Rewind...

He watched her watching her flash. Trying to read in her eyes what she would say when it was over. He had gotten pretty good over the years at guessing, at weighing the responses, some people had surprised him, but normally he knew which way they were leaning just by watching their faces. He thought he had a good read on her. 

She took a deep breath. Then another one. 

"What did you think?"

"It went so fast."

"Well it is a flash."

"No, I mean, the whole thing. It didn't seem like it at the time, but it really did go so fast."

He nodded. This was a common response. No matter how long it had really been almost everyone thought it had gone very fast once it was over. 

"Anything else? Anything you would like to change if you had the chance?" And there is was. The question. 

"Well there was that one boy..."

He held his face still so he didn't show his disappointment. He had misjudged her. Missed the mark. Oh well, it's not like he was graded on guessing their responses to the flash and the question. He wasn't actually being graded at all. That wasn't his lot. That was theirs. But to have it boil down to a boy? So shallow and such a disappointment. 

"...and there was that old woman on the bus as well. And..."

He realized that she had kept talking and he hadn't been paying attention. He pressed paused then backed up the interview to the spot his mind had wandered off. She wouldn't notice the pause. They never did. 

"Well there was that one boy I just don't remember seeing him the first time. I am not sure how I could have missed him. How many were there? There was the young woman with the stroller and there was that old woman on the bus as well. And how could I have not seen them? Not at all. It's like they weren't there."

Ah. Well this was better. He might not have misjudged her after all.

"You can't be expected to see everything. There is an awful lot."

"But I should have seen them at least, shouldn't I? They all clearly needed help. That boy had the saddest eyes. And the woman with the stroller? She was clearly struggling and it would have taken almost nothing from me to help her. That old woman on the bus? She was so lost, she looked so helpless. I can see it now, but why didn't I see it then? How did I not see any of them the first time?"

He was already searching the records. "You were six."

"What?"

"The boy. You were six. You couldn't possibly be expected to be that other focused at six."

"I was six? It didn't feel like I was six."

"Because you aren't six now. Now let's see, the woman with the stroller, you were late for a meeting. You were juggling your work materials, a takeout tray of coffee cups, and your mind was on your sick daughter at home."

"But that doesn't mean I shouldn't have seen her."

"You can only see so much. It's in the design. If you took in everything all of the time while trying to manage your personal priorities then you would quickly be overwhelmed. The limiting feature is there by design. Now let's see, the old woman on the bus? Hmm, oh."

"Oh?"

"She was feeling lost. She was feeling helpless at that point in time. But there wasn't anything you could do to help her. Not then."

"Why not?"

"What do you remember after seeing the old woman?"

She cocked her head, "I, umm, I think that was the last part of the, what did you call it? The flash?"

"Yes, your flash. Your life passing before your eyes in a flash."

She thought for another moment. 

"Oh."

"She was lost and feeling helpless because she couldn't help you."

"Oh."

They sat in silence for a few moments more. 

"So that was it? That was the end?"

"Do you want it to be?"

"What do you mean? I have a choice?"

"You have an opportunity to voice your opinion."

She laughed, "That's not quite the same is it?"

He shrugged.

"I'd like to go back. I'd like to be able to help that boy, and the woman with the stroller, and all of the people I didn't help before. And maybe give a kind word to the woman on the bus before...so she could feel better about it all and not feel like she didn't help."

He nodded. He had been right about her. He liked to be right about the ones who were like her. The others? It was a bad feeling when he was right about them.

"Okay, well, that settles it then."

"So I can go back?"

"Oh no. You're moving on. There isn't anything else for you to learn from that phase."

"But I could help other people more..."

"And you will. In the next phase."

"But..."

He pressed pause again and then ejected the tape. He marked it Suzanna Cortez V. 4.2 then put it on her shelf picking up the next blank cassette. They really needed to upgrade the system. But for now this worked. He pushed in the blank cassette and pressed record. "Good luck, Suzanna."

She faded from the room and moved on to her next assignment. He was sure she would do well. He was pretty good at reading people by now.