Kenneth carefully looked at the paper flyer given to him by his quantum physics teacher. He knew that if he missed the grand opening of his teacher's new invention he would fail his class, thus failing his senior year of high school. Kenneth acknowledged the fact that the poster said in all caps “GENIOUS INVENTION MODELED BY HIGH SCHOOL VOLUNTEER”. Meaning that he was the main act of this event. As he approached the front door he noticed a lor of scientists with clipboards and labcoats talking amongst themselves about the theories and rumors they have heard about this mysterious invention. “I heard that it can make people shrink down to the molecular level” said one of the scientists. “I heard that it makes humans gain the ability to self-replicate,” said the other scientist. This made Kenneth nervous knowing that no one knew what the invention's purpose was or how he was going to be used in this prentation except for his teacher.
As he walked in he noticed a large poster with a lot of scientific information and formulas. To the left of the poster board was a glass case that had a sign underneath it that said Multiverse Viewing Gadget (GVS) and seemed to hold some type of amulet inside with a big gem in the middle. To the right of the poster was a stool with a red cushion one top of it. As Kenneth looked around his surroundings his teacher approached the stage.
“Greetings ladies and gettlmen” the science teacher started, “Today you will witness a discorvery that will change the way we as human being look at the science field of quantum physics. Now me and my student, Kenneth over there will be the tester of this gadget and will give us a description of his experience.”
The scientist motioned Kenneth to the stage making him twice as nervous. As he approached the stage he held a crooked smile on his face to lookas if he was calm and collected.
“Now since you’ve met my student, let me tell you guys the science behind this invention. Electronic currents are something that we all have come familiar with as we advanced in today's society. And that (and multiple other things) have led me to discover something that the world of science will always remember”.
The teacher then turned around and took the amulet off of the podium and held it in front of the audience. As the audience oohed he continued one with his speech.
“One thing we all have in common here is that we all believe in the theory of infinite universes and the infinite possibilities the future holds. Thus carrying me to making this discovery. The chair that my volunteer is sitting on is made from electric currents, metal, and of course polyester”. The crowd let out a giggle then quickly settled down. “This chair is linked to the amulet” he said, continuing his speech “and as this young man is sitting on it he is powering to amulet up while bonding with it”.
Kenneth looked down to see that the amulet was growing brighter and brighter as he was sitting on the chair. Kenneth looked at the stool in awe. H didnt know that something that is so ordinary looking could hoold so much power inside of it.
“Now like every source of energy in this world, this one has limited energy and is currently being charged by his brain. His hippocampus (the part of the brain that deals with memory) is being scanned to see many of the different outcomes that could have happened throughout his life. Now remember that like every energy source in this world this one is limited. This lets him only see 3 of these possibilites''.
The scientist gave Kenneth the amulet and told him to put it around his neck. “Now when the amulet fully powers up he will be able to see these possibilities.” The amulet then glowed brighter than before and before Kenneth knew it he was in-between space and time. Kenneth looked at his hands to see if he was even alive at the moment. The space around him was so dark that he couldn't see anything. Kenneth was in utter shock. Not knowing where or when he was as if he was just drifting in a place called nowhere. “Am I dead?” he thought to himself as he looked at his hands to see if they were visible. Kenneth then started to look around for even a sliver of light. And as he looked behind him that is exactly as he saw. He then maneuvered himself to the source of the light.
As he approached it he noticed it was in the shape of a body mirror. As he looked into it he saw a man with white and dark blue Woolrich flannel with khaki pants and church shoes. He had his hair neatly cut and had a name tag that said “Assistant Manager of Red Lobster Kenneth''. Kenneth knew exactly what version of him the person before him was. It’s the version of him that wanted to drop out of school.
“Hey, how are you?” said the man in the mirror.
“Hi, I assume your name is Kenneth, '' replied Kenneth as he got closer to the mirror to touch it.
“What would be the issue you're dealing with? '' asked manager Kenneth.
Kenneth looked at the Red Lobster manager with confusion. It was like he noticed him yet he tried to act like he didn’t.
“Wait but I didn’t-” Kenneth started to say as the manager then pulled Kenneth through the mirror into his world. Kenneth could see commotion going on at the moment and realized that he was pulled into Red Lobster and the line and front of the house were busy.
“Wait what's going on, how am I in here?” Kenneth asked the manager as he pinched himself to see if he was alive.
“This is you if you would have dropped out of school and taken a management position at Red Lobster. As you see it’s very busy like this all of the time and you aren’t paid enough to deal with all of this commotion.”
