The Four Faces of Me

Written in response to https://fivedotoh.com/2022/11/28/fandangos-flash-fiction-challenge-195/

Astra stood in front of his four faces: this was a task all students had to do before they progressed in the world of work. He wondered, not for the first time, how he managed to stay sane. His parents spoke of school in a tangible way. Teachers in front of the classroom, working for antique smart boards.

It was different now.

You learnt in a virtual world, where Science experiments meant going to a period in time, to study their beliefs. A volcano about to erupt, watching lava spread across areas, which were once wild with life. His favourite, watching a sun burn out for the final time. It was beautiful, but deadly for those reliant on its warmth.

For English, he went to the time period in his book. Inspector Calls made all the more fun, by watching how they acted during that time. Suffragettes, the first and second world war made all the more exciting.

Yet, it had its downfall.

Watching, even from a distance, the loss of life associated with a time period all humans were ashamed of. Not wanting to make the same mistake twice. One of his faces looked to the floor, unable to take the devastation of eighty percent of the earth. His grandfather lost, his grandmother too.

To accept his faces was his lesson, which he did with good humility. He couldn’t change the past, as meeting yourself would end in your own fading. To look to a future was the only way.

He stepped forward, as the light passed through his body, and in an instant his fate was forged in the last face. Peace, and a new stage in his existence.