Becoming The Future
Stories similar to this that you might like too.
The first time I saw the future, it was a dream. A nightmare that woke me up with my heart pounding and sweats on my face. It had been years since then but every once in a while I would have another one of those dreams where I could see what happened to everyone around me when they died.
Sometimes there were other people who appeared as well; sometimes only their shadows or ghosts remained behind for me to watch over after death. But no matter how many times I dreamed about this, nothing changed. My family still lived together under one roof while all our friends grew old and passed away before us.
And so did we… until now. Now everything is different because today’s events are going to change things forever.
I’m not sure if you’ve heard yet but something strange has started happening recently here at school. People keep dying! First, it was just some random students from class 1-C like Yume Hirasaka (who got hit by a truck), Kaede Sakamoto (who drowned in her bathtub), and Yukari Takayanagi (shot dead during an armed robbery).
Then yesterday, someone else fell victim: Class 2-A student Haruka Hasegawa. She committed suicide right outside the gates of our school building using a rope she’d tied into knots herself. This morning, I found out that two more classmates—classmate Tomomi Tachibana and classmate Rei Natsukashii—had also killed themselves last night.
They both hung themselves from trees near the school grounds. There wasn’t any note left behind explaining why they chose such drastic measures, though rumor has it that the girls might have known each other somehow.
And this isn’t even counting the number of accidents that occurred across town overnight. Three cars flipped over along Route 17 between Kawagoe and Saitama City. One person died instantly upon impact while others suffered minor injuries.
Another car crashed through a guardrail and plunged down onto a riverbank below. In addition, three pedestrians were run over by buses and trucks within close proximity to our own school campus. Two men drowned in separate incidents off the coast of Odaiba.
A woman fell asleep at home and suffocated on fumes from her kerosene heater. An elderly man collapsed inside his apartment building and later succumbed to hypothermia. All these deaths took place without warning and none of them made headlines anywhere except for the local news outlets.
So far, nobody knows exactly what caused any of this but most people believe that whatever is causing it will continue spreading throughout Japan unless something is done soon.
But I know better than anyone that there’s nothing anybody can do to stop it. Because I already experienced it firsthand back in April of 2012. That’s when I became part of the “Future”. You may be wondering how I managed to predict all these deaths ahead of time. Well, let me tell you…
It began one day when I went to visit my grandmother in the hospital. As usual, I brought along a book to read while waiting for her to finish her treatment session. However, unlike normal visits, I ended up being kept in the room longer than expected due to a sudden power outage.
When I finally returned home, it was late afternoon and dark outside. By that point, all the lights in the house had gone out too. Not wanting to wake my parents, I decided to go upstairs to get myself ready for bed instead.
After brushing my teeth and changing into pajamas, I sat down on my futon to wait for sleep. Just then, however, the doorbell rang. Thinking it was probably Mom returning home early from work again, I opened the front door to find a young girl standing there wearing a white coat.
Her hair looked black in the dim light but her eyes were red and bloodshot. She seemed very nervous and scared.
“Um… excuse me…”
She spoke quietly but clearly enough for me to hear.
“…are you Reiko Kanzaki?”
Her voice sounded familiar but I couldn’t quite remember where I knew her from. Still, I nodded politely anyway.
“Yes, that’s correct.”
After confirming my identity, the girl introduced herself as Miharu Nakahara. She told me she worked at the hospital as a nurse and asked whether I needed help getting anything. At first, I thought maybe she came looking for Grandma but then realized that wouldn’t make sense since she didn’t seem to recognize me.
Instead, I assumed that perhaps she wanted to ask for directions somewhere.
“Do you need something? Like a taxi or bus schedule?”
Miharu shook her head quickly, almost frantically. Although she tried to hide it, I noticed tears forming in her eyes.
“No, thank you,” she said softly. “My friend needs your help right now. He’s really sick and he doesn’t have much time left. Can I come in please?”
