Temporal Consciousness Transposition

Imagine you are offered the opportunity to travel to any time in your past. You can either simply observe and remember or actually alter your life. Ben Tilifson has received this precise opportunity. Thinking it is a joke perpetrated by friends, he reluctantly decides to play along. Except it is not a joke. During Ben's first trip, he coerces his fifty-five year younger self into speaking to a high school crush to whom he was originally too bashful to even say hello. The brief conversation changes his life forever. The girl introduces Ben to a friend that will become his wife. Realizing it's not a joke or bad dream, Ben decides to continue his travels. Fearful of doing anything else that might alter his own life, he decides to devote his action to saving lives from terrible accidents. Upon returning from his most recent trip, Ben discovers his life has been dramatically transformed. A thorough review reveals that he must have traveled back in time simply to win a lottery. Memorizing the winning numbers, Ben travels twelve years into his past and purchases the winning ticket. He returns to a life even more altered than the one he just left. He is convinced he is somehow jumping between parallel yet different timelines. Recognizing the contradiction of time travel, Ben wonders what would happen if he reverses the action of his first trip. The surprise ending to the Temporal Consciousness Transposition presents a paradox that convinces Ben he has no free will.