(flash story)

In the heart of Lviv, inside an antique shop, 17-year-old Marta was leafing through old photo albums, searching for ideas for an art project. Everything seemed accidental — or so she thought. One tattered book caught her eye, and between its pages lay an old postcard. On the back, it read:

“See you in 2025. Don’t be late. — You”

The oddity wasn’t just in the cryptic message — the postcard was addressed to her. With her name. And — more eerily — written in her own handwriting.

At first, Marta assumed it was someone’s clever prank — perhaps an art installation or an elaborate hoax. But the coincidences only multiplied. The next morning, she found an old receipt from the same antique shop in her coat pocket — even though she was certain she had been there for the first time only the day before.

Then — a childhood photo. In the corner, among other details, the same postcard could be clearly seen. It couldn’t have been there. And yet, it was.

Marta began to suspect it wasn’t a coincidence at all. She examined the postcard again — this time more carefully. Besides the strange message, at the bottom there was a faint sketch — a familiar place: the park by the lake, where she often drew as a child. And a date: May 14, 2025.

She decided to go.

May 14. The park. Marta sat on a bench, the postcard in her pocket. An hour passed. Then another half.

Suddenly, a woman approached her. She looked… very similar. Too similar. The same posture, the same gaze, even the mole under her eye.

The woman handed her a diary:

“You need to read this. I’m you. From the future. And you still have a chance to change one decision. Before it’s too late.”

Marta took the diary. On the cover it read: “Marta. 2025. Version 1.”

It all felt too real to be fantasy. The diary described events that hadn’t happened yet: difficult decisions, missteps, losses. Among them — the main one: her upcoming study abroad, which, according to “Future Marta,” would become the beginning of estrangement from loved ones, a creative crisis, and several years of struggling to find herself again.

Everything was still ahead. And right now, she had the chance to choose a different path.

Marta hesitated. But in the end, she changed her decision. She stayed. Enrolled in an art institution in Ukraine. A year later, she opened her own art studio.

One morning, while sifting through old sketches, she found a new postcard:

“Nice work. — You”

She smiled. Intuition and attentiveness — that’s what helped her catch the future by the hand. And gently reshape it.