I learned that time travel is real the day a young man of about twenty walked up to me in the park and said, “Hello, can you please tell me how to get to Sylvan Woods?”

I was old enough to go to the park alone by this time, so there wasn’t anybody with me. I knew I had to be the one to give him directions. Still, he seemed nice enough.

“It’s this way,” I said, pointing. “Keep going that way until you get to the lake, then head left from there. The woods are less than a mile after that.”

“Ah, so that’s where it is,” said the young man. “Thanks for the help, Bianca. She did say you were willing to help people who seemed nice enough.”

I blinked at him in shock. “How do you know my name?”

“Because I’m one of your best friends,” he said. “Except you haven’t heard of me yet. You meet me at a party in your first year of college.”

That, of course, just shocked me even more. “What?!” I gasped. “Are you from the future of something?”

“Yeah,” he said matter-of-factly. “Time-travel talent runs in my family. And my little sister lost her cat seven years ago, and somebody found it safe and sound in Sylvan Woods a few weeks later. I’ve traveled back to just after it got lost, so she can get it back sooner. Then thirteen-year-old me doesn’t have to endure three weeks of her clinging to his jacket and saying ‘What if nobody finds her?’ five times a day.”

I kept staring at him. It’s hard to believe time-travel is real, you know!

“Thanks again, Bianca,” he said. “I owe you! See you later.”

“Hey, wait!” I said. “Who are you? When do I meet you?”

“I said, in your first year of college,” he said. “Your roommate throws a party and invites you, and I’m there, too. And then we become great friends. My name’s Claude, by the way. See you in five years!”

I grinned and waved to him as he headed off.