The Difference of the Future

Chapter 9

He really wanted to be right. He plunged into the task of uncovering how much of the movie was real. How much of it could actually be achieved and MAYBE bring people back from the dead.

Several months later

And then, he tapped the curved staff, the pharaoh's crook, on the plate, and a tiny opening appeared. It was indeed the White Library.

He couldn't believe his own eyes. Could such a dose of truth be accessible to anyone who watched the movie? Admittedly, not everyone believes, let alone would someone actually try to verify or prove anything shown in the movie. It makes sense, but it's still incredible.

And now, he was surrounded by scrolls holding the greatest secrets of the world, although he truly longed for only one – resurrection. Since it was written in ancient Egyptian, somehow Google Translate was doing the job properly.

Where did it get the secrets of the ancient language? It didn't matter; let's just find it.

Finding a parchment covered in dust, he learned that there should be a chest in the room containing the power of resurrection. After opening it, a person should loudly speak the names of the individuals they want to bring back to life and think of a happy memory that serves as a bridge between the underworld and the world of the living.

It didn't take much rummaging until he found it. Indeed, the feverish search for a solution to bring a person back from the dead sometimes yields extraordinary results. Yes, sometimes, let's stick with that for now.

For a small chest, extremely light, a bunch was attached with a key for its opening.

A gracefully crafted key, appearing heavy but actually as light as a feather.

He inserted it into the keyhole, and light appeared – dazzling all around, strong enough to burn your eyes. He closed his eyes for a second, and then the light vanished. He saw three clouds of smoke emerging, white, red, and black, like snakes awakened by a flute. They slowly evaporated from it, intertwining all three, until they finally dispersed in three different directions and rapidly disappeared from sight, passing through the sandstone walls.

Spellbound by the incredible sight, he remembered that he needed to shout names, so he did, with closed eyes, expecting the best. He kept them closed for a few seconds, clenched his fists, and opened them. No one was in front of him. With a trembling, stony heart, he stood frozen in place. And then...

"Koygo!" he heard his mother's sweet voice behind him.

When he turned around, he saw them both, smiling, with tears in their eyes. He ran towards them and threw himself into a huge hug. However, while the three of them were squatting in their soft embrace, Max seemed stiff, as if he wasn't physically present with them. But that was just for a moment, and then, with a serious expression, he stood up.

"Where's the pharaoh's staff, son?" his father asked. He pointed at it, amazed, unable to utter a word. He still couldn't believe that both his parents were alive!

Max walked slowly towards the staff, removed its lower tip, wrapped in fabric, revealing a shiny blade, ten centimeters long. Kneeling on the floor, he gripped the staff handle and decisively plunged it into his heart. He collapsed on the ground, facing the earth, driving the dagger even deeper into his body. The remaining two, still in a tight embrace, couldn't believe their eyes.

A minute earlier

Max had a vision where a few minutes after their hug, three colored clouds of smoke – white, red, and black, representing disease, bloodshed, and death, respectively – would return to wherever they initially went and pass through Koygo's body, absorbing all his life energy and leaving only his corpse behind. After that, the clouds of smoke would pass through the ceiling, echoing like fireworks into the heavens and dispersing across the entire planet. A great global earthquake would follow, from which invisible vapor would begin to evaporate, bringing plague, eternal war, and the death of every living human until the last human being dies.

That was the price of bringing a person back to life, provided you don't have an all-powerful father who would turn a blind eye, of course. Learning this, Max decided on this gruesome act, knowing that he was saving everyone around him, but primarily, and most importantly, his son and wife, his family.

It was never easier for him to sacrifice himself, paying no attention to his own life, for the sake of the lives of his loved ones.

"Keops' dagger is really not for play..." Max's spirit uttered as it once again plummeted at a dizzying speed into the underworld, ready to drink again from the waters of forgetfulness from the Lethe River.

On that day in Walmart

Max returned from the vision to reality. Now, he had a completely different perspective that would allow things to go their best possible way.

He immediately apologized with a smile to the elderly man whom he didn't notice earlier due to the vision and continued to work in his favorite store. The man, initially visibly offended, accepted the apology and smiled back. Max continued to carry out his extraordinarily important task until the end of the shift.

The next day, he went to the public library and smiled at the reading table while watching Connie carry a tray with two coffees. For a moment, Max was afraid that Victoria had been kidnapped, but she had just gone to the restroom.

Then, as they were browsing and searching for page 87, he passed by them and saw that when they reached page 86, the next page was missing because it had been somehow torn out of the book. He smiled again and exited the library.

From his jacket pocket, he took out a clenched fist and opened it. In his hand, he held the crumpled page 87. He took a match, lit it, and threw the burning paper into a metal bin.

"You aren't a pile of cigarette butts, but you could have messed up my life forever, hahaha."

He went back into the library and reached out to meet his "future" wife and her non-kidnapped best friend.

THE END