Kenneth looked at the manager, yet again, in confusion. As he took a closer look he could see the tired expression on his face as if he was overworked and lost all motive. The color in his eyes have faded and looked dried out. He knew that the manager had a lack of sleep.
“So what you’re saying is that I made the right choice to not work at Red Lobster for the rest of my life.” Kenneth asked as the manager was loading food onto the tray
“I’m not telling you that you made the wrong choice” he said as he picked up the tray, “but if you don’t want to work for people when you get older or deal with customers that are a lot of work to please, then I guess I can say you did. You can never say that you’ve made the right or wrong choice until you have seen the full outcome of the situations that come later in life, now come on help me with these trays''.

As Kenneth grabbed the tray he noticed the vague look on the manager's face. It was as if he had no emotions. “Wow, would this really have been me if I would have taken the management position.“ Kenneth thought as he picked up the other tray. As the Kenneths took the trays to the table the lady next to them called them over.
“Excuse me, sir,'' started, “My food is disgusting” the lady started “and cold and just straight up a mess. I don't understand how you can run an establishment the way you do. I demand a refund and for food with better quality”.
“Sorry ma’am, I’ll get that right away” said the manager as he took the plates and took them to the kitchen. Manager Kenneth then turned around to Kenneth.
Kenneth examined the manager's face only to see an even more vague facial expression coming from him. As if he has witnessed this before and he’s sick of the same old thing. Happening over and over again.
“And one more thing, if you don’t want to deal with people like that, whatever you do, don't own a restaurant.”
The manager held a crooked smil on his face as he dumped the trays and walked to the dishwashign area to give the plates to the dishwasher.
The amulet around Kenneth’s neck then started to glow brighter and brighter and before he knew it he was in the dark abyss once again. “I don’t understand,” Kenneth thought to himself, “I never envisioned being a manager at a restaurant to be so harsh for me. Kenneth then looked around him to see, to his left, another mirror. Kenneth maneuvered himself to this mirror only to see another version of him this time with an IIE (Illinois Institute of Engineering) hoodie on with had bags under his eyes. He had a nappy afro with the sides of his hair trimmed. He looked as if he was too busy to speak to Kenneth and like it was crunch time.
“Man can you let me be. This whole paper is due at midnight,” said the college student as he walked to his minifridge to pull out a bottle of water.
“So I'm guessing you're the college student version of me huh,” Kenneth asked as he looked closely into the mirror. The college student then pulled Kenneth through the mirror and into the dorm.
Kenneth looked around only to see a neatly cleaned college dorm with the only mess being a stack of college textbooks in the corner. There were anime posters all over the wall and there was a desk and 2 bean bag chairs.
“Nice room,” Kenneth said as he sat in the bean bag chair.
“Yeah, I know,” said the student as he threw a water bottle to Kenneth. “Hopefully you keep your grades up so you can go to college too.” Kenneth sat there awkwardly in silence until the college student spoke.
“Hey, let me show you around campus”. As they walked around campus Kenneth noticed how the college was obviously for engineering students all over the globe. He saw people of all different ethnicities and cultures walking around campus.
“Hey man take a look”, the student said, directing Kenneth to a tall building.
“This is the building that I spend most of my time in. It’s the aerospace engineering building.” Kenneth and the college student walked inside only to see different motors and tools around the room on tables and the floor. “This is where I am learning how different aero machines are made and used. All of it is complex math and is hard to comprehend because if it isn’t perfect it isn't right.”
Kenneth looked up to see a human-sized spaceship model dangling from the ceiling. It reminded him of a time when he would play with legos and say that he wanted to be an engineer growing up. Knowing that things have changed since then has really helped him realize how he needs to start worrying about what he is going to do in the future.
“Hey I have a question for you,” Kenneth said, getting the attention of the college student.
“Yeah man, lay it on me” replied the college student.
“So what led you to make such a big decision? I know that it must have been hard to get where you are now but how are you sure that you made the right decision?”
“Well, really it was the people that I surrounded myself with in high school.” The college student started. “One of the things I was taught in high school that I will remember forever is that the people I hang around with are what you will most likely become. If I hang out with millionaires then I will most likely become a millionaire. If I hang out with a gangster then I will most likely become a gangster.”
“So what you are saying is that I should find a better group of people to hang out with?” asked Kenneth.
