The waiter pours hot coffee into my cup. The steam dissipates into the air. I feel dizzy as my surroundings shimmer and blur. There are colours and shapes all around me. It’s like the gaussian blur on Photoshop, except there’s some movement. Suddenly the surroundings come back into focus. I’m exactly in the same seat and the coffee in front of me is hot.

I know that I have to drink the coffee before it gets cold. If not, I’ll be stuck in this time away from the present. I know I can’t leave this seat or I’ll be zapped back to the present. I also know that no matter what I do from where I’m sitting, it won’t change the present. Ever.

So what day and time did I choose to revisit?

***

Actually, I don’t know. The fantasy ends there. I just finished the book “Before the Coffee Gets Cold” by Toshikazu Kawaguchi and that’s the premise. I think it’s about learning to see our current situations in a completely different light. What’s interesting about this time travelling story is that no matter what the person does, it can never change the present. It’s not Back to the Future and Star Trek. It’s replaying to a time you have to learn something very important about yourself.

After finishing the book, I came across a trailer to a film called Cafe Funiculi Funicula which is based on the book.

***

Which moment in your past would you like to revisit? Would you be at peace knowing that you can’t do anything to change the present?