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Life Restart — Description

Life does not have a reset button.

Sequel - www.deviantart.com/code-name-c…
Image - i.pinimg.com/originals/e1/bf/3…

Words Below:

The sign on the store window advertised a free life restart. It said all they had to do was come inside for a free consultation. Ruben was interested. He was unemployed and his debts were ever increasing. Soon he would reach his credit limit and then he would be in huge trouble. He was trying his best to avoid unnecessary spending, but since it was free he had nothing to lose, or so he thought, so he went inside.

To his surprise, when Ruben entered the store he found it to be completely empty except for an elderly woman sitting at a table in the corner. She called him by name and invited him over. She had been expecting him. Not knowing what else to do, Ruben walked over to the table and sat down.

The old woman asked him many questions to find out what kind of life restart he wanted. Ruben did his best to answer them. For some of the questions, he did not know the answers. He had never really thought about such things. The old woman told him it was alright. She would do her best to give him the appropriate life restart based on the information he had given her.

She told Ruben to come back the next day with at least one childhood photo. He agreed. That night he rummaged through his belongings to find as many photos from his childhood as he could. The next day, he brought several of the best ones to make sure he did it right.

The old woman looked over the photos and picked out the one she wanted. She placed it on the table between them. They both stared at it though Ruben was unsure why they were doing this.

"Look at the picture," commanded the old woman. "See how it has faded with age?"

It sounded like a request but there was something about the way she said it that compelled him to look harder at the photo. He could not believe his eyes! The photo seemed to be renewing itself.

"It is time to give you a fresh start," declared the old woman.

As she said this, the photo became newer and newer until it looked like it had just been developed. That was not the only change that was happening. As the photo changed, Ruben became younger and younger until he looked like he did when the photo was first taken. The old woman looked at him and nodded with satisfaction.

"You do not want to repeat the same mistake you made last time," she explained. "So I will make a few changes to make sure that does not happen."

The boy in the photo changed into a girl the same age. Ruben also changed into a girl. She looked down at herself in disbelief.

"How do you feel, Ruth?" asked the old woman.

At first Ruth was at a loss for words. Then she managed to say, "I am not sure how I feel?"

"The mental changes usually take longer than the physical ones," responded the old woman. "Wearing clothing several decades out of date may cause some problems. I will take care of that."

The clothing on the girl in the photo changed into a more modern style. Ruth's clothing also changed to match those shown in the photo. She pulled at her clothing to make sure it was real. Once Ruth was sure the changes had indeed happened, the picture began to disappear. Ruth began to disappear as well.

"I'm fading!" she cried.

"Nothing to worry about," the old woman insisted. "You are being transported to your new home. You may or may not remember your old life. This is not an exact magic spell."

Ruth started to protest but before she could she faded away to her new location. All the photos she brought with her disappeared as well. The old woman simply cleaned off the table and waited for the next person to enter the store.