Destined

It was a pleasant evening of the summer season. The sun had set and the cool breeze was blowing. Professor Kumar was enjoying the evening on the balcony of his house after working all day on his dream project in the laboratory.

 He had a habit of thinking. He couldn't live without thinking. Being a scientist, he used to think about various topics of science from general science to quantum physics and to time travel and so on. Today he was not thinking about science. He was thinking about his first and the last love Swati. She was a part of his life although she was not with him, she never loved him, she even never took interest in him. But he always liked her and He still liked her although she was a married woman having two sons. All of a sudden an idea came to his mind. 

All of a sudden an idea came to his mind and he immediately went to his lab. He was trying to create the time machine. He worked till late at night. He was near to get success in making the time machine; a great invention. 

Swati was a middle-aged charming woman who was married and mother to a child. Her husband was a captain in the army. She was happy with her married life and had nothing to do with Kumar. She had forgotten that Kumar had once come into her life as an unrequited lover. 

After spending several days in the laboratory he created the time machine. He was very happy with his invention. As far as he knew the machine was going to fulfill his biggest desire. 

He didn't waste his time and immediately began his time journey. He traveled to the past time when Swati and he were young and studying in college. He visited the college where they had studied and a place where he had met her for the first time and fell in her love. He also visited the place where he had proposed to her but she refused his love.

He liked the place where he spent his youth and got a quality education. He spent his day wandering in the streets of the city. He spent his evening at a park watching the sunset. He reached the street where his past version lived in a room of a boarding house. 

He knocked at the door. His past version opened the door and got surprised to find a middle-aged man who looked like him. 

He said, "who are you?" Kumar entered the room and said, "I am your future version and come to you to meet you and help you." 

His past version took it as a joke and said to him amusingly, " so you have come to help me from the future! In what matter will you help me?"

Kumar said to him, "I am your future form from your future. You love Swati, don't you?"

His past version got surprised hearing this and now he took him seriously and said to him, "but who are you and how do you know that I love Swati?"

Kumar said, "I have already told you that I am your future version. Being your future version I know everything about my past i.e. you."

Kumar further explained, "I came to my past using a time machine to do a special work which you can not do."

His past version said with curiosity, "what works?"

He said, "getting the love of Swati. It was my love for Swati that made me do time traveling."

His past version got lured and said, "how can you win the heart of Swati?"

Kumar said to him, "I will take her and will take her to my present means your future. And she will be your in future."

His past version thought for a while and then said, "but this will be a case of kidnapping which is a crime." 

Kumar said, "I know. But you have no other option. You can never win her heart and would never forget her. This will make you unhappy and alone. I don't want to be unhappy anymore. I want to get her and so I am on time travel. The future can be changed."

At last, his past version got ready to assist him in the kidnapping. 

The next day his past version met her and requested her to go with him in the evening to a theatre to watch a movie. She was not ready to go with him but he somehow made her agree to go with him.

They were going to the theatre in a car driven by Kumar in the evening. Kumar's face was covered with a cloth. All of a sudden, Kumar stopped the car. Before Swati could understand anything, the past version of Kumar got off the car and bade goodbye to her, and closed the door of the car. Kumar switched on the time machine and within seconds, Swati was on time traveling to the future. Swati was unable to understand what was going on. She looked out of the window and found a pitch-black outside. It was as if they were passing through a long and dark tunnel. Before she could decide her next move, the machine reached the future. They landed in front of Kumar's house. It was a moonless night and nobody was on the street. Kumar removed the cloth from his face. Seeing his face she began to shout with anger asking him questions. He gave her a tight slap and dragged her into the house. 

Finding no chance against him, she remained silent for a while and looked at him. She observed that Kumar was looking older than usual. She got suspicious and said to him, "Where am I? Why did you bring me here? and why are you looking older?"

He said to her, "you are in the future I brought you here in the future by time machine. You are seeing my future version. I brought you here in the future for I love you and want to marry you."

Hearing this she got confused and angry and began to shout, "I have nothing to do with your machine, future, and love. Let me go home otherwise, my dad will not leave you alive. And forget about my marrying you."

He said, "it is no use of your getting angry. You are in future time and can not do anything here without me. Listen to me I love you. Nobody is in my life except you. Please don't refuse my love. I did all this only to get you."

She slapped him and try to run out of the house. He ran behind her to stop her. He caught her on the midway. At this, she picked a metal vase from the table and began to strike him with it. To threaten her, he took out a revolver from his pocket. Seeing revolver in his hands, she moved back with fear. He moved forward to catch her by her hand, but she pounced on her, and a scuffle began between them. During this scuffle, the trigger of the revolver pushed. Swati received the bullet shot and fell on the floor. Blood was gushing out of her wounds.

He could not think of hurting her even in his wildest dream but he shot her down by accident. He felt regret. He was trembling with fear and police, arrest, court, punishment and all other types of thoughts are coming into his mind. Somehow he controlled himself and began to thought how to escape police and law. And an idea came to his mind and he hid her dead body in his house and went to the past to prevent the death of Swati. 

He reached the past at the time when his past version was moving towards Swati to catch her. He interposed between them and shout to his past with excitement, "stop. Don't move."

His past version got puzzled. Kumar said to him, "control your emotions and stay there and give me your gun otherwise she will be killed by your gun."

Hearing this he stopped. Seeing two Kumar at a time Swati was puzzled. 

Kumar turned to her and said, "if you don't love me and marry me, I have no right to force you. I wanted just to save you from the troubles you will have to go through by marrying you." 

He looked at her and said, "you have your timeline and I have my timeline. We had better not try to change timelines. I decided to leave you back to your present." He took back her to her present. They landed on the spot where they met for the first time in their youth. Getting off the car she began to go towards her home. He watched her going away from her till she disappeared into the dark of the street. His eyes were tearful. 

He, too, disappeared into his present time which was waiting for him.