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"Do you believe in reincarnation?"
"Nope."
"Yes you do. You're a Buddhist. Reformed from Christianity last year."
Strange look; "How do you know?"
Sigh; "I know too many things." Pause. "You are following a good path - you will lead a life of prosperity."
"Are you some sort of look-into-my-crystal-ball guy?"
"There is much you do not understand."
"Yeah, yeah. Can I go to my lesson now?"
"Come to my lesson. You will learn much, much more."
"Right. Love to, but I gotta go now, nice knowing you, bye!"
The teenage boy scurried worriedly towards a group of friends, looking at the middle-aged 'clairvoyant' over his shoulder with suspicion. The subject of his stare stood stock still with a slightly concerned look on his face, until he was out of sight behind the building.
The incident was forgotten for a few days afterwards, but it wasn't long before the schoolboy bumped into the odd man again. On the way back from school this time, alone...
"Hello again," said the boy.
"Good evening. Now is your chance, your mother does not expect you home. You-"
"How do you know? You've been spying on me!"
"I know more than you can imagine. I know more than I can imagine."
The boy knew he should be disturbed, but the calm in the air stopped him from trying to quicken his pace. He slowed down, and started to talk.
The man spoke; "You will become an important figure on this Earth. You are destined for fame, but not in your lifetime. You will be successful, people will look up to you, but your amazing achievements will not be realised until it's too late to thank you. Let's sit."
They sat together on a park bench. The boy was curiously interested:
"So what makes you think you know? And why should you be telling me this?"
"I do not know why I must tell you what I am telling you, I only know that it must be said."
"Uh-huh. And how do you know?"
"I am the Last Incarnation."
Bewilderment; "Yes? go on..."
"When any human dies, or any animal or plant; anything with a soul - they will be resurrected. In a different mind with a different body. There is only one soul, touring every body."
This created a library of questions the boy wanted to ask. He didn't know where to start; "S-so, but the... and - well, assuming this is true, and why not, can I be - I mean can I come back as... no, hold on. You are the last incarnation? I mean when you die, that's it? Armageddon? I don't think so."
"No. I am not the last human to live, I am merely the Last Incarnation. Time does not affect me in the same way. Your next incarnation could be a plant that was alive millions of years ago. I will not have another incarnation."
"Wow. What's it like being a tree?"
"You will know, for I have been you and so you will be me. I have been blessed with the knowledge of every incarnation, just as the First Incarnation was blessed with the ability to create order out of chaos."
"You know everything?"
"I know pi to a million digits, I understand quantum physics perfectly, I have stood on the surface of the moon, I have died infinite times. Can you imagine a place without time? All events happening at once, all the time? Seems a contradiction, doesn't it? The First Incarnation had the ability to create Time. To give a logical order to events."
Suddenly, the boy's expression changed. He shot up, so he was standing about a metre away from the 'Last Incarnation'. The boy slowly edged away:
"Wait a minute here," he couldn't believe he'd allowed himself to be so gullible - but the air of calm - then again, this guy could be a criminal after all. "Prove it."
"Get a coin out of your pocket."
"O.K."
"No, they're in the top one... alright, flip it."
The boy did so. The man called out heads, and urged him to flip it again. After almost twenty flips of which the man got every single one right, even when the boy was facing away or used a different coin, the boy stopped.
"I have lived your life, so I know what you saw."
The boy was still sceptical, but sat next to the man again anyway.
"I have nothing more to say," said the old man, but didn't move, as if he expected the boy to stop him.
The boy put a hand on his shoulder to stop him from getting up:
"Why are you telling me this?"
"When I was you I was told this by who I am now, so I must."
"But if..."
"I know - it's a paradox. You will understand when you are me."
"Hold on... one more thing..."
"Yes, you should. And enjoy yourself," the man responded to the unasked question. The boy smiled and nodded a final approval and watched the man walk off into the distance, never to be seen again.
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