The Secret Manuscript

by Edward Mullen

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Vanessa responded as one might expect after hearing those words — she was confused and in disbelief.

  “Ben, what are you talking about?”

  “All the signs were there, staring us in the face, I just paid no mind to them. But it all makes sense now!” Ben became excited as he was walking quickly down the street.

  “Ben, where are you going?” she said, rushing to catch up to him.

  “My bank account was empty,” he said. “I thought the robber had drained it, but it would be impossible to move that kind of money in only a few hours, even if he had my PIN number. I then looked at the date on the account, and it was from last year.”

  “The teller made a mistake,” Vanessa suggested.

  “No, that’s what I thought, but the calendar on the wall was a year old.”

  “So they forgot to change it.”

  “I knew there was something off about Patrice when we saw him. He had a strange look when I said ‘long-time, no see.’ It was as if he had seen me yesterday. And the apartment building… it wasn’t restored, Vanessa… it hasn’t burned down yet. The reason my phone doesn’t work is because I didn’t have it a year ago. Don’t you see what has happened?”

  “Ben, you can’t honestly expect me to believe we travelled back in time.”

  “Yes I can,” he said joyfully.

  “Where are you going in such a hurry and why are you smiling?”

  Ben stopped in front of a convenience store and turned to face Vanessa. He had a look on his face that suggested he knew more than he was telling.

  “Do you recall what Patrice said to us?”

  “Something about retiring someplace warm and inviting us to his private island.”

  “Yeah, but before that. He was talking about a twenty-million dollar lottery jackpot.”

  “Yeah, so?”

  Ben pulled out the toonie from his pocket, which was left over from breakfast, and with great confidence said, “I’m going to win it.”

  “Don’t tell me you remember the winning numbers from a random lottery from a year ago?”

  “I do, and it’s not a random lottery from a year ago. It’s the biggest jackpot in Alberta’s history — an estimated twenty-million dollars. I remember there being such a buzz surrounding this lottery that even I bought a ticket… and I never play the lottery. The draw takes place tomorrow, but do you know what else happens tomorrow?”

  “Tell me.”

  “My apartment burns down. I remember it clearly… well sort of clearly — I had a bit of a drinking problem back then. But from what I remember, I was writing, drinking, and self-loathing. The lotto numbers were announced on the TV in the background, but I couldn’t find my ticket. I kept repeating the numbers over and over in my head so I wouldn’t forget. Ordinarily, I wouldn’t have remembered lotto numbers from a year ago, but as a result of the fire, everything from that night is forever tattooed in my memory. I remember the numbers being a really odd and unlikely sequence — 10, 20, 30, 40, 1 and 18,” he said with an ear to ear smile.

  “Are you sure? We only have enough money to buy one ticket.”

  “I’m positive!”

  Ben rushed into the store and played his numbers. He came out a minute later and showed Vanessa the ticket.

  “Be careful, that’s twenty-million dollars right there.”

  “Wait, Ben you can’t cash this ticket.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because there’s already a Ben Owen in this time period and he doesn’t win the lottery. Whoever wins this jackpot is going to be all over the news and that’s going to weird a lot of people out if suddenly there are two of you.”

  Ben contemplated a moment and determined Vanessa was right. We need someone to cash this ticket for us — someone we can trust.”

  “How about that Patrice guy?”

  Ben thought about it and figured out what to do.

  “Oh my gosh,” Ben said in disbelief.

  “What is it?”

  “I know how to cash this ticket. We have to go back to Calgary.”

  “Why, what’s in Calgary?”

  “Not ‘what’, but ‘who’ — Charles Gringer is going to cash this ticket.”

  “But you don’t even know him,” Vanessa said.

  “It doesn’t matter. Charles Gringer won the lottery… or should I say wins this lottery… and then leaves me his house. Don’t you see? This has all happened before. It never made sense why a guy would sign over his entire estate to some kid he’s never met. Now I know why he would do that!” Ben said, holding up the ticket.

