NYAC | 3min Read
Published on May 14, 2026
Tomorrow’s Headlines
Tomorrow’s Headlines
“Ethan, it’s time for school, wake up!” my dad called out.
Still groggy, I yawned, rubbed my eyes and went back to sleep. My dad then came into the room, exasperated that I had not gotten up, so he pulled open the curtains and let the morning light spill into the room.
“Fine!” I exclaimed, getting up.
After making sure I stayed awake, my dad went back to drinking his tea. After getting ready, I headed out. Outside, right under the doormat, was the daily newspaper. Thinking nothing about it, I scooped it up and put it in my bag.
The school day was a breeze and by three o’clock, I was back at my house and was about to start my homework. As I was taking my books out of my bag, I thought I noticed something odd about the newspaper, so I scanned the cover page but saw nothing unusual until I saw the date. Instead of being the current date, it was for the next day.
Thinking it was a mistake, I ignored it and began to read the paper. While reading, something felt off, so I opened my laptop and searched the headlines. According to
Google, all of the accidents happened this afternoon.
Confused, I decided to ask my dad as he had been working at the chronicle for over twenty years and was one of the senior-most staff there.
I glanced at the clock and realized it would be two hours before my dad came. Not in the mood to do any work, I started scrolling through YouTube. My friend Bob called and after a long chat, we ended up blaming the newspaper predicting the future on an AI program.
Later that night, my dad came home. As we were both eating together, I asked, “Dad, today morning I received a newspaper with tomorrow’s date on it and all the headlines occurred this afternoon. How is this possible?”
My dad paused, then sighed and said, ” Son, do you remember when your mom nearly died a few years back, but miraculously survived? That was my doing. The Chronicle has always had a secret that has made us far more successful than our competitors. What I will tell you stays here, understood?”
I promised him that I would not tell anybody.
Hearing this, my father continued, “Fifteen years ago, a man named Marcelo Fabian worked at the Chronicle. He believed humans write their own destinies. He discovered that by predicting the immediate future, and writing it down, it would come true. Through him,we discovered that human belief is a powerful tool, and if people truly believe in something, it will manifest sooner or later.”
“This cannot be true,” I interrupted rudely.
“Then how is the newspaper there?” my father replied.
I remained silent and my dad continued, “Using his teachings, we now predict what will happen the next day and keep the paper printed one day in advance. You somehow got one of these copies. Anything written in them will happen. You might have heard the saying ‘the pen is mightier than the sword’; nothing is truer. Mankind can write its destiny but cannot fight it, just as Wolverine cannot fight his fate, written by Stan Lee.”
Saying this, he got up and left me to ponder the implications of what I had just learned.
The next day, as I entered the classroom, Bobby yelled, “Ethan, I have proof that the sword is mightier than the pen. The pen writes on paper, and paper gets ripped by the sword. Hence, the sword is mightier than the pen.”
I laughed and took my seat next to him.
If I would have my own destiny, I would keep it as it has been as despite all the lows, some of the highs only come in the form of surprises.
