by: Gene Lewis Perry.

It is Thursday, February 22nd, 2035, the last remaining pristine temporal preserve.

For today only, time still goes like it used to, second by millisecond, with no chance to retrace our steps or skip ahead.

Travelers crowd the first tick of the clock, in lines long as Disney World, waiting to live it again. With all the rest of time and space as our plaything, we ache to remember anticipation. We long for nostalgia.

The weather is middling. Every halfway livable place is desperately crowded. No matter. All is worth another chance to experience cause and effect, in that order.

© 2024. Gene Lewis Perry

Gene Lewis Perry lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He has worked in journalism, public policy, and tribal government. He is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation.

Posted July 31, 2024.