  “What?”

  “My neighbour Gladys said it was unusual for Charles Gringer to win the lottery because he had never played before. This explains how a man goes eighty years of his life and wins the lottery on his first try.”

  “This is really weird.”

  “Tell me about it. Come on, follow me. I want to check something out.”

  Ben grabbed Vanessa by the hand and dashed across the street. A few blocks away was Ray’s Superstore — the small grocery store where Ben used to work. From the exterior, the place looked as it always had. There were a few cars in the parking lot, but at this time of day, the place was likely to be empty. They cut across the lot as Ben had done a thousand times in the past and stopped just out front.

  “Ben, wait,” Vanessa said, holding him back. “This is where you used to work, right?”

  “Yeah.”

  “You really think this is a good idea? Seeing yourself may cause some ripple in the space-time continuum and the universe might implode.”

  “It’s funny you say that, I thought being with you would do the same thing and yet here we are. Don’t worry, I won’t allow myself to see me… that sounded really strange.”

  “What about your co-workers, someone is bound to recognize you and then what are we going to tell them, that we’re from the future?”

  “It’ll be fine, I promise,” Ben assured. “Do you know why nobody at the Daily Planet suspected Clark Kent was Superman?”

  “Why?”

  “It’s because people only saw him in one context. They only saw him as this bumbling nerdy guy with glasses, and they couldn’t perceive him any other way. Look at me, I’ve put on about twenty pounds of muscle since last year, I haven’t shaved in a few days, and I’m wearing my street clothes. To top it all off, I’m with a beautiful woman, which is extremely out of character for me. Unless I go in there with bad posture and wearing an apron, these people I used to work with won’t recognize me.”

  “If you say so.”

  The automatic doors parted and together they entered the grocery store. For good measure, Vanessa walked in first to draw people’s attention away from Ben, who kept his head down. There was no reason to be there other than out of pure interest. Ben had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to objectively observe himself in person, and was curious to see how he behaved.

  Together they walked around the store, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible. Just then, Chad, the manager walked down the aisle. To avoid being recognized, Ben quickly turned around and walked in the other direction. As he did though, he accidently bumped into a lady who was holding a jar of pickles. The jar dropped from her hand and shattered on the ground.

  “Oh my goodness, I’m so sorry, miss,” Ben said.

  “It’s okay,” the lady replied.

  Ben looked up and recognized the woman immediately.

  “Velena,” he said under his breath.

  He was completely caught off guard. He looked at the lady and smiled, but did not say a word to her. The shattered pickle jar caught Chad’s attention and he rushed over to make sure everybody was okay. By the time Chad arrived, Ben and Vanessa were walking briskly toward the exit.

  “Ben!” Chad yelled.

  Ben froze in his tracks and had a knot well up in his stomach since he thought for sure he had been spotted. Ben slowly turned around and saw Chad walking in th
e other direction.

  “Hey, B.O., I need you in aisle six. Somebody dropped a jar of pickles.”

  “Okay, I’ll get right on it.”

  “I’ll be deducting the cost of the pickles from your paycheque.”

  “What? You can’t do that.”

  “First of all, don’t talk back to me. Second, someone has to pay for those pickles. Pickles aren’t free you know.”

  Ben and Vanessa observed from a distance.

  “So that’s your manager?” Vanessa asked.

  “Was my manager. He’s a real piece of work, huh?”

  The younger Ben walked out from the back room, wheeling a mop bucket, and carrying a broom with a dustpan in the other hand. Vanessa saw the resentful look on young Ben’s face and it melted her heart.

  “Aww, I feel so bad for you,” She said. “Look at you cleaning up those pickles, you seem so sad.”

  Feeling sorry for the young Ben, Vanessa felt compelled to approach him. She walked over and offered some words of encouragement.

  “Don’t worry about him, he’s a jerk,” she said.

