For a Limited Time Only (The Time Traveler's Passport)

by Peng Shepherd

‘Time isn’t something you lose, it’s something you make.’”

“It was inevitable, Russ,” Vik says again. There is a certainty in his voice that hurts. “Love. Death. It doesn’t matter.” He turns back to the bar. “We can’t change it. All we have is the time.”

“This is it?” I wail, unable to bear it. “This is what’s left?” 36 “Everything is left,” he insists. “You’ll see.” “How can you say that?” I ask. “When we know how it’s going to end?” My older self reaches to steady me, and I look at him at last.

“That’s what I’m trying to tell you,” he says. “For you, it doesn’t have to.”