Mates by Andrew J Roberts (the speed reading book .TXT) 📕

“What do ya mean, you can see the future?”
“I just sort of see it, if I close my eyes and think about stuff. And the past too.”
“We can all remember past stuff.”
“Yeah but I can see stuff that I never saw before. Like in places I haven’t been. And I can see myself doing stuff I haven’t done yet.”
There was a pause. Then Josh said “Yeah right,” and smiled at his friend Mike.
The boys were sitting near the edge of the field at school. It was lunchtime and Mike was telling Josh about his recent bizarre ability to ‘see’ future and past events.
“It’s true. I had that whack on the head at the mall last week and since then I can see stuff.”
Josh saw that his friend was serious. Mike never told a lie and Josh knew it.
“OK, so what is that kid going to do over there. That one, he’s walking towards those other kids,” said Josh.
Mike closed his eyes for a few seconds. “He’s going to sit down with those kids. They’re just sitting and talking. I can’t hear stuff. I can only see it. Oh, he’s going to pick up a stone and throw it towards that tree.”
They both watched quietly as the boy sat down in the group. They waited then watched the boy pick up a small stone and throw it towards the tree.
Mike could see that Josh was genuinely shocked. Josh spoke first. “Aww come on. That could just be what he was goin to do anyway.” But then he said “So can you see anything...in the past or future?”
Mike replied “I can sort of see anything. But it gets blurry the further away in time. You know, like out of focus and like when I take my glasses off.”
Josh then smiled and quickly asked “So what are the answers for the internal test on Friday?”
Mike looked at his friend with a slightly pained look. “I don’t think I’m supposed to use it for that.”
“Oh, so it’s like some super human gift that you’ve been given for the good of mankind. Like a Spiderman thing,” Josh said sarcastically with a laugh.
The bell rang and Mike went to get up. He was always on time for class, even when Josh tried to get him to slow down. Josh grabbed Mike’s arm and sat him down again. Josh asked “What are the Lotto numbers for Saturday? It’s not like cheating or anything. We can get some money and do the road trip.”
Josh, Mike and their other friends had talked about doing a road trip one day. They were all keen but they knew they had a few things stopping them like not having a car and getting their parents to agree. But the whole group talked about it from time to time. It was a summer holiday plan they all shared.
Mike thought for a minute. He figured it wasn’t really cheating as no-one was going to get hurt by it. He closed his eyes for a moment then opened them again. “I have to think about a time and place where I can see the numbers,” he said.
“Think about my place. My Dad watches it every week. He always loses,” said Josh.
Mike closed his eyes again and thought about Josh’s house. He looked down from above and imagined himself floating down towards the house. He sailed into Josh’s lounge. Josh’s Dad was sitting down and Josh was standing, watching with a Lotto ticket in his hand. Mike watched the numbers come up but said nothing. He watched them both as each number came up on the TV. Josh was very excited at the first 3 numbers (16, 23 and 8). But when the next number (5) number came on the screen, Josh suddenly looked sad then annoyed as the last two numbers came up (17 and 43). Mike could see Josh’s Dad trying to talk to him but Josh just ignored him and went upstairs to his room.
Mike still had his eyes closed silently. Josh spoke “Come on man, what are they?”
Mike held up his hand to Josh but otherwise stayed still. If he had given Josh the numbers then Josh would have won the Lotto, but he obviously didn’t. Why not? As he wondered about it he let his mind drift on in future ‘seeing’ mode. He was moving forward in time now and had floated up above Josh’s house again. He saw the days and nights fly past very quickly, like watching an old video on fast forward. Then something caught his attention. An old car that he hadn’t seen before was in Josh’s drive. He slowed the video in his mind and looked at the car. It had a few dents. He saw Josh come outside but he looked a few years older. Then he saw an older version of himself come out with a bag. They were smiling as they both put bags in the boot of the car and got in and drove off. He sped up the video again and watched as they drove to their other friends place to pick them up and then head north on the Motorway.
Then he realised the four of them were going on the road trip. He watched further ahead as they stopped at a beach camp and set up two tents. Mike thought as he watched the guys laughing and doing stupid stuff like sword fighting with sticks. At night they started a fire and sat around it but kept laughing.
Then Mike realised what had happened. If Josh won the Lotto, the road trip just wouldn’t happen. Or if it did, it couldn’t be the same. Why go camping in a tent if Josh was rich.
Mike opened his eyes and looked at Josh. “They are 16, 23, 8, 4, 15 and 42.”
Josh smiled and raced off to class ahead of Mike “Thanks mate, we are going to be rich!”

Publication Date: 12-18-2010

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