It had rained in a torrential downpour yesterday. It had also rained the day before with just as much ferocity. Today however was bright and sunny, and I’d taken the opportunity to go outside as had many others. In my case, I’d driven to Vilas Park in my old Camry.

I’d considered going to the zoo, but the fact was that between college and everything else I’d rather spend the money on something a bit more lasting. So, I parked at the lot near the tennis courts and got out to stretch my legs.

I walked along the edge of the pond intent on reaching the small island in the middle of the park, passing by people playing tennis, a couple walking their dog, and a grey-haired woman flying a kite. I didn’t think about any of them very much, continuing on my way. However, as I passed by a short, wrinkled old man shuffling cards at a small folding table near the playground, he called out to me “It’s a nice day, isn’t it?”

I answered with a non-committal “Yeah, I guess it is.” fully intending to carry on with my present course of movement.

That plan was derailed the instant the man asked “Would you please join me for a game of cards? The person who would have played with me today hasn’t quite arrived yet, and I’m awfully lonely.”

I looked back at the man, seeing his wrinkled olive-tan skin and grey hair that shone like silver, before I replied “Well… I’d been planning on heading out to the island in the middle of the park and…”

It was the man’s next comment of “Ah, I should have figured, you’ve got things to do and places to be, even though you’ve got all the time in the world. So, you’re not even going to humor a dying old man who’s only asking for maybe half an hour of your time at most?” that finally got me to cave.

Slumping slightly, I replied “Yeah, I really don’t have anything planned for right now. I guess I’ve got time for a game.”

The old man gestured to the chair across from him, saying “Well, if you’re going to play, you may as well sit down.”

I obligingly sat down in the wicker folding chair, which turned out to be surprisingly comfortable all things considered. As I sat, the man continued in a cheerful tone, saying “Oh, my name’s Marco by the way. Come to think of it, I don’t think I ever heard you introduce yourself either.” as if everything was right with the world. As he finished speaking, Marco smiled, as if he knew something I didn’t.

As Marco finished dealing a hand of five cards for each of us, I answered “I’m Claire. So, care to tell me what game we’re playing?”

Marco chuckled, saying “To be completely honest I didn’t have any specific game in mind, all I knew was that I had a deck of cards and the person I needed to meet wasn’t here yet. Why don’t we just make up the rules as we go? I always found that more fun than sticking to what someone else came up with ages ago.”

I grinned, before replying “Sure sounds like fun to me, mind if I go first?”

Marco nodded, saying “Well, I suppose someone has to, so it may as well be you. ” I looked at my hand; the two of hearts, queen of clubs, four of clubs, six of diamonds, and two of spades. Wordlessly, I drew, adding the ten of clubs to my hand.

I considered my options, at this point, there were almost no rules. After a brief bit of brainstorming, I placed the two of hearts on the table in front of me and declared “My space program makes a great leap forwards with the construction of the first manned station orbiting the moon!”

Marco drew, and played the ten of Diamonds, countering my move as he declared “Even though you built the first space station, I quickly close the gap by being the first to establish a self-sufficient colony on the moon itself, founding the city of Tranquility!”

I responded with the six of diamonds, one-upping Marco as I declared “Thankfully, Tranquility exclusively relies on helium 3 mined by Lunacorp for its energy, and I have controlling interest in Lunacorp.”

Marco’s turn saw him play the two of diamonds and counter with “Fortunately, an alternative helium 3 company has recently opened its doors, providing an alternative to Lunacorp’s overpriced product!”

I felt myself getting sucked deeper into the game, time seeming to stop as we played. On my third turn I drew and played the king of Diamonds, declaring “However, Lunacorp manages to rig Tranquility’s next election, installing a mayor who is sure to support their interests.”

Marco grinned evilly as he played the seven of spades, saying “Sadly, before he was even three months into his term, the new mayor was assassinated by persons unknown.” discarding both the king of Diamonds and the card he just played.

I drew and played, and the game continued from there. Together, the two of us wove a tale of spacefaring corporate espionage and corruption, neither of us managing to keep an edge for long. Far too quickly the deck ran dry, and I asked Marco “So, the deck’s run out. Should we keep playing, or should we end things here?”