  “Thanks,” the young Ben said.

  “You may not realize this now, but you have a lot of potential. Keep your head up, it will all work out for you one day.”

  The younger Ben stood there for a moment with an ambivalent look on his face. Not only did the strange comment perplex him, but he was also wondering why a beautiful woman was being so nice to him.

  Whoever is dating her is a very lucky man, he thought.

  “What did you say to him… I mean, me?” Ben asked.

  “I told him… or should I say you, that everything will be okay.”

  Ben thought about it for a moment then had a bizarre revelation. He looked up at Vanessa wide-eyed. “Oh my gosh, I just realized you’re the attractive woman!”

  “Thank you,” Vanessa said.

  “No, you don’t understand. I remember an attractive woman giving me some words of encouragement. I had no idea what it meant, but I thought you were really pretty.”

  Vanessa laughed. “Thanks.”

  “After you walked away, I remember thinking whoever was with you was a very lucky man.”

  “That’s hilarious. Just you wait young Ben, you’re about to get lucky in about six months!”

  “I remember seeing you for the first time in the university. I had this strange feeling like I had met you before, but I couldn’t remember where I had seen you. This is all so strange, huh?”

  “Very strange.”

  Ben and Vanessa had enough fun watching younger Ben and decided to leave. Once outside, Ben insisted they wait around for a moment. A few minutes later, a woman exited the store carrying several bags of groceries. As the woman walked past them, Ben greeted her warmly.

  “Hi, Velena, I’m really sorry for bumping into you.”

  “How do you know my name?” the woman asked with a puzzled look.

  “It’s a bit complicated, but I’d love to tell you all about it, do you have a few minutes?”

  “I suppose.”

  “Great, can we help you with your groceries?”

  The trio walked across the street to the bus stop and took a seat on the bench.

  “Velena, I’m not exactly sure how to tell you this,” Ben started out, “and you probably won’t believe me, but we’re from the future.”

  “Y’all are some sort of time travellers?” she asked.

  “Not exactly, it’s our first time,” Ben said.

  “And we’re only from a year from now,” Vanessa added.

  Velena was not quite sure how to respond, so she did not say anything else until she heard more from Ben. She sat there with an open mind and listened intently.

  “You may not realize this,” Ben continued, “but you play a very important role in my life.”

  “I do?” Velena asked. “Please explain.”

  “Tomorrow night, there will be a fire at my apartment. I will lose everything and be completely devastated. Then on Saturday morning, you are going to see me get on the bus. I won’t look as I do now, instead I’ll be slightly younger and a little skinnier.”

  “And his hair will be longer,” Vanessa added.

  “I’ll board the bus and sit across from you, probably looking miserable as all hell, but I need you to strike up a conversation with me. I’ll be a little stand-offish, maybe even rude, but please don’t take this personally.”

  Velena nodded, hanging on Ben’s every word.

  “Aside from the conversation, I need you to do three things for me,” Ben continued. “The first thing I need you to do is offer me a place to stay. Don’t worry, I won’t actually take you up on the offer.”

  “The second thing I want you to do is give me a note that says the following… you might want to write this down.”

  Velena took out a pen and a piece of paper from her purse and transcribed exactly what Ben said.

  DON’T GIVE UP, YOUR LIFE HAS A PURPOSE — 403-555-8111

  “How did you know my phone number?” Velena asked.

  “Because I’m from the future and you gave me that note already.”

  “What’s the third thing?”

  “The third thing I need from you won’t take place right away, but in a year from now, my brother is going to call you looking for a place to stay. When he arrives in Cold Lake, I want you to give him a package.”

  “This all sounds a little—”

  “Strange?” Ben added.

  “I was going to say unbelievable, but strange works too.”

  “I know, I’m sorry. You’re probably asking yourself, why would I do all this for a person I don’t even know? Here’s how I intend to repay you. For the offer, the note, and giving my brother a package, I will give you...”