Ode To Uninterrupted Time - A Silly Little Story by M. K. Dreysen

I got bit by the silly bug, dear reader. This week's free story is an...

Ode to Uninterrupted Time - a story for anyone who's ever had to wait for an essential delivery that never seems to happen by M. K. Dreysen

let the void play, with heat and light and possibility... hear the fluctuations, the cascade of infinities run free merge cancel and return to nothingness...

(EXCUSE ME: WE NOTICED YOUR RECENT ORDER FOR A SLOW-WAVE SPACE MODULATION UNIT. SOME OF OUR CUSTOMERS HAVE HAD GREAT SUCCESS WITH AN ALTERNATE PRODUCT, THE EXPLOSIVE SPACE MODULATOR. WE THOUGHT YOU MIGHT LIKE TO GIVE THIS A LOOK BEFORE WE RUN OUT!)

light comes, true heat now migrates out, a wavefront of reality is expanding through that which cannot will not does not...

(SORRY TO INTERRUPT: FOR A SHORT TIME, WE ARE OFFERING A DISCOUNT TO OUR EXCLUSIVE CUSTOMERS. EXPLOSIVE SPACE MODULATORS AVAILABLE AT FIVE PERCENT OFF, HURRY WHILE SUPPLIES LAST!)

and now particles; mass; pressure; force...

(ABOUT YOUR ORDER: YOUR RECENT ORDER OF SLOW-WAVE PROGRESSIVE SPACE MODULATOR MAY BE DELAYED DUE TO UNFORTUNATE SHIPPING DELAYS; SORRY ABOUT THAT, WE'RE SWAMPED! HAVE YOU CONSIDERED AN ALTERNATIVE, WE CAN HAVE AN EXPLOSIVE SPACE MODULATOR TO YOUR DOOR WITH NO DELAY!)

ah, and now the protons appear, the electrons have found their partners as all things merge in the dance; soon enough, protons hydrogen helium and the smell of lithium burning...

(UPDATE ON YOUR ORDER: WE APOLOGIZE AGAIN FOR THE MINOR DELAY IN DELIVERING YOUR SLOW-WAVE MODULATOR; WE CAN OFFER AN ADDITIONAL DISCOUNT, TWO PERCENT OFF AND YOU'LL GET THE EXPLOSIVE MODULATOR ASAP! THIS IS A GREAT ALTERNATIVE, ESPECIALLY IF YOUR PROJECT IS TIME SENSITIVE!)

the iron sequence is almost finished; the first blush of stars expand and seed, and the next generation appear...

(UPDATE ON YOUR ORDER: OUR SUPPLIER FOR SLOW-WAVE SPACE MODULATORS APPEARS TO BE HAVING AN ISSUE. ARE YOU SURE WE CAN'T INTEREST YOU IN THE ALTERNATIVE SO MANY OF OUR OTHER CUSTOMERS HAVE FOUND SUCCESS WITH, THE EXPLOSIVE SPACE MODULATOR?)

oh and now something new has arrived; planets coalesce from the disks. the stars contain multitudes. and ever so faint whispers of...

(UNFORTUNATELY, IT SEEMS WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TO PUT YOUR ORDER FOR SLOW-WAVE SPACE MODULATORS ON BACK ORDER. AT THIS TIME, WE DO NOT HAVE AN ANTICIPATED SHIPPING DATE. UNLESS WE HEAR OTHERWISE FROM YOU, WE'LL TREAT YOUR PREVIOUS PAYMENT AS A DEPOSIT ON THE SLOW-WAVE MODULATORS; DO BE AWARE THAT COSTS MAY CHANGE UNAVOIDABLY IN THE FUTURE.)

oh, those are definitely no longer whispers; life moves at its own pace, movement becomes breath and breath becomes shouts, voices raised...

(THE SLOW-WAVE SPACE MODULATOR IS STILL ON BACK ORDER. EXPLOSIVE SPACE MODULATORS ARE GOING FAST, YOU SHOULD STOCK UP NOW BEFORE THEY'RE ALL GONE!)

life shouts and it shits its pants. oy. hey, shouldn't you guys have fixed your back-order problems by now?

(AH, ABOUT THAT. THE SLOW-WAVE MODULATORS ARE NO LONGER BEING MANUFACTURED.)

uh-huh. you couldn't have admitted that a few billion years ago?