Marco answered “Ending things now sounds alright, I’ve got some other things I need to do today. That said, good game.” as we shook hands, Marco continued “I’ll take care of clean up, but if you’d please stick around a little longer the company would be much appreciated.”

As Marco neatly stacked the deck and slid it back into its box, I looked around only to realize that time didn’t merely seem to have stopped. It had actually stopped. The tennis ball hung suspended in midair an inch ahead of a player’s racquet. The kite’s terminal descent to the ground had been temporarily put off, as had the couple’s golden retriever leaping up to snatch it out of the air.

As this realization hit home, I panicked, telling the only other person who wasn’t affected by the time stop “Marco, you’ve got to take a look at this, something really weird’s going on!”

Marco barely glanced up, before remarking “Oh, the time stop. Don’t worry, I’m the one doing that.”

My train of thought immediately derailed, the fact that the old man I’d just played a game of cards with could bring time to a halt smashing my worldview like a brick through a window. A muttered “Uhh.” escaped my lips as I tried to process the revelation that just hit me.

Marco seemed to take that as an indication to continue, saying “Anyway, that’s a technique I’ve known for about eighty years, nothing too exotic. You can even get up and walk away if you want and time’ll snap right back to normal once I release my hold on it. That said, I’d appreciate it if you stuck around for a little bit longer.”

I was speechless, I mentally shuffled through a variety of possible responses, but every time I was about to say something it suddenly sounded stupid and hollow to me and I aborted the attempt at communication. With nothing else coming to mind, I eventually managed to force out “So, who was supposed to play with you before I showed up?”

Marco answered “Well, this might sound a bit bizarre, but you were the one I was waiting for. ”

This revelation stalled my thought processes completely. As I sat there trying to think of what to say, Marco seemed to take my silence as a hint to continue. The old man said “You see, these powers don’t just disappear when the current user dies. No, they go where they’re needed and they find themselves a user. I suppose that you could be considered my successor.”

I couldn’t help but shout “What!?”

Marco made to reply, but then his face scrunched up in pain and he let out a short gasp, as if something important had just broken inside of him. He quickly began digging around in his coat, presumably for some sort of medical device. As he did so, Marco spoke in a distinctly unhealthy, rasping tone “You’d have gotten powers today whether you’d met me or not, but at least this way you’ve got some idea of what you’re getting into.” there was steel in the old man’s voice as he spoke, even as his face rapidly became pale.

Marco finally grabbed what he was reaching for, and held it out towards me, rasping out “Take... This…” Far from being some kind of medication or life-saving device, what Marco had pulled out of his coat was a thin leather-bound journal titled ‘The Concept of Time: A user’s manual’. The old man barely managed to shove the book into my hands before his eyes rolled back in their sockets and he began to fall sideways out of his chair.

I jumped up out of my seat and rushed over to Marco’s unconscious form. As I leaned down over him I fought to keep my long red hair out of my line of sight. I checked Marco’s pulse, pressing my fingers against his wrist. There wasn’t any pulse I could detect, and as I looked, I quickly realized that he wasn’t breathing either. I immediately whipped out my cell phone to call 911, dialing the number and waiting for someone to pick up. The ringer rang once, twice, and eventually four times before an automated message sounded out saying “Your call cannot be completed at this time. Please try again.”

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

I looked at my phone, seeing that the indicator for reception in the corner of the display was showing a grand total of zero bars. Looking around forlornly, I came to the realization that time was still stopped. The tennis ball was still hanging in the air, the kite was still frozen in the middle of its descent towards the ground, and there was still no chance of anyone realizing what was going on in time to help Marco.

I’m not sure precisely how long I was sitting there, but it couldn’t have been much more than a few minutes before I felt a strange warmth suddenly shooting throughout my entire body. I was faintly aware that time had resumed its normal flow, but I couldn’t bring myself to do much of anything as tears streaked down my face.

In the distance, I was faintly aware of the woman with the kite calling 911.

After an ambulance picked Marco up, I eventually managed to regain enough composure to drive to see him in the hospital. About twenty minutes after Marco collapsed, I was waiting at Saint Mary’s hospital in southern Madison for any news on Marco’s condition. Even though I had a nagging insistence at the back of my mind that the man was beyond saving, I still held out for even the slightest sliver of hope that he might have survived.

