text: The year was 2020, and the earth was ridden with war, famine, sickness and hate. Josh was 21, sitting in his apartment thinking about what his life had become. He grew up in the north of england, but had moved a lot, never settling down in one place. His mother, the last - and the only person he held dear to him, was gone. He reminisced sorrowfully about the trips he'd take on his walk with his mother on his way to school. Josh found it hard to make friends, most likely at this time due to his ineptitude to socialise properly. Everyone thought he was strange and queer, but his mum thought he was perfect. At the age of 15 his mother passed away in a car accident whilst her and Josh were having an argument. Six weeks later at her funeral Josh stood wistfully afore her tombstone. Written on her tombstone was: "RIP Nicola, loving mother and respected artist" right above "greed is the quickest road to perdition". Josh didn't quite know how to feel in the years to come, but at 18 a gentleman in a bar made an offhanded comment on his mother, causing Josh to lash out and break the guy's nose. Josh lost 2 years of his life for this, paired with dropping out of school without any grades after his mother's funeral, he had robbed himself of his own life by 20 years of age. As Josh sat in his room, an epiphany came into his head. He would go back in time and save his mother! Josh had a small obsession with demons, and supposed dark practices, as he spent much time alone trying to distract himself with something interesting to draw attention away from his pain. He drew out an empty book, snagged out a couple of sheets of blank, he then proceeded to aquire a razor from an old disposable shaver. He hurried as he chanted the summoning rhyme he required and plunged the razor deep into his palm... nothing, silence, Josh was dissatisfied with what happened and ultimately felt stupid for even trying. Later that night, Josh went to bed. It was the middle of the night, just passed one in the morning as Josh woke up to a seeminhly almighty glow. Josh was starstruck with fear, having been in prison he thought he had seen it all, but this was something different entirely, otherworldly, even. "Josh, I have come to grant you any 7 wishes you desire!". Josh couldn't believe it! It actually worked! Josh scurried to the end of his bed in absolute awe of what was present. He knew exactly what he wanted. His first wish was to be the smartest person, ever, smart enough to build a time machine, so he could go back to his own mind as he was when he was 15, but with his own current cognitive abilities and thoughts. His second wish; to have his mother's art career really kick off, as good as she was, it's the least Josh thought could do for her. Third wish was to solve world hunger once he had arrived back in 2016 and subsequently the fourth wish was for world peace and the fifth and sixth, complete equality and eradication of sickness. Josh figured he'd get a kick from that, knowing he erased famine, war and hate. Before his seventh wish, Joshua asked the being a question, he asked for it's advice. The being only said that his wishes would change many things for not only the past timeline Josh wanted to enter, but also the present one he would leave behind. Josh took a moment to think upon this. He imagined for what his mother would want. He thought of how if famine, war and sickness wasn't pertinent then that would only create new problems, possibly with accommodation and the world's economy. He tried ever so hard, for once in his life to not think of what he wants, but what is needed for the greater good. He then made a decision... Joshua wished that his previous wishes become retrogressed, for the world to be reverted back to it's initial state. As the being dispersed in a puff of light, Joshua remained on his bed, with cold tea by his bedside, sitting with a strong sense of saudade whilst looking at the scar on his hand think about what could have been, Joshua knew that to rob fate of it's own destiny for the sake of his own would be to rob everyone on earth of theirs. He realised everything happens for a reason, be it good or evil, but ultimately those things need to happen, lest for the perversion of fate by one lead to evil's entry upon another's soul. Joshua knew, by pursuing his own greed he'd be leading others into further turmoil. And Joshua knew, after all - greed is the quickest road to perdition.