Lost in Time

by A.G. Riddle

Charlie walked up, carrying her wrapped present. Within the hour, she would discover that it was a small speaker and microphone that could be tuned to different voice effects. Shortly after unwrapping it, she would overhear her father in the kitchen, opening a beer and handing it to Elliott as he said, “Seriously, dude, what did I ever do to you?” Adeline had loved that little singing machine. Her parents had likely popped champagne the night it broke (as she cried in her room).

But there was to be no crying at the party—or on the way home from school after that—because the teasing about her “homemade hobo clothes” came to an end when Charlie handed her the gift and looked her up and down. “Adeline, love the dress. Where’d you get it?” Young Adeline had turned her head to the mean girls as she proudly said, “My mom made it.” The memory made Adeline laugh, how large that event had seemed back then. Charlie was a football star, a high school heartthrob, and about the hottest thing on the block at the time. They hadn’t been as close as siblings, more like cousins, and Adeline had never been more thankful than that moment.

At a lunch with him the week before Nora’s death, Adeline said, “You should start working out again.” Sam glanced down at his shirt, feigning insult. “Is the dad bod really that bad?” “It’s not that—it’s for your health. You never know.” “What I do know is that at my age, I seem to be almost supernaturally cursed to wear these love handles and flab. I’ve tried dieting. And exercise. The curse of the dad bod resists all earthly countermeasures.” “Have you tried cutting out alcohol?” Sam snorted. “I’m a widower with a teen and a pre-teen at home. By the known laws of physics and human biology, I cannot survive without alcohol.”

“I need to arrive in the early afternoon,” Adeline said. “In the toilet compartment of the master bathroom. And by the way, your targeting is still off by a few feet—vertically. I almost broke my ankle when I arrived at Nora’s.” “My parents always told me to aim high.” “Hiro, was that an Absolom dad joke?” He shrugged. “I’m at that age.” Adeline laughed and stepped into the machine.