Something New

By Randall Allen Dunn

Times sure have changed. Kids today can’t imagine life without VR streaming in their heads, but when I was young we were happy with only a TV and DVD player. Of course, that was ages ago.

I’ve entered what’s called “the dying years.” Most of my close friends have already passed. I’ll follow them soon. No sense denying it. I just wish I could do something new before I go. Something to prove there’s more left to experience in life, even at my age.

At least today I feel energized. The walk to the diner seems longer, but I’m ready to run across the park. I haven’t run anywhere in years.

It isn’t just the walk. Everything looks huge today. Either I’m shrinking or the world’s getting bigger. I crawl down the porch steps one at a time. I’ve gotten old. Too old. Soon I’ll be shuffled off to a retirement center with nurses and machines coddling me, making sure my heart doesn’t skip a beat and my blood pressure stays low. Just enough fuss to keep me barely alive for a few more years.

But today I’ll make use of this newfound strength. For fun, I start off at a sprint. My legs give way beneath me and I tumble to the ground, getting a face full of grass. It doesn’t hurt too bad and I don’t really mind. Can’t expect much success when I haven’t practiced for so long. I stand and move forward again, slower this time, keeping my feet on the ground. It goes much easier. I’m only walking fast, but that’s more than I’ve done in a long while. It feels good.

Except I can’t scrape out the grass wedged between my fingers. When did my hands become so fat and bunchy? Well, my daughter, Leisl, says I’d forget my head if it wasn’t welded on. That’s why we need the Memory Enhancer 3000.

I reach the diner after what feels like an hour and sit beside Joe at our regular table. “What’s new, Joe?”

The words come out garbled. I try again, but I can’t work my tongue right.

Joe smiles at me, looking curious.

I finally form the words. “What’s–new–Joe?”

He gapes at me like I’m from another planet. Then he reaches down and picks me up.

I push against his shoulders to stop him but he’s too strong. “Joe, you crazy?” I shout. “What’re you doing?” But my words are garbled again.

He holds me over his shoulder. “Easy now. I’m taking you home.”

“I don’t want to go home!” I’m slurring like a drunkard. What’s wrong with me?

The mirror above the bar catches my eye. Joe’s walking past, carrying–a baby! I’m a little baby!!

I cling to him in a panic. Like a baby would. What happened to me? I hear myself whimpering and fight the shock as he pats my back.

Leisl meets us at the front door of my house. What’s she doing here? She gasps, scoops me into her arms and carries me inside. I let her. What else can I do?

Over her shoulder, I look into my sparsely furnished living room and see–myself. I’m sitting in my easy chair, asleep. My body is its normal size, my withered hands contain all their wrinkles, my head is bald and shining under the lamplight.

“Guess he got caught in Andy’s enhancer,” Joe’s tells Leisl. “He walked right up to me and asked, ‘what’s new?’”

The memory enhancer sits beyond the chair in the far corner of the living room, humming like always, there to remind me of anything I’ve forgotten. But what did I forget? How did this happen?

“Thank God he went to you!” Leisl cries. “We’ve been going crazy! He must have walked right out the front door. Dirk’s still scouring the neighborhood.”

Why is Leisl already here when she and Dirk are coming to visit tomorrow? Unless – It’s already tomorrow! I’m remembering everything the memory enhancer recorded from my mind – from yesterday!

“Oh, Jer, Jer!” Leisl clutches me and rocks back and forth, like she does with… Jeremiah.

I’m not even myself! I’m my one-year-old grandson, Jeremiah! He must have crawled into the memory enhancer this morning and received all my stored memories of how to walk, talk, and meet Joe for coffee! I’m a baby, with my – that is, my grandfather’s – recorded memories! I haven’t even lived two years yet!

“He’ll be okay,” Joe assures Leisl as she kisses my sensitive skin. “I’ve heard about these things happening. He’ll act strange for a few days ‘til the memories wear off, that’s all.”

Leisl nods and hugs me tighter.

Joe leans in with a twinkle in his eye. “Bye-bye, Jeremiah. We’ll have coffee someday when you’re older, okay?”

“Okay,” I answer, a little garbled. They both laugh. For the next two days, everything I do or say will probably be considered adorable.

“Bye, Leisl.” Joe walks out. “Have Andy come see me when he wakes up.”

“Okay, Joe. Thank you so much!”

“Sure.” And he’s gone.

Leisl, my daughter—whose diapers I changed, whose curfew I set, whose hand I gave away in marriage—sits in the automatic rocker and cradles me in her arms. I watch myself in the easy chair, an old man tired of life, wearied into a marathon sleep. I’ll have these profound thoughts for a while before returning to simpler ones, while Andy – my grandfather – goes on living what’s left of his life.

For now, I have his memories. Maybe tomorrow my clumsy tongue can tell him what I’m experiencing, give him some hope. The end of life no longer seems disconnected from the beginning, it’s all part of who we are.

But that discussion can wait. No need to worry about it now. My infant body needs rest, and Leisl’s bosom makes a perfect pillow. I’ll lift Andy’s spirits tomorrow. For today, I’m a tiny child. For today, everything is brand new.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Despite 900 years of Jedi training, Randall Allen Dunn was rejected as Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts. He later used his Lunar gifts to become a volunteer Watcher guiding future writers and Vampire Slayers, until the Sorting Hat placed him in the YA Thriller Writer faction. He now writes action thrillers that read like blockbuster movies, packed with action, adventure, and infinite possibility. You can contact him by using the Force or by email through his website.

---

Author Website