The beige waiting room I was in was empty save for myself and a stack of old magazines at the moment, which was both a blessing and a curse. It was a blessing, because no-one intruded on me while I tried to deal with my turbulent emotions. It was a curse for the same reason.

With nothing to do but anxiously wait for the news of what would come next, eventually my gaze drifted to the clock hanging on the waiting room’s wall.

The clock went tick, tick, tick.

As I watched the clock’s second hand slowly ticking away, I couldn’t help but feel annoyed that it was going so slow. I wanted it to go faster, so I could find out what happened to Marco.

The clock went tick, tick, tickticktictititi

Somewhere inside me, the sensation of warmth I’d first felt back at the park bubbled up again, and I just felt that I was slowing down. Looking at the clock again, I realized that it was now moving at ten times the normal rate, at least from my perspective.

It was only another minute and a half from my perspective before a nurse walked in, calling my name. Time snapped back to normal as I stood up and began to follow her. Once we were out of the waiting room, I asked “How’s Marco doing?” a gnawing dread at the back of my mind as I did so.

The nurse just shook her head, before saying “It’s sad to say, but he didn’t make it. If you like, you can go to see him.”

I sighed, answering “Yeah, I think that would maybe help me feel a bit better about this.”

As we walked down the hospital’s sterile white halls towards the bed Marco was in, the nurse asked me “So, did you know him well?”

I shook my head as I replied “No, I only met him an hour or so before he died.”

There was an awkward silence for several seconds, before the nurse said “We’re almost there.” and we made a right turn into the emergency wing.

Almost immediately I came face to face with Marco’s lifeless form resting in a simple hospital gurney. The color had drained from his face, and someone had closed his eyes, which were already beginning to sink into their sockets. Staring at him, I could see what almost looked like a contented smile on the old man’s face. As I stood and stared at him, I could feel time distorting and the world around me slowing down. Somehow I just knew that I was warping how fast time progressed, so that what I perceived as five minutes of sadness and frustration passed by in only forty three seconds from an outside perspective.

This came to an end when the nurse put her hand on my shoulder and gently asked me “Did he mention any relatives of his that we might contact?”

I sighed as a few rogue tears escaped “No, I was walking through the park, he called out to me as I passed him, we played a card game together, and then he died.”

The woman nodded solemnly, saying “Sad to hear it. Was there anything else at all that might help identify him?”

I racked my brain for anything else that Marco had said that could be relevant and would be believed, feeling my personal time accelerate again as I did so. After a few internal moments, I remembered the book Marco had given me, and I answered “Actually, there is one thing.” before pulling the small journal out of my pocket and saying “In his last moments, Marco gave me this.”

The nurse accepted the proffered journal and opened it, only to sigh in frustration when she read the introduction.

Confused about why she might have sighed, I asked “Is there a problem with the book?”

The woman answered “Just… Just read it.” and passed the book back to me.

I took a look at the first neatly handwritten paragraph, reading ‘Don’t bother trying to use this book to identify me; I made absolutely sure to not include any information that could indicate who I am. Knowledge of my identity would only make the situation even more complicated than it already is. This book is meant to be exclusively the property of Claire Stevens, who I have given it to in my last moments. Hopefully, it will aid her with the challenges she will soon be engaged in.’ I groaned in frustration, glaring at Marco as he lay there lifelessly. I could almost swear I heard him snickering, regardless of the fact that he was currently dead.

The nurse sighed, saying “Sadly, it looks like Marco here is pretty much a John Doe, aside from the fact that we know his name. He’s got no ID we can find, no tattoos, and as far as we can tell he pretty much appeared out of nowhere.”

I sighed, before saying “I think I should go. It’s late, and I want to be well-rested for tomorrow.”

The nurse nodded, replying “I’ll show you out.”

When I got back to my dormitory at Edgewood College, I could hear heavy metal blasting away in the room I shared with Charles. I groaned internally; while I could tolerate his music when I wasn’t doing anything important, right now I needed to be able to think clearly.

My roommate Charles was a tall and lanky fellow, so skinny that you could almost see his ribcage if you looked hard at him. He had dark brown hair that came down to his shoulders, and his eyes were a deep blue. He was also jumping up and down on an exercise trampoline and playing an air guitar, managing to look completely ridiculous.

