Cory Gardner.

Cory Gardner, thought-provoking literature

A short story I wrote for my english class, enjoy, and tell me what you think.

Spoiler

“Cory Gardner, a fairly dressed, fairly groomed inventor in his early 20s, found at the base of his downtown Dallas apartment building, dead by apparent suicide.”

“2020. Seems like a good time to end it,” thought Cory Gardner, peering over the edge of his downtown Dallas apartment building. He clinched his fists nervously in the pockets of his wrinkled blue jeans, holding onto the paper that would exist as the only memory of him. His life had taken on a wave of unfortunate events through the past year, his father taken by cancer and depression, his lover taken by a brute named Connor, and his self-respect taken by the world’s lack of humanity.

Cory took off his black-rimmed glasses, fogged by the cold and damp midnight air and cleaned them, trying to remember the last memory he had of Judy, back from the summer of 2019, replaying his attempts in vain to make her understand his work.

“All you ever think about is your plans for that stupid Device; am I a part of your life or am I just here to be the inventor’s hot wife?”
“Please Judy, in a few months we’ll have the Devices distributed around America, and it’ll be all about you from thereon…”
“NO. I’m done watching you obsess over that thing; I’m tired of your pursuits of success with this dumb Device. I’m leaving, and if you want to argue, you can talk to Connor about it,” and almost as if on cue, an absolute bear of a man lumbered into the apartment.​

Cory suddenly felt the cold rush back over him, squeezing his eyes shut, straining not to remember the rest of it as he slipped back into reality. Cory’s father, David Gardner, had gone in his sleep just two months earlier, taken by a brain tumor that his insurance couldn’t be bothered with. David Gardner was a strong man, an ex-marine who had a hell of a life. After Mrs. Gardner had left him, he had been reduced to a grumpy old man, to live and die alone. Cory could recall his father’s last words to him, “Give up, son, sometimes it’s just not worth it,” as he slammed his door in Cory’s face, three months before he died.

“Well Dad, I’m giving up, just like you would have wanted.” Cory took another step towards the ledge to look down at the barren city street, for what he thought would be the last time. He took off his glasses and cleaned them.

“Cory, this is your last chance to back out,” he kept thinking to himself. At that instant, on the final step towards the end, a sudden rush of deja’vu hit him like a bullet to the brain. He fell back onto the rooftop, arms extended for the expected cold concrete. The concrete never came.

Cory found himself suspended in the arms of a mysterious stranger. Slowly, he turned his head around backwards, not knowing whom to expect. His eyes met theirs, and for a second that seemed like an eternity, realized who the man looking back at him was.

It was Cory Gardner.

Cory leaped backwards, flustered and scared, thinking frantically of what to do, hugging the monstrous air-conditioning unit for some sense of security.
“Whoa, whoa, Cory, calm down! Don’t worry, I’m you, Cory Gardner, just from 2030!” Cory, still not letting go of the AC unit, stood up a little more to examine this “new” Cory. Well dressed, cleanly groomed, very fit, obviously older, but definitely the Cory Gardner he knew. 2020 Cory refused to fathom this idea of time travel.

“How is this possible?! How am I even supposed to know that you’re real?! I’m just Cory the inventor, crazy kid tinkering with his stupid Device, and now he’s apparently hallucinating himself from the future, if you’re me you should know that!”

“I AM real, Cory, please calm down enough to at least be able hear yourself think!” 2020 Corey stared blankly, still with one hand on the AC unit. He took off his glasses and cleaned them. 2030 Cory began to explain the situation, unaffected by 2020 Cory’s hostile attitude.

“This all has to do with the Big Crunch Theory*, which I know you’re aware of, you studied it in the spring of 2014.” 2020 Cory was still just as frightened and confused as before, and lost for words. He allowed Cory to continue.

“In the year 2030, the Big Crunch is a reality. That’s how I’m here, to save both of us. I was in the same position you are in now, Cory, just get through it, I promise you it’s worth it. You can change the world, Cory.” 2020 Cory didn’t know what to say, he could only look away, still grasping in the dismal scrap of paper in his pocket, and finally mustered up the courage to speak.

“I’m finished with the Device, that took me…uh…well US, nowhere, us and our ideas were laughed at and spit on, and it won’t be hitting big anytime soon.”

“It already has, in my time, and right now for you, it’s your hope, and it WILL become something, it will turn around your generation, I promise. Can’t you trust yourself?” Cory could do nothing but stare down at his faded-black Chuck Taylors, not saying a word, exchanging blank stares with his future self.

“Is this what Dad would’ve truly wanted?” questioned 2030 Cory, breaking the silence. Cory slowly loosened his grip on the scrap of paper smashed into his pocket. As he took off his glasses to clean them once more, he released the note to sail off into the night. After another long pause, he finally decided to speak up.

“I guess not, thank you,” he managed to spit out. “So are you going back the future now?”

“Nah,” 2030 Cory blandly stated, “I think I’ll enjoy the fresh air up here for a while. Oh yeah, and go directly home from here, don’t go wandering around at this time. Go change the world while you still have one. Never, test fate, and remember, don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

Cory turned and left the rooftop, only to descend one floor and then crumple against the cold drywall for what was seemingly forever, processing Cory’s words and letting the shock settle in. He let his mind clear, wiping himself clean of all that had transpired. Cory managed to pull himself together, and made his way downstairs and back out into the cold.

As Cory stepped out of the door, another wave of deja’vu hit him, though he continued this time, undaunted by the experience. As he trudged trough the chilly air towards his neighborhood burger joint, he began to think about what Cory had said to him; started to recall what Cory had said about not going out. He suddenly froze, eyes wide, and after the longest minute he had ever experienced, he slowly relaxed, and as he took off his glasses to clean them once again muttered to himself, “what could possibly go wrong?” That was all fate needed, the uttering of those fateful words, to release the shadows of the city streets, those who sought wealth in people and will stop at nothing to obtain that wealth, to come from the night, taking Cory Gardner by surprise, the last surprise he would ever experience.
2030 Cory crumpled, images flashing through his mind of his mangled, unrecognizable body floating down the bottom of the Trinity River, as he plummeted towards the cold, hostile city streets. That lost scrap of paper thrown from the rooftop just an hour earlier fluttered to the ground, nestling itself on the lifeless body of it’s author. Cory had tested fate, and fate had passed his test with flying colors.

Cory Gardner, a well dressed, well groomed inventor in his early 30s, found at the base of his downtown Dallas apartment building, dead by apparent suicide.



*The Big Crunch Theory is a scientific theory that one day the universe will stop expanding and begin to contract back onto itself, resulting in a reverse Big Bang Theory, allowing spaces of time to be traveled

Sorry about the spaces between every paragraph and no indents, the indents wouldn't show up when i pasted it in the box...

 

hey dude, thanks. this was apparently a big hit among the english teachers at my school haha, i'm gonna start doing some more pieces like this as well