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“I just came from the year 2020, I’m not really sure how to prove it but it’s true. In 2020 you and I are married and we live in America.”
“Rounak I think maybe this person is crazy,” Rakib says in Bangla.
“I’m not crazy,” I say.
“How did you understand him?” Ron asks, taken aback.
“Because,” I say, “We travel here once a year to visit family. I’ve picked up just enough to be able to understand most things but I still can’t really speak it. Look I know this all sounds crazy, it’s crazy to me but I need you to believe me. Look I know your name is Imran and your name is Rakib, you also have a friend named Shudoy. Ron, you have two older brothers named Bicky and Ricky. In the future, everyone makes jokes that you’re the odd one out because my name is Mickey. Your oldest brother is married and her name is Sheetal. They have a son, well I guess he isn’t born yet but his name will be Ayush but everyone will fight about it because your dad wants him to be named something else. Your mom once told me she let her sister name you and your name means ‘light of my life’ or something like that. Before you’re even done with high school you’ll start applying for foreign Universities. At first, you’ll want to go to London but you’ll decide it’s too expensive and then your dad’s friend’s son will tell you about an American University in a city called Winona. I can tell you a million things about the future but I don’t know how to make you believe me.” The last sentence came out more like a plea.
He looked at me like I was a scared beaten dog, “I do, I believe you.”
I took a sigh of relief and felt tears spring to my eyes, I looked to his friends and could tell they didn’t believe me. Imran piped up saying, “Can’t believe you marry an American.” He laughed at his own joke and I relaxed a bit more.
I look back at Ron, “Do you have any questions?”
“What’s my job?” he asked.
“You’re like a mathematician.”
“Ew,” he said.
“Well not really, your actual title is Data analyst. It’s a really great job. We were able to buy a house right away. By the time it’s 2020 we have more money than we know what to do with, to be honest.”
We sat there talking about the future and looking out across the water for a while. Some answers made him believe me more and others seemed to make him more skeptical, but I answered all truthfully. I was telling him about the two little dogs we have in the future when I noticed something hard poking me in my pocket. I pulled it out revealing a combination lock. It had 6 spinning sections that alternated letter, number, letter, number, letter, number. I looked at it for a moment. Ron looked to my hands, “What’s that?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” I replied, “It’s some kind of combination lock but I’ve never seen it before.” I stared at it for a time before saying, “Maybe this is like a video game, maybe this is a clue to what’s going on.”
“Or maybe it’s a puzzle,” Ron says.

10 things they never tell you about the mistresses children,

1. She has two sons, ages 14 and 18, and they are inseparable, nothing has or ever will come between them

2. The youngest boy has a bright future ahead of him. He likes building computers and fixing cars. No one doubts he’s going to be someone one day. 

3. The older boy is a bit softer, he likes all things creative. He hopes to be a graphic designer if he can make it but he has learned from experience not to ever want anything too much. The let down is simply more than he can handle. 

4. They have both learned a specific set of skills over the years. The youngest has the power of invisibility. He's learned how to slip away into the safety of his bedroom when things begin to escalate. The oldest has learned to become the parent. When fights break out it's the oldest who's takes care of his brother. When mom isn't there it's the oldest who helps his brother to do his homework.

5. Their world is split into so many pieces it can be hard to pick apart the lies and the truth. They have a world at school, a world at home, a world with family, and a world with friends. Every day they can feel the gravity from each world trying to pull them apart but as long as they have each other things will be ok. Right?

6. They never approved of the lifestyle they live. They never wanted to feel their mother's shame. They never wanted to listen to her scream his name into the phone as he drives home to his wife. Sometimes the homewrecker isn't just the mistress.

7. They recognize why their mother keeps that man around. They know that she truly does care about him. They just wish they could believe he felt the same way. In the meantime, they will let him pay the bills in exchange for their silence. They will let him buy the best of the two worlds he wishes to live in. Like an unspoken contract, they abide by his rules, so long as he abides by theirs. 

8. They imagine what his family is like. They hear the stories of his own sons. They hear about their perfect lives with their perfect wives and their perfect jobs. He's proud of them and they know this. 

9. One day the oldest will watch his mother get hit. Apparently, it's OK to hit a woman but then again she's only your mistress isn't she. The boys will watch their mother run back into his arms before the bruises have even healed. They will look on as she lets him tear her down. They will see him takes every oz of sanity she had. They will watch as he expertly extracts every tear from behind her eyes as if he were a surgeon. And they will hate every second. 