As I shook my head in frustration and began walking across the room, I felt my personal time speeding up again. Charles’ bouncing slowed to the point where it looked like he was floating in midair. I swiftly reached the 80s vintage boom box in the corner and flipped the off switch, before allowing time to snap back to normal.

Charles suddenly shouted “Holy SHIT!” as he fell backwards off the trampoline. I felt my personal time speeding up by pure reflex as I darted across the room to catch him, gently setting him down on his bed, time once again resuming its normal flow once I let go.

Charles’ gaze immediately snapped to me, as he blurted out “Claire, what the hell!? How’d you move so fast?”

I shrugged, saying “I’m pretty sure I didn’t go any faster than normal, it’s just that I slowed down time so that it took less time for me to cross the room.”

Charles groaned, saying “What. That makes no sense whatsoever! Since when did you have superpowers?”

I thought about it for a bit, before answering “This afternoon, probably.”

As Charles sat up, he asked “So, what’s your superhero origin story? Did you drink some kind of super serum? Were you zapped with radiation? Or was it a mad scientist stuffing robot parts in you?” his left eyebrow steadily ascending as he asked.

I groaned internally, Charles’ coping mechanism of applying humor and pop culture references to tense situations once again rising to the surface. He had to know it grated on me after all the times I’d asked him to stop it, but he kept doing it anyway. With a small hint of frustration creeping into my voice, I replied “None of the above, I met the previous user who passed the powers to me when he died.”

Charles nodded solemnly, before asking “So, the powers were passed to you Green Lantern style then?”

I sped up my personal time again and darted behind him, hissing into my roommate’s ear “This isn’t something to joke about! Marco died right in front of me and I couldn’t even call an ambulance because my cell phone couldn’t connect while inside a time stop!”

Charles jumped as he turned to look at me, before his expression became serious and he answered “I know that this is serious, and that you’ve apparently got superpowers now. However, there are dozens of examples across several genres of people getting themselves killed with superpowers they don’t know how to use properly. I don’t want to see you get killed, so I need to know everything about how you got your powers.”

I shrugged, saying “There really isn’t much to tell. I met Marco in Vilas Park, we played a card game, he told me about how I was his successor, and then he died.”

My roommate put his hand on his chin for a moment, thinking as he stroked his scraggly failed attempt at growing a beard. After a bit, he asked “Alright. So, Marco died and his powers went to you. Did his death look like it was of natural causes? If so, how old was he?”

I answered “Yeah, it looked like a heart attack, or something like it. As for age, he looked like he was probably pushing a hundred, especially given that he mentioned knowing how to do a time stop for around eighty years.”

Charles nodded, before continuing “Alright, good. That at least confirms that these abilities probably won’t wreck your lifespan. Now, how’d the transfer work? Was there some sort of artifact passed between you, or was it just an instantaneous transfer?”

Thinking about it, I answered “I’m pretty sure the powers are more just something I can do than some sort of magic gizmo. Still, he did give me this.” before I took out the thin leather journal and handed it to Charles.

Charles took a quick look at it before reading the introduction. He quickly began reading the book voraciously, muttering to himself as he pored over the volume. I’d seen him go into one of these ‘book fugues’ before, and I knew that he wasn’t going to come out of this unless someone physically removed the book from his hands or he finished.

Given that I would much rather avoid a repeat of the last time I’d interrupted one of these sessions, I opted to simply wait until my roommate finished reading. Still, I couldn’t help but smile a bit as I realized that I wouldn’t have to spend the whole time waiting. With that thought, I felt my powers activating again, the warmth within me becoming noticeable as I felt time speeding up around me.

Next to me, Charles’ motions blurred into unrecognizability as he voraciously devoured the contents of the book. Soon enough, he snapped the book shut, and I released my alterations to the flow of time.

As I returned to normal speed, Charles thrust the book into my arms. With a look that promised pain if I didn’t comply, my roommate said “Read the manual. Now. That is an order.”

I asked “Now?”

Charles nodded, before answering “Your powers came with an instruction manual. That almost never happens. Reading that and making sure you understand it could save your life, so read the fucking manual. Twice.”

And so, I read.