[ WP ] Every ten years you 're allowed to have a conversation with your ten-year-younger self , but only the senior remembers the conversation . 20 year old you wakes up from talking to 30 year old you with one word carved on their arm ...

*this story is based on [ croatianspy's story ] ( https: //www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/comments/4shbsw/wp_your_blinker_goes_on_by_itself_on_your_way_to/d59b7h7 ) * 
 
 He came rushing into the cafe as I was getting my usual morning coffee, eyes frantically scanning the line for the counter until they fixed on me. He skipped the entire line- much to the other patrons' annoyance- and grabbed my shoulder. 
 
 `` We need to talk. Now,'' he said, tilting his head to an available table at the end of the row. He looked stressed. Bags under his brown eyes, his hair looked like he just got out of bed, and he was thin and pale. The strangest thing about his appearance, though, was how much he resembled me. 
 
 I tried to excuse myself. `` Sorry, man, I'm running late and I can't-'' 
 
 `` Listen, I only have ten minutes to tell you this before I have to go back. C'mon, let's go.'' He went over to the table, took a seat, and checked his watch. 
 
 Confused and startled, I paid for my coffee and turned to leave the cafe, but something about the man seemed curiously familiar. Reluctantly, I went over to the table and sat facing him. `` Alright, what is it?'' I asked. 
 
 `` I wo n't bother explaining who I am and how I got here, because you wo n't remember it anyway,'' he began, checking his watch again. `` Do you have a pen?'' 
 
 I emptied my pockets onto the table. Car keys, the receipt for my coffee, my wallet, and the pocket knife my girlfriend Melissa gave me as a gift were all I had on me. The man sighed in exasperation, tapping a long fingernail impatiently on the tabletop. He checked his watch again. 
 
 `` Damn it!'' he said sharply, still looking at his watch. `` Okay, listen. Three weeks from now, you're going to find Melissa dead in-'' 
 
 `` Whoa whoa, buddy. Stop.'' I interrupted him, alarmed and suspicious. `` Who are you and how do you know Melissa? What the hell are you talking about? Is this some kind of joke?'' 
 
 `` Would you calm the hell down? You're wasting my time and I'm trying to help you-'' 
 
 `` By coming to tell me my girlfriend is going to die? You know what, forget it.'' I began to return my belongings to my pockets. I'd had enough of this nonsense, and I was now officially late for work. The man grabbed my pocket knife before I could put it away. `` Give me your hand,'' he commanded. 
 
 `` Wha-'' 
 
 He did n't wait for me to comply. He grabbed my left hand and yanked my arm across the table and pinned it down, simultaneously using his teeth to release the blade. 
 
 `` What the hell are you do-!!'' I screamed as the blade went into my arm. The man looked weak, but his grip was firm, and I could n't get my arm away from him no matter how hard I fought. He was n't stabbing me; it looked like he was trying to carve something. He managed to cut three characters and as he pressed the knife into my arm to write a fourth, he vanished, the knife clattered onto the tabletop, and I found myself wondering why I was sitting at a table with my arm bleeding. The other customers in the cafe looked at me with confusion and concern as I tried to use some napkins to clean the blood on the table as well as my arm. Equally confused, I wiped my knife clean and put it away, forgetting my coffee on the table as I left the cafe. 
 
 There was no way I was going to work like this, so I called in sick as I drove back home. I called for Melissa as I stepped through the front door, but she had already left. I got the rubbing alcohol out from the cupboard in the bathroom and attempted to clean the cuts, swearing each time I applied the soaked cotton balls to the broken skin. It was n't until after I cleaned most of the dried blood from my arm that I was able to see the shapes that were cut into my arm. There were three badly drawn letters: M, E and L. 
 
 `` Mel... Melissa?'' I muttered, puzzled. What was going on? I tried my best to recall what happened in the cafe, but between ordering my coffee and looking down at my bloody arm, nothing came to mind. I wrapped the throbbing arm in bandages and went to the living room and let myself fall into the sofa, falling asleep minutes after. 
 
 I woke up to the rattling of the doorknob. I leaned up so I could see over the sofa as Melissa stepped inside, sweaty and panting in her tank top and tights, easing her feet out of her sneakers. She saw my head and paused. `` What are you doing back so early?'' she asked flatly. 
 
 `` Could you drop the attitude already, Melissa? I've had a pretty screwed up morning and I do n't need this right now,'' I replied, irritated. I do n't know why I expected her to be over the argument we had before I left home so quickly. She never lets things go easily. 
 
 She rolled her eyes and put her earbuds back in. I should n't have said that. I was just miserable because my arm still hurt. `` Mel... Sorry,'' I apologized, getting off the sofa. `` I did n't mean that. It's just I-'' 
 
 `` Oh my God, what happened to your arm?'' she asked, eyes widening as she saw the bandages. Some blood had soaked through the bandage as I slept and I had n't noticed. `` Sit back down and let me see it,'' she directed. She washed her hands as I waited. She was a qualified nurse, and right now I was her patient. `` I'm going to take the bandage off, and it's going to hurt, okay?'' She began to slowly remove the bandage, with light tugs where the blood made it stick to my arm. I winced as she gradually unwrapped my arm, partially because of the immediate pain, but also because I knew how this would look. 
 
 Her eyes flashed a different kind of concern as she saw her name on my arm. `` Dan, what is this? I thought we talked about this already.'' 
 
 `` Wait, wait. This- this is n't what it looks like, I swear.'' I fumbled with my words, trying to figure out how I would explain this. 
 
 `` I told you that I ca n't be with you if you keep doing this kind of thing, Daniel,'' she said stiffly, releasing my arm. 
 
 `` I know, I know. I did n't do this to myself this time. It...'' 
 
 `` Alright, Daniel. Explain,'' she said impatiently. 
 
 `` I- Honestly, I do n't know how it got there. I just went for coffee and the next thing I knew, it was there. I wish I had a better explanation, but that's all I can remember.'' 
 
 She just looked at me. `` I'm done,'' she said, getting up from the sofa. 
 
 `` Melissa... Melissa!'' I grabbed her arm as she walked away, but she wrestled her way out and grabbed her car keys. `` Melissa, do n't leave! I'm not lying to you I swear to God-'' 
 
 She slammed the door behind her. 
 
 I never saw her again for three weeks.
