The Arcade

Cosmo stopped a few feet from the opening to The Wizard’s Asylum. He had started to sweat, and he could hear his heart pounding in his ears. “You can do this” he whispered to himself, “There’s nothing to it – just step through the door.”

He took another step toward the entry. A sudden wave of vertigo washed over him, making him sway on his feet. As the pounding of his heart began to overwhelm his other senses, he lurched toward the opening. The world began to slew away from under his feet, and the colors of the lights of the adjoining stores merged, bled, and washed across each other like a water color painting left in the rain. He braced himself against the threshold to the arcade, and thrust himself through the door.

Reality immediately snapped back into focus with an almost audible snap. Cosmo sagged against the wall next to the entry to catch his breath. He realized his breath was coming in gulps, like a man who had just run the mile in under four minutes. He gave himself several moments to calm his breathing, and felt his heart gradually settle down into a rhythm which he deemed less likely to explode out of his chest.

While he was collecting himself, he let his eyes roam across the arcade. The scene seemed the same – yet different. Things seemed slightly larger in perspective, and colors richer. He shook his head slightly, and jiggled his little finger in his right ear, as if it were ringing. Looking around again, he saw that nothing had changed – but he did notice that now there were two boys standing in front of him with looks of undisguised concern on their faces…boys whom he knew very well. Boys that he grew up with. Boys that were now the same height as he was – or was he now the same height they were? Either way, standing before him were his two best friends in the whole world: Bobby and Theo.

“Dude! Are you okay?” Bobby gaped.

“Yeah, like – that was totally freaky, dude, fer sure!” added Theo.

“What do you mean?” asked Cosmo. “What happened just now - what the heck’s wrong with my voice, and… THEO!!!” Cosmo seized his young friend by the shoulders “Holy crap it’s you! You’re alive! Oh my gosh am I glad to see you! You have no… idea… how… ” Cosmo trailed off when he saw the looks on his friends’ faces.

Theo and Bobby gave each other a sidelong glance. Theo spoke up first. “Uh…dude – there’s nuthin’ wrong with your voice, you’re still squeaky as ever. Yes, I’m still alive – it was only heartburn from the pizza we had for lunch, and as for what happened… you went to see when the next showing of Empire was going to start, and when you came back in the door, you…dude – you, like…flickered and then got all stretchy-lookin’, like you were old or somethin’, and then fell against the change machine. Oh – and could you please put me down? Dude - people are staring. Are you feelin’ okay?”

Cosmo put his hand to his head and closed his eyes for a moment. How did he feel? For starters, he felt smaller. He had forgotten how small he was when he was – is….whatever – fourteen. He also forgot that his voice at fourteen sounded as if it were stuck between two notes on an out-of-tune violin. However he felt, he’d sort out later. Right now he was fourteen again. This was what Sal told him would happen if he walked through the door of the arcade. This was the chance he had always secretly wanted: a do-over, and the best part was that he still had his memories of what will happen in the future – IF he changes nothing in his past.

Ah, but that was the trick. “What do I change?” He thought to himself. Sure - he knew about Holly, thanks to Sal. Talk to her, and his future with her will be different. Heck – his future will probably include her: marriage, kids, house in the ’burbs – who knows? What about everything else? He was literally flying blind. Of course there were some things he knew he could consciously change - such as where he went to college, what he majored in, or if he even went to college at all. Maybe he’d like to join the Air Force or something? Nah – scratch that. Dead end for him there. He got airsick way too easy. This isn’t going to be easy, not in the least bit. He needed to go home and think this out. He needed…

“Uh…Coz? Ya there, dude? Heh-LOO-oooo…” Bobby snapped his fingers next to Cosmo’s ear and waved his hand in front of his eyes. “Ground control to Major Tom…come in…” Theo crooned in Cosmo’s other ear.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah” Cosmo replied, snapping out of his reverie “I’m back. I guess I’m okay, but I should probably head home. I’m am feelin’ kinda spacey.” Cosmo admitted.

“Are you okay to ride home, or do you need me to call my dad?” asked Theo. Cosmo’s dad was in Seattle on business, and his mom was at work.

“No, I’ll be okay - I’ll just take my time. Stop by later, alright?”

Bobby chucked him on the arm “Yeah, we will. Talk to you later, dude.”

Theo smiled “Yeah, later doofus.” .

Cosmo walked slowly out of the arcade and toward the front of the mall. Wow did he have a lot to think about. He was going home – not his home, but his parents home; someplace he hadn’t seen with these young eyes in nearly thirty years. He was going to be sleeping in his old bed, in his old room, watching his old TV, eating in his old kitchen… It was starting to become a little mind-boggling, so he settled on what he was going to do right now: he was going to go say hello to Holly Miller.