"Come on, admit it. This little vacation was just what you needed."
Chronos narrowed his eyes in a mock scowl at his friend, but he had to admit that Death was right. Lately he'd had too much time on his hands and had begun to question his role in the universe…apart from regulating time, of course.
"You're right. I'd forgotten about this place. It's relaxing." He sat back in his chair and looked around the open-air bar while Death balanced peanuts on the little umbrella that came with his drink.
Joe's Bar sat on a small island in the south Pacific, its décor limited to palm fronds and pictures of Elvis. The warm breeze carried the sound of waves crashing onshore. Quite mesmerizing, actually. Chronos thought that he should spend more time here, maybe try dipping his toes in the water.
Their server was a young woman with a flower in her hair who seemed in awe of them. As she set their second round of drinks down she tipped the frothy concoction, spilling it into Chronos' lap.
"I'm so sorry, sir." She started dabbing at his robe, jostling the hourglass in the process.
Chronos blinked out of sight, leaving Death to stare at the empty chair. Sighing, he picked up the check.
"He stiffed me for the tab again."
***
Chronos popped back into Joe's, feeling somewhat disoriented. The place looked the same; he sat at the same table, but Death had disappeared. As he scanned the bar, he realized what was wrong.
The clientele were all androids.
"Hey, old friend."
The voice behind Chronos made him jump. It was Death, his lower jawbone dropped in a smile.
"I know, you're confused. When the server hit your hourglass she threw you two hundred years into the future."
"How did you know I'd be here?" Chronos shook his head, trying to make some sense of all this.
"Because you told me." Death straddled a chair and pulled the bowl of peanuts closer to him. "You asked me to meet you here."
"Oh. What did I tell you?"
"When you got back you said something about a time flux and that the second time you reversed the flow it worked."
"The second time?" Chronos thought that over for a moment. "Where did I – or will I rather – go the first time?"
"I don't know," Death said. "You wouldn't ever talk about it."
Death smiled as he walked away. Chronos had told him what happened but he didn't want to ruin the surprise. The old timepiece was in for the adventure of his life.
©2010 Laura Eno
