One or The Other

         “So Mrs. Benson, what'll it be?” asked the crazed scientist. “If you could go back in time and change one event in your life?”
         “Well it'll have to be the time a homeless man came into my office building. He held hostages and killed a few of them... including my husband.” Mrs. Benson looked away.
         “Okay, what do you suppose triggered that emotion the homeless man must of felt?”
         “Well I've always thought it was my fault... I walked past the man everyday and i never contributed to his collections. I think if i give him a generous donation, the incident wouldn't of occurred and i would still have my co-workers and my-my husband.” Mrs. Benson gave a little sniffle.
         “Alright let's make it happen! Just step over here. Now put this contraption on your head and hold onto these grips.” Mrs. Benson slowly assumed the position. “Now clearly state the date and time you would like to reiterate.”
         “8:35 AM, May 23rd 2002.” A loud whooshing sound followed, lights began flashing consistently. Mrs. Benson blacked out. She awoke and found herself walking towards her office building. She came to an instant halt and began observing her hands. Wow, it actually worked, she thought.  She spotted the homeless man standing in the square in his usual spot. She confidently walked up to him. She took out her purse and handed the man a fifty dollar bill. The man held the bill out in front of him. He could not believe what he was seeing. He looked at Mrs. Benson and smiled a smile on his face from ear to ear. Mrs. Benson gave him a courteous nod and continued towards her building. The morning passed without a crazed man attacking her building.

At lunchtime, Mrs. Benson was feeling overjoyed at what she had prevented. She decided to treat herself and her husband at a nice restaurant. She couldn't stop staring at him. She was unbelievably happy that he was still alive and to be in his presence again. She decided it would be best not to tell him what happened that morning and about the crazy scientist who made this all possible. He would not of understood and it would just ruin this wonderful moment. They finished lunch and made their way back to the office. As they were approaching their office building, Mrs. Benson looked around the square for the homeless man but he was nowhere to be seen. She smiled as she stepped out into the road. Mrs. Benson was struck and killed by a bus.

The homeless man felt ecstatic because he had received such a generous gift that morning. He was planning on causing chaos in an office building later that day but he thought that maybe life was looking better for him and it would be worth living. He left the square to return the guns he had borrowed from his brother.
         
If Mrs. Benson had not have given the homeless man the fifty dollars that morning. He would not have gone back to his brothers house and returned the gun he had borrowed from him. His brother would not have been chased by the police after they broke into his house for illegal arms possession. He would not of killed an innocent bystander for standing in his way, causing traffic to be delayed. Which in turn would not have caused the 401 bus to be late. The bus would not have had to speed in order to get to the next bus stop in time. Thus, the bus would not have struck Mrs. Benson  who was crossing the street looking for the homeless man. But, she had given the man the money, setting off this order of events and ultimately killing her.

         “So what can i do for you Mr. Benson?”
         “I would like to go back in time to the day my wife was killed. She was struck by a bus.”
         “Do you know what you have to do?” asked the crazy scientist.
         “Yes, I have to convince my wife to stay at home that day and not come into work.”
         “Alright, lets make it happen!”