The Forgotten Knowledge - A Short Story

"Hey, Mr. I know this is going to be hard to believe, but I’m actually your daughter from the future."

"Hmm... (He stares intently) Alright, what’s up?"

"Huh, you believed me just like that?"

"Well, there are three possibilities. The first is that this could be a prank, and, well, it might be fun to play along— oh wait, no, there are four possibilities.
The second is that, you might be a crazy person, but that’s not for me to decide yet. It makes sense to find out more before deciding, and maybe I could help you out.
The third possibility is that you might actually be telling the truth, in which case, of course, I’d help you.
And the last one, well this might be some kind of plot to kidnap me or a financial fraud. Now that I think of it, that's the only scenario where I’d need to stay wary and choose not to help.
Now, I don’t know the exact probabilities of these four cases, but for fun, let’s assume an even split. That’s three scenarios for helping you and only one against. So, yeah, it makes sense to help."

"Jeez, you’ve always been like this, huh?"

"I like to think of myself as a chill guy—rolling with the flow."

"Yes, yes, we know. You’re a chill guyyy." (🙄)

"Anyway, what’s up?"

"Alright, I think this is a classic textbook time travel situation. Somehow I’ve been thrown into the past and need to figure out how to get back."

"Hmm. Well, if this is a classic case, maybe you were sent to the past to figure out something important for you in the future. If you figure out what it is, you might automatically go back."

"Damn, Dad. Yeah, okay."

"Maybe the whole world forgot about something important in the future, and you were sent to the past to retrieve it. Although… wait, you’re still young. If the world forgot it, then that means I forgot it too. Unless… something happened to me?" (😱)

"No, no, you’re fine! Well then that’s ruled out. Oh! Maybe I have to retrieve a key piece of information to save the world from a catastrophe in the future."

"Is that piece of information an OTP I’ll receive on my phone?" (🧐)

"AY, NO! Come on, Dad, I’m serious!"

"Okay, okay, I was just checking! (😂) Alright, tell me, what’s the future like?"

"Well... in the future, everyone’s too busy to care about little things compared to how people described the world to be now. It’s all just work, work, work. And sometimes I wonder if we’ve forgotten what really matters."

"Damn, that’s eerie. Do you want to grab some food while we figure it out?"

"Sigh... yeah, sure."

"Is Ron's Bakery still around in the future?"

"Oh, I think that place closed when I was pretty young."

"Well, let’s go there then! Oh wait—it’s Tuesday, so it’s not open. And it’s New Year’s Eve, so not a lot of options. How about we go home and have my classic birthday cheesecake? It’s not classic yet, but I hope to make it a tradition by announcing my intent to you now!" (😁)

(She stops walking while he continues ahead) "Wait. Tuesday… New Year’s Eve… your birthday! OMG, THAT’S WHAT I FORGOT!" (She begins fading away)

"Huh? (turns back to see her disappearing) OH."

"BYE, DAD! SORRY I HAD FORGOTTEN YOUR BIRTHDAY. That’s what this was abouttttttt! :D" (voice fades)

(He sighs, waving) "Alright, take care, honey!"

(Pauses, thinking) "Wait… ‘Honey’? Should I call my kids ‘honey’? Or maybe ‘sweetie’? Oh no, maybe I’ll just use their first names… Wait, crap—I forgot to ask my kid her name. GAH."

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Do leave a comment on your thoughts! The story was inspired by imagining how a practical time travel conversation might be like.