10. We, the mistresses children, pray that the next time we hear your name, it is in the obituaries, because we would rather hear our mother cry over your dead body then watch her shed another tear for you alive. My mother once said The boys who make you cry are never worth your tears and the boys who are worth your tears will never make you cry. If only she could take her own advice.

Last night I had a dream:
I’m watching a basketball game at my high school gym. The home team is up by 4 points when the buzzer goes off. Now that I’m 21 and I’ve been graduated for a few years it’s fun to come home for a game every once in a while, even if it is over an hour away and in the middle of nowhere. I grab my coat and head towards the door as I listen to the excited chatter that fills the gym.
The air in the parking lot is cool and crisp. The wind kicks up the snow on the ground and twirls it around. It’s completely dark except for the soft yellow glow illuminating the parking lot. I hurry to my car wishing to get out of the cold as soon as possible. My car is an ugly yellow hatchback with a squished in front but it gets me where I need to go. My husband could easily afford to get me a new one but since I’m the only one who drives I wanted to wait until I could buy my own car.
I drive slowly out of the parking lot and turn towards home knowing I have a long sleepy drive ahead of me. I take a right and I’m the only car on the road. I wind around the familiar twists and curves for a while thinking about life, the game, and nothing all at the same time. Not really paying attention I take my next turn and suddenly everything is different.
It’s suddenly so incredibly bright. I try to adjust my eyes but the burn from the light. It sounds different too. Where before I was kept company by only the soft rumble of my engine it’s now impossibly loud. The chime of bicycle bells and roar of engines is all around me. I can also hear people bustling aro0und me. I blink a few more times as my vision slowly comes back. I look around astonished. It looks like I’m in Bangladesh. I recognize it because that’s where my husband is from. We come here every year. But that’s impossible. I think to myself. I was just in Viroqua, Bangladesh is on the other side of the world. I look around the car and it’s still my car but definitely not where It’s supposed to be. I sit there stunned before coming to a very scary realization. I’m alone in a country where I don’t speak the language and I have no idea how I got here.
I began frantically looking around for anything familiar. A landmark so maybe I can find my way to my in-laws’ house. I know they’ll help me, and they might even know what’s going on. As always there are so many people but I don’t see anything I recognize for sure. The buildings are all tall and colorful and there is a lake to my left. I wonder to myself if maybe that’s elephant lake. It looks like it is based on the bridge I see in the distance. But it is strange it looks like it’s still under construction. My husband had told me that the Bangladeshi army had built it years ago. I wondered if maybe I was wrong and this was a different lake. I thought maybe I should get out and try to ask someone.
As I stepped out of my car the hot, humid air hit me in an almost suffocating way. I looked down and realized I was still wearing my winter coat and gloves. I peeled off as many layers as I could and left them in the car. I then began looking around for someone who looked friendly enough but young enough that they might speak English. As I looked around I saw the back of a head that looked way to familiar. It was my husband. Oh thank god, I thought to myself. I’m saved. I noticed that his two friends Imran and Rakib were sitting next to him.
“Ron!” I called. No response. I wondered if maybe he hadn’t heard me. I got closer. “Ron!” I called again. I was sure he heard me that time but he still didn’t react. I got right behind him and said “Rounak.” I never called him that but that was his real name. On hearing that he whipped around and stared at me with a confused look. Confused by the way he was looking at me I cautiously asked, “What are we doing here?” I asked cautiously.
His face twisted with even more confusion. He looked down almost like he was [icking his words very carefully. I noticed he looked different somehow. He looked like he was younger maybe. His friends looked younger too. In fact, his friends looked much younger. Imran looked much thinner and Rakib still had quite a bit of his hair. I know that couldn’t be possible though. Just then my thoughts were interrupted by Ron speaking. He spoke slowly as if he were unsure of himself, “I’m sorry, but do I know you?”
I was taken aback, “Of course you know me, we’re married.”
“Married?! I’m only 16, I can’t be married.”
I couldn’t understand. My husband is 23, we’ve been married for more than a year now. Why do they look so young? I start to feel light-headed.
Imran looks at me and says “Maybe you should sit, you look ill.” He and Rakib slide down leaving me room to sit between Ron and Imran.
I sit on the concrete wall and put my head in my hands. “This can’t be happening,” I mutter to myself.
“What can’t be happening?” Ron asks me looking still more concerned. His face looks like the first time I got a bloody nose and he asked if he needed to call 911.
“What year is it?” I ask.
“It’s 2013,” Ron says.
It’s 2020 for me I think to myself. Is it possible? Have I traveled back in time somehow? “Ok, you’re going to think I’m crazy but I think I’ve traveled back in time.”

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