It's Christmas Time Again: A Time-Traveling TMS Holiday Extravaganza

Going To Have Been, 2011

"Yes, Declan Alectric. You've been here before."

I shifted on the stool, a thrill of nerves going through me. "I have not," I said. "And my name is Teddy Lupin."

There was a quiet chuckle, "Oh are you going by your own name now?"

"Yes. I've never not gone by it. Declan Alectric isn't me - he's a superhero I made up when I was a kid. I'm certainly not cool enough to be Declan Alectric." I paused, "Wait - how do you know about Declan Alectric?"

Silence for several seconds.

"Hullo?"

"I see... I see. Perhaps I am mistaken. You've not been here before, but you're going to have been... Yes, yes I see now! I understand, the timeline begins to make sense at last... as I suspected, that's me, sorted then!"

"What's you sorted? What are you talking about?"

The hat's tone was rushed and excited, almost giddy. "I was misunderstanding the order of things and now I've got it and I see what the mix up was - it's you. You are what went wrong!"

"What?"

"It's not that you have been here but that you are going to have been here - it makes all the difference in the world!" he chuckled merrily and clucked his tongue, "Yes, yes my goodness that does make all of the difference, dunnit?"

"Going to have been?" I asked, utterly turned 'round in the mind. "What difference?"

"This is your first time. Next time you're quite the spitfire. Just like your Mother."

"You remember my mother?"

"I remember everyone's mother, including my own!"

"I should hope you remember your own!" I said, rolling my eyes. Then, "Wait. Hats don't have mothers!"

The hat didn't respond to that.

"This version of you is much tamer, much less sassy. My goodness boy, you're downright docile."

"Docile?"

"Yes, yes!" The hat replied. "Let me take a look why here... just a quick sift..."

"A look at why what???"

"Ah I see... this you is overprotected, sheltered, anxious..."

"Stop that," I said, feeling exposed by the adjectives.

"You're a bit spoiled, too."

"Hey!"

"Well you are. And it seems possibly a little weak, not independent like your mother - no, no, not this go. You don't fight back for yourself. Get that from your father. Wonder if you fight back for the ones you love?"

"I --"

"You'd be quite different if you properly gained confidence in yourself... now let's see, let's see...it should be back here - deep down..."

"What is? Back where?"

"Yes, there it is, in the very back of your mind."

"What is it?"

"The subconscious remnants of time past which is your future. The mind stores it all. Deja vu can only explain so much before one begins speculation of past future lives..." the voice chuckled. "It's what causes artefacts. The undone memories we store in the darkest corners of our minds from all the changing timelines running throughout the world. The mind stores future memories of bygone days - it's quite peculiar and one of the things most travelers point to as the reason for the madness."