n. a moment that seemed innocuous at the time but ended up marking a diversion into a strange new era of your life-set in motion not by a series of jolting epiphanies but by tiny imperceptible differences between one ordinary day and the next, until...
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"You seem to be the sensible one of the bunch." Reginald says, looking towards me.
"That's because I'm the oldest." I say quietly, looking to see that Marah has a drink in her hand already, though it seems to be her fourth. "You know, technically I'm older than you right now."
"Me too." Marah mutters.
"Cognac?" Reggie asks, showing me the bottle.
"Just a smidge." I say, taking the glass from his hand once he's done pouring the bottle.
"The other night you quoted Homer at me. Why?" Reginald asks, placing the bottle back behind the counter.
"You forced us all to learn it as kids." I answer.
"In the original Greek, no less." Marah adds on, reaching over the counter for another drink. I pull her to sit back down before she can, which earns me another glare.
"Mm. This world ends in five days if we don't get out of the timeline." I explain, taking a sip of the cognac. I place my hand on Rosie's thigh as it starts to shake.
"Worlds end." Reginald answers, not commenting on the gesture. "Paleozoic, Jurassic, and so on."
"We can do something about this one." I answer, already knowing his answer.
"Man's greatest flaw: the illusion of control." Reginald states.
"I need your help." I say, knowing I didn't want Marah to know about this. "All right? You're my last sane option. Otherwise, I gotta make a deal that I really don't want to make. What do you know about time travel?"
Marah leans her mouth close to my ear and whispers, I hide the shivers that ran through me at her actions. "What deal, Five?"
I don't say anything, just keep my focus on Reginald so I don't have to answer.
"In theory?" Reginald asks.
"In practice." I mutter.
"I know it's akin to descending blindly into the depths of freezing waters and reappearing..." Reginald explains, but Marah cuts him off this time.
"And reappearing as an acorn, yeah, we know." Marah interrupts.
"What transpired when you tried traveling before?" Reginald asks.
"I botched it." I mutter, not wanting to remember all my failed attempts at time travel.
"How?" Reginald questions.
"I jumped too far forward, got stuck in the future for 45 years in an apocalypse." I start. "Then I jumped too far backwards...except this time I brought my entire family with me."
"Maybe your appetite is disproportionate to the size of your abilities." Reginald states. "Start small. Seconds, not decades."
