Somewhere recently, with someone, the conversation of time travel came up. They spoke about how travel into the future might technically be possible, given the speed of light and various other parameters. But travel to the past? That’s a no-no.
Their argument: Let’s say I travelled back to 1983. And I was shot. Who would have shot me?
I’m not a massive fan of SciFi. I’m as gullible as the next when it comes to many fictional premises, but I can’t seem to get my head around SciFi. I’ve no problem believing talking mice or tweetie birds, but I have a hard time with back-to-the-future scenarios.
Enter Japanese playwright and author, Toshikazu Kawaguchi.
His award-winning play, Before the Coffee Gets Cold, is now a bestselling book with three more coming in quick succession.
The premise?
The idea behind the story is a beautifully simple premise; a gateway to time travel in an unassuming cafe. But there are as many curious and magical details to the time travel itself as there are characters to meet. The customers of cafe Funiculi Funicula may travel back in time, to any time they like, for any reason they may have. However, they must return before their cup of coffee is cold. And there are a few more caveats to keep in mind too; you can only time travel when sitting in a particular seat within the cafe, and you must not move from that seat when you do travel to the past. Oh, and whatever is said and done when you do go back, will never change the future.
I’ve sat in particular seats before. In Edinburgh, in what was once Nicolson’s Café, owned by JK Rowling’s brother-in-law. In Nashville, in the honky-tonk, Tootsies, where Johnny Cash once sang. And sat. The Eagle and Child in Oxford, where Oscar Wilde would sit for hours.
Café Funiculi Funicula though, that’s a different beanery or bar entirely.
I’ve not yet read the book. I did, however, take note of the passage from the play that prompted me to buy it.
It struck a chord.
Don’t leave anything for later.Later, the coffee gets cold.Later, you lose interest.Later, the day turns into night.Later, people grow up.Later, people grow old.Later, life goes by.Later, you regret not doing something…When you had the chance.
Life is a fleeting dance, a delicate balance of moments that unfold before us, never to return in quite the same way again.Regret is a bitter pill to swallow, a weight that bears down upon the soul with the burden of missed chances and unspoken words.So, let us not leave anything for later. Let us seize the moments as they come, with hearts open and arms outstretched to embrace the possibilities that lie before us. For in the end, it is not the things we did that we regret, but the things we left undone, the words left unspoken, the dreams left unfulfilled.
— Before the Coffee Gets Cold is a 2015 novel by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
And while the coffee grows cold and I lose interest and day turns to night and people grow up and grow old, later becomes more and more ephemeral.
I was home in April and went to two funerals. I was home again in June and went to two more. Later as a concept is beginning to pale.
Grateful for the reminder.
4 responses
This blog is becoming Rose’s first reading material❤️ I must give that book a read! I am a big sci-fi fan!
Love this. Ye made one gorgeous baby. If you do get to it before I do, let me know what you think.
This part is so true and a great favourite when deciding whether to do something – “For in the end, it is not the things we did that we regret, but the things we left undone, the words left unspoken, the dreams left unfulfilled.”
Thanks Mary
Brought to mind a quoation from Sydney J Harris: Regret for the things we did can be tempered by time; it is regret for the things we did not do that is inconsolable.