“No, that is if you know that the people you hang around with have goals in life and are striving to be their very best”
That very thing made Kenneth realize that he needs to cut off the people who are most likely not going to make a living out of their life. He needed to hang out with people who are going to be something in the future and not hold him back. All Kenneth could do is frown about the fact that all this time he never saw that he was hurting himself hanging around the wrong crowd. Kenneth took this information to his heart and promised himself he wouldn’t make this mistake again.
“Thank you man, I really needed to hear something like this” Kenneth told the college student as the amulet started to slowly grow brightly once again.
“If I have one piece of advice for you” the college student started “it would be to find a career path that best suits you and not your pockets”. You know what happened to your siblings”.
Kenneth was, yet again, in the dark abyss. Kenneth this time still carried that sad expression on his face. He thought about how freshman year he used to hang around the people who were failing all of their callses. Now all of them have dropped out or just skipped school all together. But he knew that there was supposed to be another mirror. Eager to find the last mirror he looked around him but there was nothing. This gave him enough time to sit and think about what he had just experienced in that last mirror. “Was the purpose of this to teach me about myself” he thought and just as he thought that the third and final mirror opened up. This mirror showed a man in a slickblue suit with a Rolex Submariner with white gold and a blue dial. He had black dress shoes and a Ricci belt. He had dreadlocks with a high taper around the sides and back of his head. Kenneth could tell that he was a very important person just by the way he dressed (and a very rich one).
“Hello sir, did you have a meeting with me?” the man asked Kenneth.
“No, but-”. The man pulled Kenneth in mid-sentence and told him to take a seat. As Kenneth took his seat he noticed the pictures on the wall. There were pictures of the businessmea shaking hands with the president. There was a picture of him with rappers and singers. There were even pictures of him with youtubers. This made Kenneth feel nervous knowing that he could be in the same room with a guy this powerful.
“Name” asked the businessman.
“Oh Kenneth” he responded nervously. The businessman looked up and looked back down. “Oh, how could I have not known?” he said as he pushed a button on his phone “Do you want any refreshments, water food snacks?” he asked.
“No thank you” Kenneth replied as his stomach growled.
“Ahh, so I see you still don’t like taking hospitality. Well one day you're going to have to learn how to take hospitality. Help only paves the way for your journey.” the businessman said as he stood up to look out of the window.
“So what you’re saying is that taking hospitality isn’t a sign of weakness?” Kenneth asked.
“No, I’m not saying that '', said the businessman as he sat back down at his desk “I’m saying that you should know when a helping hand is okay. I mean look at me did you think I did all this on my own. I’m in Las Vegas and I am smart home automating celebrities and athletes homes. I needed loans and advice. I want you to take a look at this man.'' He turned a picture of a bald black man with a black suit and red striped tie. “I wouldn’t have any of this if it wasn’t for this man's hospitality. You see there are things people give you that isnt just a hand out.” There are things that when you are offered that you need to go with. It’s all up to you. Your decisions should be decisions made by you. Do’t let anyone tell you how to live your life. And don’t tell anyone how to live theyre life.” Kenneth looked at the posture of the businessman to see that what he was telling him was coming from the heart. He knew that the businessman knew what he needed to hear. “Also” the businessman continued “Worry about yourself. You’ve been worrying about everyone around you for a long time. You deserve some me time. “ Then Kenneth heard a familiar beeping noise. The noise grew louder and louder as the conversation went on. “I think you should go get that '' said the businessman as he led Kenneth out of the building.
“Get what” asked Kenneth.
“That’s for you to decide,” said the businessman. As he shoved Kenneth out of the doorway Kenneth woke up out of his dream only to see the alarm clock. The time was 6:00 pm, school time. Kenneth sat in his bed and looked at his hands only tov see that it was all a dream. Or was it? Kenneth walked around school that day as a new man. He knew that he was lucid dreaming now but it seemed strange how all of the people he saw in his dream had a connection to the message they were trying to convey. It was as if it wasn’t a dream. He was sitting in science class as his teacher was teaching and, like normally, didn’t even look at him. After the bell rang the science teacher called Kenneth to his desk.
“I see you are struggling with my class. Do you need extra credit?” asked the teacher as he grabbed something from out of his desk drawer.
“Yes” said Kenneth as he gets deja vu from the conversation.
“Ok, perfect. Now there is a grand opening about my new invention today after school. Hopefully you dont miss it.”
Kenneth looked at the flyer to see the words only to see the words “GENIUS INVENTION MODELED BY HIGH SCHOOL VOLUNTEER KENNETH ''.