Bradbury Collection

Plastering Pro (Bradbury Week 5)

474 Words

A Mexican man who illegally immigrated to California from Mexico offered to do a stucco job for half the price a Mexican-American man was offering to do it for. The home owner selected the illegal immigrant to do the job. Steven Sanchez, the Mexican-American, was outraged. He got in his work truck and peeled out.

He drove twenty minutes to the coast, and got out of his truck and sat on a bench in a park overlooking a cliff. Seagulls flew above him as he fumed over that day’s events.

“I’ve been losing two out of every three plastering jobs to illegals! This is the fifth time this month that this has happened! Life would be so much better if all those Mexicans got deported!”

A man in a white suit approached Steven.

“Are you Steven Sanchez, the plastering pro?”

“Yes, why do you want to know?”

“I can make your wishes come true. I’m Lance Trentner, a time traveler from another timeline. There are an incalculable number of timelines where history played out differently. I can find a reality of your choosing, and if I can get your counterpart in that reality to take your place here in your timeline, then you can switch places!”

“You’ve got a deal!” Steven said, almost shouting with glee as he shook the man’s hand. “I want the most stringent reality possible, I want all those Mexicans deported permanently!”

“Once the switch is made, you can never return here. Do you agree to these terms?”

“Definitely!” Steven shouted.

About twenty minutes later, the man returned with Steven’s counterpart. After exchanging pleasantries, Lance Trentner activated a device that opened a dimensional portal. Steven stepped through, and suddenly, both Lance Trentner and Steve’s counterpart were gone.

His pickup truck was still there, with dents in places where his had none, and in spots where his truck originally had dents, it was smooth, as if it had never been damaged. He got in and drove home. ICE agents came to his door and apprehended him. They told him he was getting deported.

“I’m a third generation Mexican-American! You can’t do this to me!”

“Your great grandfather emigrated here illegally, and with the minor changes made to the U.S. Constitution recently, we can send you back to Mexico!”

All of this was captured in a video device in the future of the timeline of the scientist who brought Steve to that parallel reality. He was on stage at an event at a university.

“And so you see, Steven Sanchez was a victim of his own intolerance. His hatred for immigrants became his own undoing!”

The panel reviewing the different cases awarded the scientist first place. No other participants in the contest could find someone ignorant enough to take the risks Steven took. Applause filled the chamber as Lance took his award.

The End