Before I could say no, she stepped past me and entered the living room. It was only after closing the door behind us that I remembered that we weren’t alone. My mother was still sleeping soundly next to me. The idea of waking her up suddenly crossed my mind but before I could speak, Miharu stopped me with a hand on my shoulder.
“Please don’t worry about him. If you try to wake her up, she’ll never forgive you. Please just leave everything to me. Okay?”
I hesitated briefly but eventually agreed. Besides, if what Miharu claimed was true, I would want someone else to take care of things rather than risk offending my mom. Once I gave her permission, she led me into the kitchen and pointed toward an old man lying motionless on the floor. His face was pale and covered in sweat.
“He collapsed here earlier today. We’ve been trying to revive him ever since but so far, nothing has helped. Do you think you can save him?”
The moment I laid eyes on the man, I felt like I’d seen him somewhere before. But despite feeling certain that I recognized him, I couldn’t figure out why. Then, as I stood staring at the unconscious body, I saw it. There was a small tattoo on his forearm: a simple circle surrounded by two lines. This was the same symbol that appeared on the cover of the novel I bought last month!
“This guy looks awfully familiar. Have you met him before?”
Miharu nodded slowly.
“Yes, several times actually. He comes to see my grandfather every few months. They’re both members of the Society of Future Foreseers. Apparently, they share some kind of special connection.”
At this point, I finally understood who the stranger was. I was shocked to realize that I had spent countless hours talking to him over the phone. Back in April, I started receiving calls from a mysterious number.
Each call lasted less than ten minutes and always involved long-winded discussions about the future. In fact, I even found myself going out of my way to meet with him whenever possible. Even though I wasn’t sure exactly what he did for a living, I figured he must be important because nobody else called me except during business hours.
“Is he okay?”
As soon as I heard Miharu’s question, I turned around to look at her. To my surprise, she was crying silently without making any effort to wipe away the tears rolling down her cheeks.
“Why are you asking me? You know more about this stuff than anyone!”
Although I couldn’t tell if she was angry or not, I took her hands in mine and squeezed them gently.
“It might be better if you let me handle this one. I’m pretty good at reading people.”
For some reason, Miharu smiled sadly when I said that.
“You mean you can read minds?”
“Not exactly. More like I pick up on their feelings through touch.”
That explained how she managed to identify me as Reiko Kanzaki. After all, there were plenty of other girls named Reiko Kanzaki in Japan. However, I didn’t understand why she seemed sad instead of relieved. Maybe she was worried that I wouldn’t believe her story.
Or maybe she simply hadn’t expected me to agree to do whatever she suggested. Either way, I decided to change the subject.
“So, is this guy your grandpa?”
Miharu nodded again.
“Yeah. He’s eighty years old. And he’s dying.”
She paused for a second before continuing.
“We don’t have much time. So please hurry up and get ready. We need to go to the hospital right away.”
***
When I woke up the following morning, I immediately checked my cell phone. As usual, it showed zero missed calls. That meant I probably fell asleep sometime between midnight and 2 AM. Since I usually went to bed early, it shouldn’t have surprised me too much but somehow, I ended up staying awake until dawn anyway.
When I looked outside, I realized that the sky was already lightening up. Still groggy, I stumbled downstairs and poured myself a glass of orange juice. While drinking it, I tried to remember what happened the night before.
After finishing breakfast, I walked back upstairs and pulled open the curtains. For some reason, I thought I should check whether the sun was shining. Instead, I noticed something strange. A thin layer of frost coated the windowsill and window frame.
Although it was cold enough to make me shiver, I knew instinctively that the temperature inside our house was warmer than outdoors. It reminded me of the first day we moved in. The previous owner told us that the furnace had broken down shortly after moving in and he refused to fix it.
Fortunately, the weather warmed up quickly once spring arrived. Now, however, I could clearly feel the difference. At least, I assumed that’s what caused the frost.
Once I finished cleaning off the ice, I headed straight for my room. I wanted to put on fresh clothes before leaving home. Unfortunately, when I opened my closet door, I discovered that most of my shirts were missing. My pants and socks were still there, but everything else was gone.
