My Future Self, Refused
- by Adam-Troy Castro
- Novelette
- Adults
- Definite Time Travel
- English
- “My Future Self, Refused” by Adam-Troy Castro, Lightspeed, August 2022.
Adam-Troy Castro, while struggling with grief from his wife's passing, is visited by his future self, who promises three pieces of advice over the course of a year.
—Gareth Gordon
I sat down next to him and said, “Is she going to be all right?”
“I can't tell you,” he said, in a tired voice that showed another couple of decades of wear. “That much is against the rules. I'll be yanked back to my time if I even try.”
“Then what good are you, then?”
My future self emitted a soft wheeze that might have been embittered laughter. “I've been asking myself that question since before I was you.”
Tags
(10)
- Time Periods
- Timeline Models
- Time Travel Methods
- Unexplained Time Travel Methods: The future Adam-Troy Castro takes great care to conceal information about time travel.
- Themes
- Acting on Knowledge from a Self-Visitation: And I've got to thank you, man. I never would have gotton through these past few months if you hadn't let me know.
- Aging Side Effects: The future Adam-Troy Castro ages very quickly over the course of the story because of time travel.
- Self-Visitation
- Time Travel Agencies, Safaris, and Tourists: The future Adam-Troy Castro hints that time travel is commercialized.
- Wisdom or Consolation to Your Younger Self: the future Adam-Troy Castro's entire reason for time traveling
- Real-World Tags
- Adam-Troy Castro: the main character himself
- Groupings
Variants
(1)
- “My Future Self, Refused” by Adam-Troy Castro, Lightspeed, August 2022.