[ WP ] You are in Time Square in New York . You get an unknown call . Everything the person on the line says starts to unfold around you as if predicting the future .

I reached in my pocket and answered my vibrating phone without slowing. I plowed my way forward through the busy sidewalks of New York City. 
 
 “ Hello, ” I boomed, just like my father. 
 
 “ Jack Leaf. Listen to me very very carefully, ” said a scratchy voice. 
 
 “ Who is this? ” I asked. 
 
 “ Jack Justin Leaf the third. Born March 31st, 1955.You had eggs benedict with smoked salmon for breakfast. Your maid Rosanna makes excellent breakfasts. You have had sex with Rosanna three times, each time in the pool house with her bent over the couch. ” 
 
 “ What do you want? ” I asked as I stopped walking, letting the foot traffic flow around me. “ Do you know who the fuck you ’ re dealing with? ” I felt my blood begin to boil. That Guatemalan bitch must have sold me out. 
 
 The unnatural voice continued, “ Listen to me Jack. This is not about Rosanna. I am simply trying to get your attention. Look around you Jack. We do not have much time. ” 
 
 “ Listen to me you piece of shit. I will destroy you… ” 
 
 “ JACK! Listen to me. Look at the man coming towards you in the red coat. ” 
 
 “ …I don ’ t know how you got this number or what that woman… ” 
 
 “ JACK! The man in the red coat? Do you see him? ” 
 
 “ …what? The man in a red coat? Yeah I fucking see him. Is he part of this shake down? ” 
 
 “ Are you watching him? ” 
 
 “ What? Yes, I ’ m watching the bastard. ” I said as I looked at the young man walking towards me. He had a scraggy face and was wearing a red sports coat. ” 
 
 “ He ’ s going to kill himself in five seconds. ” 
 
 “ What? ” I said as I watched the young man look left and then right. 
 
 The voice on the phone was counting down, “ …five, four, three… ” 
 
 The man in the red coat closed his eyes and dashed into the road. He dove forward towards an oncoming bus, getting his head directly under the front wheels before it even had a chance to slow. His skull popped like a watermelon being hit with an oversized sledge hammer. 
 
 People screamed. The bus managed to stop with a squeal of brakes, the man ’ s brains leaving a long wet streak on the pavement. 
 
 “ Do I have your attention Jack? ” said the voice. 
 
 My mind whirled. What was going on? Whoever these people were they meant business, so casually spending a life. 
 
 “ Yes. Yes, you have my attention. ” 
 
 “ I am from the future Jack. The deal you are brokering today with Chemco Inc must not go through. It inadvertently leads to a third world war and the end of civilization as you know it. ” 
 
 “ What? Are you fucking crazy? What does this have to do with the guy in the street? ” 
 
 The Scratchy voice began to grow quieter on the phone. “ He had nothing to do with this Jack. I called you at this moment to try and get you to believe me. The deal must not go through. It will end the world. You are the lynch pin... ” a burst of static interrupted the call. 
 
 I stood as still as a statue and watched people rush around me and towards or away from the dead man in the street. Chemco Inc? It was just another standard merger. A guy from the future? This is insane. 
 
 The voice on the phone was a mere whisper now. “ …Jack. When you were five years old you watched your friend drown but never told anyone you could have saved him. When you were sixteen that girl at summer camp let you eat her pussy. You never talked to her again. You have half a million dollars hidden in the Caymans. Rosanna has a small mole on her left breast…. ” 
 
 I strained to hear the voice over the noise of the city and sirens in the distance. I couldn ’ t be sure but it sounded like the voice said, “ …it ’ s all on you Jack. You can save us. You can change the future… ” before it faded below the range of my hearing. 
 
 I shook my head and looked around me. What in the fuck had just happened? 
 
 I continued on my way to work, trying to shake a chill in my bones. 
 
 I had a merger to finish. 
 
 edit: spelling
