth Prime knelt at his side. “Are you alright?”

No. He saw the cookie, crushed beneath Prime’s knee.

(Apologies for the lateness of this posting. There will be a second one today, and regular weekly flash fiction will resume presently.)

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