Arnesto Modesto: The World's Most Ineffectual Time Traveler

Breathless

United States

Late 2012 - Early 2013

Arnesto took Rochel on a whirlwind tour around the country, crossing items off her bucket list faster than she could add them. They ate exotic foods and stayed in luxurious hotel rooms. They golfed at Pebble Beach and mini-golfed at the Mall of America. They skated in Rockefeller Center and took a Segway tour around the nation's capital, catching the tail end of President Obama's second inaugural address. They saw Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark on Broadway and Cirque du Soleil's O in Las Vegas. They watched from the stands as the Ravens edged out the 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII — once the power outage ended. They even made it to the Carolinas Aviation Museum in Charlotte to see what was left of the aircraft that had dumped them in the Hudson.

Until now, Arnesto had always shunned travel, seeing it as nothing more than a way of getting someplace he needed to be. Thanks to her, he remembered being much older and wishing he had seen more sights when he was able. He never imagined he could have this much fun.

When the list began running low, at his suggestion and after much discussion, they decided to visit her extended family in Ireland.

She would never leave the country.

When they arrived, they received what to Arnesto felt like a hero's welcome — upward of a dozen relatives were waiting at Rochel's aunt's house, elated to see their little Rochie again and grateful to Arnesto for bringing her there.

Any misgivings Rochel had had about seeing her relatives vanished with their friendliness and hospitality. Had she been wrong about her immediate family back in the States? When that subject was broached, her aunts' and uncles' collective, profanity-laced tirade assuaged her fear. Arnesto heard phrases like, "bleedin' thick gobshite pox wagon," that he tried to file away in his brain for later use. Arnesto and Rochel had never laughed so hard together; she had tears streaming down her face.

At long last, Rochel had a real family again.

When the conversation turned more somber, the family insisted they stay "until the end" so that everyone could help take care of her. Though she didn't need it then, a few weeks later, Rochel started showing symptoms of decline. To her pleasant surprise, she learned she could have an eco-friendly funeral with a non-religious ceremony. She even picked out a beautiful willow casket in which to be buried in the family plot. However, to prevent any future turmoil with her relatives back in the States, she chose to protect her Ireland family by being cremated with her ashes spread around her aunt's garden. They did keep an urn with some decoy ashes in it to use as a peace offering should the need arise. As per Rochel's wishes, they agreed not to inform her immediate family until six months after she had passed, and they were also not to mention Arnesto. They knew Rochel's family would only come knocking if they thought they had money to inherit. Such gobshites.

Rochel's condition continued to deteriorate. Just over a month later, while surrounded by loved ones, she turned to Arnesto at her side, smiled, and said, "Thank you, Arnesto. I had a grond time." She then closed her eyes and slipped away.

The autopsy revealed that Rochel's cause of death was a tiny tumor on her pancreas that had spread atypically to her breasts, lymph nodes, and elsewhere. Nobody had made a mistake. It would be twenty years before medicine would be able to catch something as unlikely as that. Maybe if Arnesto had ordered the autopsy the first time she died... No, he couldn't even blame himself as he hadn't even considered time travel until many decades later. He felt too empty and numb for it to matter anymore.

* * *

When Arnesto returned to the states, his father was happy to pick him up at the airport. Since the events of 9/11 never happened, Karl was allowed through security and was waiting for him at the arrival gate outside customs. They gave each other a quick hug, then started the long walk toward the parking structure.

"What were you doing in Ireland anyway? Was this a game thing?" Karl asked.

"No, I was there for a girl."

Karl nudged him with his elbow. "What, couldn't find a date in America?" Arnesto couldn't help smiling at the dad joke. "So where is she? Do I get to meet her?"

Arnesto did his best to hide his pain. "We're not together anymore."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"Nothing I haven't been through before."

"At least you got to see some of the world. I know you're not big on adventure. Actually, I'm glad you got into computers. It's nice not having to worry about you being in a profession that's unsafe. I was walking around the airport while I was waiting for you and saw a plaque down that way." He pointed toward the next concourse over. "What was his name, Roy something... Ray! Ray Carroll. The plaque didn't say much, just that he was a valued member of the security team who died in the line of duty. I mean look around." He waved his arm around the airport. "Seems like a safe place to work. But what do I know? You can't even go fishing without worrying about cars."

Arnesto furrowed his brow. "What?"

"Didn't you hear? This was a while back. Your aunt's boyfriend C.J. was in some fishing contest down south when the highway bridge above them collapsed. C.J. and his partner had just boated under the bridge seconds earlier."

"Whoa!" Arnesto was surprised. He hadn't known C.J. had been that close to the barge accident.

"At least that's how he tells it. You know how fishermen exaggerate. Anyway, only one car fell into the water. Seems there was a lull in traffic at just the right time."

When they reached the house forty minutes later, Arnesto felt relieved to be back home and able to spend some quality time with his dad. It was something he took for granted in his first life, and he knew there weren't going to be many more opportunities like this.

"I'm sure you're going to be awake a while yet, but it's past my bedtime," Karl said. "I have plans Monday and Tuesday during the day, but otherwise I'm free. You know where your bedroom is and where the remotes are, though I have no idea what's on these days. Oh, Monday's the Boston Marathon, so that's something to watch."

"Yes, I've actually been waiting for the marathon for some time."