I searched everywhere—in drawers, under beds, behind furniture, and even in the bathroom. Despite searching thoroughly, I couldn’t find anything.
I was starting to panic when I suddenly remembered the incident from yesterday afternoon. I rushed into the kitchen and grabbed an apple from a bowl on top of the fridge. Before taking another step, however, I froze in place. Something was wrong. I stared blankly at the fruit in my hand while struggling to comprehend its meaning. Then I gasped loudly and dropped it onto the floor.
The moment I saw the shattered pieces scattered across the linoleum, I felt a sudden rush of relief. I’d been so scared last night! But now I was certain that nothing bad would happen today. All those horrible visions that kept flashing through my mind were just figments of my imagination.
This was no longer a mystery; it was obvious that I had fallen victim to sleep paralysis. Just like the previous two nights, my body was paralyzed yet my conscious mind remained fully alert. In fact, I wasn’t sure which part was real anymore: the events happening in front of me or the ones playing out in my head.
Since I was unable to move, I used the only tool available to me—my voice.
“What’s going on here?! Why am I trapped?!”
My words echoed throughout the entire house. They sounded distant and hollow, almost as though they belonged to someone else. With each passing minute, the sound grew louder and more intense. Soon, it became impossible to ignore.
“Who’s there? What do you want with me?”
As soon as I spoke, I heard footsteps approaching from somewhere nearby. Someone was coming toward me…but who? I frantically scanned the area around me but I couldn’t see any sign of movement. I turned my attention inward and focused on my own thoughts. If I concentrated hard enough, perhaps I could sense his presence.
“Is this really happening…? Am I dreaming?”
At that point, the answer came to me instantly. No, I’m not dreaming. I can hear him breathing. His heart beats faster every time he sees me. There are tears streaming down his cheeks. He wants to touch me but he doesn’t dare because then I’ll disappear forever.
I know these things without having to think about them. Because I’ve seen them countless times over the past few days.
Suddenly, I sensed a strong gust of wind blowing against my face. A chill ran through me despite the warmth emanating from the stove in the corner of the kitchen. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up.
I glanced nervously left and right, afraid that the person standing next to me might be hiding behind one of the cabinets. After a quick search, I found nothing. However, I didn’t relax completely. Not until I confirmed that the figure walking towards me was indeed human.
It took several seconds for me to recognize the man. Once I did, my eyes widened in surprise. “Mr. Nakamura!”
He stopped short when he caught sight of me. We both looked at each other awkwardly for a moment before Mr. Nakamura stepped forward again.
“Oh, good morning,” he said cheerfully.
His tone made it clear that he hadn’t expected to run into anyone in the middle of the hallway. As usual, he wore the same old suit and tie combination. Even though he always dressed formally, I never imagined that such an outfit could look so intimidating.
“Good morning…” I replied hesitantly.
“Didn’t get much sleep last night, huh?”
“Um…yes.”
We continued staring at each other silently. It seemed we weren’t quite ready to say what needed saying. Finally, Mr. Nakamura cleared his throat.
“Well, uh…good day, Miss Yamada. Have a nice trip!”
Then he walked away quickly, disappearing around the corner.
***
After returning home, I went directly to bed. When I woke up the following evening, I realized that something strange had happened during the night. Although I’d slept peacefully all night long, I remembered very little of my dreams.
And although I’d woken up feeling refreshed, I still felt tired. My eyelids drooped heavily even after I got out of bed. For some reason, I also developed a headache.
When I told Mrs. Watanabe about this, she immediately suggested that I take a nap. That way, I wouldn’t have anything to worry about once school started. She insisted that I should go straight to her room since it was closer to mine than hers was to the living room.
Since I knew how busy our mother usually was, I agreed readily.
I lay down on top of the futon mattress and closed my eyes. Before I drifted off to sleep, I thought I detected a faint scent lingering in the air. At first, I assumed it must be the smell of incense burning in the living room. Then I noticed another, stronger odor wafting in from outside.
It reminded me of the fragrance that sometimes lingered in the bathroom after Mom finished showering.
The End