(WE'RE JUST THE DISTRIBUTOR. ALL MANUFACTURING QUESTIONS SHOULD BE DIRECTED TO THE SUPPLIER, WOULD YOU LIKE THEIR CONTACT INFORMATION?)

i'm beginning to suspect that supplier and i have history... never mind.

(GLAD TO HELP. IF YOU GET A CHANCE, WOULD YOU MIND LEAVING A REVIEW?)

what the hell are they doing now? you turn your back for five minutes, and look. it's like the original expansion, in miniature.

(HEY, JUST WANTED TO LET YOU KNOW ABOUT A FANTASTIC DEAL! EXPLOSIVE SPACE MODULATORS ON SALE, FOR A SHORT TIME ONLY YOU CAN GET THEM FOR TEN PERCENT OFF!)

i've got kind of a mess on my hands here.

(COSMIC SCALE MESSES ARE SO TIRESOME; TRY AN EXPLOSIVE SPACE MODULATOR, OUR OTHER CUSTOMERS WITH SIMILAR ISSUES HAVE REPORTED SUCCESS. AND DON'T FORGET, WE'RE RUNNING THEM AT TEN PERCENT OFF!)

life overcomes, doesn't it? at the rate they're going, the little buggers will expand to fill the universe entire. hmm.

(YES, HOW CAN WE HELP?)

let's talk about those explosive space modulators.

(TEN PERCENT OFF! HURRY AND PLACE YOUR ORDER!)

right, yeah, about that. i think you owe me a little something, remember my original order?

(AH, WE'RE HAVING TROUBLE FINDING ANYTHING LIKE THAT...)

of course you are. i ordered a pallet of slow-wave space modulators from you, and you've spent the past few billion years failing to fill that order. even though i paid for it.

(OH. THAT ORDER. UMMM...)

for a small consideration...

(TWENTY PERCENT?)

hmmm...

(THIRTY?)

done. but they'd better be here on time, and in pristine condition.

(IF THERE'S ANYTHING WRONG WITH THE SHIPMENT, YOU CAN ALWAYS RETURN THEM FOR A FULL REFUND, THOUGH A SMALL RESTOCKING FEE MIGHT APPLY IN CERTAIN INSTANCES.)

drums fingers while watching the life explosion overwhelm the universe.

(UPDATE ON YOUR SHIPPING: THE MANUFACTURER HAS FILLED THE ORDER, IT SHOULD GET TO YOU IN A LITTLE OVER AN EON.)

i could have sworn you guys had promised a little better fulfillment time than that.

(THAT WAS A PROMOTIONAL OFFER AVAILABLE ONLY TO CUSTOMERS WHO SIGNED UP FOR A SUBSCRIPTION TO OUR BUSINESS ELITE BRACKET. WE'RE HAPPY TO DISCUSS AN UPGRADE IN YOUR SERVICE IF YOU WANT. THE REWARDS PROGRAM FOR OUR BUSINESS ELITE CUSTOMERS IS SOMETHING TO BEHOLD.)

not interested. look, is that delivery date real?

(ABSOLUTELY.)

grumbles about the mess life is leaving behind it. though they are entertaining. if small, some of the details are a little hard to pick out, without causing perturbations anyway. which would interfere with the point of the whole thing... hey, when's that order getting here?

(TRACKING INDICATES YOUR DELIVERY IS IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD NOW.)

ok, got it. who the hell packs these things, anyway? what'd you do, run it over with a forklift?

(FOR THIS ORDER, THE MANUFACTURER AND SHIPPER ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL CONDITION ISSUES, HERE'S THEIR CONTACT INFO IF YOU HAVE ANY PROBLEMS OR CONCERNS.)

damn, so what do you guys take responsibility for, anyway? goes out to hide explosive space modulators throughout the knowable universe, in easy-to-find places. comes back to watch the inevitable finale. i'm thinking, before i start the next one, that i'll have to build my own slow-wave modulators. good suppliers being in short supply these days...

(HAVE YOU HEARD ABOUT THE NEW READY-MADE UNIVERSE? JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING YOU COULD EVER DO, AND WITHOUT ALL THE MUSS AND FUSS OF BUILDING IT YOURSELF!)

oh really? hmm... since you had such a hard time fulfilling your last order for me, what makes you think i would bet on this one?

(FIFTY PERCENT OFF?)

i'll have to think about it.

(SIXTY?)

keep talking...