Redo

The rain poured down hard on the tombstones. The only one there to watch was a man. His hair was white, his skin was wrinkly, and he stood with a hunch will holding his cane. This was Todd Williams, the last of his family.

Todd was a scientist with big dreams, except he forgot to appreciate what he had. He was rarely home with his wife and son. He didn't even know the name of his grandson name. All he seemed to care about was discovering new things at work.

That all changed when his work phone rang. That day he found out that his wife, Sarah, had passed away from being hit by a car. For she was coming to his work to tell him the news. What that news was he had no clue it was a secret she took to the grave.

Todd fell into depression, blaming himself for his wife's death. So he poured himself into what he knew best; work. After a while, a thought came to him. If he could go back to that day, he could save his wife. So with that in mind he researched how to build a time machine.

Weeks went by, then months, then years. Finally, he created it. He was so excited that he decided to visit his son and tell him what he made. When he got to the house he noticed it looked unlived in. Going inside he was shocked at what he saw.

On the walls were pictures of his son's wedding, photos of his wife holding their grandson, and very few pictures of himself. He was very rarely there so, his son grew up without him knowing. He went looking for his wife's address book and found it covered in dust.

Looking up his son's address he set out to find him only to find out that his son died at work saving a coworker's life. His wife also died from an illness not long after. His grandson was put in a foster home for a time but ended up chasing a ball in a busy street. His whole family is gone.

So he walked to the cemetery and stood at his wife's grave for the first time. After thinking about it he decided to go through with his plan and return to his work. When he got to the time machine he put the date and time of the day his wife had died. Taking a deep breath he stepped inside and hit the button.

Lights lit up the room and a low hum was heard. After it stopped, he looked to see if it worked. It had, he rushed to the streets keeping an eye out for his wife and when he saw her he rushed to her side. Sarah was startled by how old he looked but remembered she hadn't seen him in years.

Taking a deep breath she said, "I want a divorce." Todd stood there in shock "this was the news, she had for me that took her life" he thought. After a lengthy explanation, Todd realized he didn't mess up that day but messed up a long time ago and Sarah had found someone else to love. Someone who watched his son grow and stood by her in the good and bad times. Someone that wasn't him.

Defeated Todd returned to the time machine and sat down. He let his life go all for discovering new things, not the things he would have seen at home. He still lost everything and knew it was his fault. He stared at the machine for a long time, when an idea came into his head.

Getting up fast he went to the dial and typed in a different date. The day he said yes to this job, for he remembered it well. Stepping inside he pushed to button again.

In the waiting room, a young man kept pacing. He couldn't sit down waiting to hear if the baby was here yet. Suddenly his phone rang. He got his dream job and was quickly heading to the exit to get the items he needed to start in the morning. It was the happiest day of his life when an old man suddenly stopped and asked to speak with him.

A couple of hours later the young man stared at the wall with tears in his eyes, when the doctor came in and told him, he had a son. Smiling he rushed to his wife's side. Staring at the baby he turned to his wife and said "I love you."

An old man walked down the steps with tears in his eyes. He turned back with a sad smile and said "Good luck Todd."