Age. Learn. Repeat.

Is there an age or year of your life you would re-live?

Today’s prompt asks, “Is there an age or year of your life you would re-live?” And of course, I have to reply, not by answering that, but by questioning the exact meaning of said prompt.

On one hand it suggests that one would relive an age or year because it was so good and happy that it would be a joy to repeat. Yet it’s been my experience that life is like a Shakespearean play: the bad is always mixed with the good (and vice versa!), and it’s hard to have one without the other (unlike love and marriage, which don’t have to go together like a horse and carriage). Given the prompt, is one allowed to tease out the happy moments and ignore the rest? Unlikely.

On the other hand, is the prompt suggesting that one return to a time so that mistakes can be repaired? We know from countless science fiction stories and movies that altering the timeline is a bad idea. Travel back in time, step on that Jurassic butterfly, and then you return to a fascist dictatorship! (See “A Sound of Thunder” by Ray Bradbury for what might be the first exploration of this theme. Let me know if I’m incorrect.)

This leads me to mention my exploration of this theme with my audio drama Kid Again. (Those of you who frequently read my blog are probably saying, “Oh, no, not again!” but I would love to have more people listen to it.) I call it a work of Autobiographical Speculative Fiction, since I am using events of my own life as the springboard for what happens to 39-year old Mike who, while packing for a move, discovers a box of journals he doesn’t remember writing. He goes to bed at the urging of his pregnant wife, but the next thing he knows, he’s 13 and back in a Catholic school classroom. He remembers everything that happened to him as he grew up, so is he just dreaming, or is he time-traveling? And if he is repeating his life, how much can he change in order to go from being a nerd hermit to one of the cool kids (or at least to having more fun) without completely changing his life and the lives of everyone around him?

Other films that have utlilized this idea generally go just for comedy, but—even though there is some subtle humor, especially related to things that haven’t happened yet (“I’ll email you”? Not in 1977!)—it explores societal changes as well as the personality changes that Mike undergoes and effects in others. There’s also a good deal of social commentary as well: the topics of abortion, homosexuality, and xenophobia make their appearances along the way.

You can hear Kid Again in select episodes of my podcast Audio Chimera and on the StoryZ YouTube channel storyzstudios.

As for the prompt, I guess the answer is no. Once is enough!