All the Time in the World

Chapter 02 - The Gift

"Time?" I asked, looking at him askance as I waited for the punchline to what certainly had to be a joke. "Surely, you don't mean to say that your ring can actually stop time?"

Harold nodded and smiled, "Oh, that's exactly what I am saying, James. Imagine being able to stop time and take advantage of anything and everything around you."

I swallowed hard, suddenly aware of being alone with a total stranger I had only just met. A stranger who was beginning to sound, for all the world, as if he might be more than just a little imbalanced. Unconsciously, I looked around the kitchen for something, anything I might use as a weapon if things started to progress down a darker path.

I must have transmitted my feelings through my facial expression because Harold suddenly laughed aloud.

"Oh, I know what you're thinking," he said, twirling his finger in a circular motion around his temple, "The old coot is completely off his rocker, right? But I assure you, I am in full possession of all my faculties."

I frowned and shook my head. "When you say things about being able to stop time... I'm afraid it tends to make me feel that your faculties might be a bit suspect. If you don't mind me saying."

Harold nodded thoughtfully. "I take no offense, James. I understand completely," he said pursing his lips, "When I say it out loud, it certainly does sound pretty outlandish, doesn't it? But, I assure you I'm speaking the truth. I think perhaps a bit of a demonstration might be in order."

I couldn't help but smile, "Sure..." I said with a little laugh, folding my arms in front of my chest. "Why don't you just go right ahead and demonstrate how you can stop time? I'd sure like to see it."

Harold smiled, "Okay," he said, "But, prepare yourself, this might be a bit disconcerting."

I smiled--actually more of an arrogant smirk. "Oh, I'm ready...knock yourself out."

Harold sighed at my flippant attitude. "Then keep your eyes on mine," he said.

I took a deep breath and shrugged, in for a penny, I thought. I might as well humor the old guy. I looked directly into his eyes, my brow arched condescendingly, and then...he was GONE! One moment I was looking directly at him and, in the next instant, I was looking at the wall behind where he had been sitting. My jaw dropped and I gasped, looking around, even bending to look under the kitchen table.

"I warned you it can be disconcerting," said Harold from behind me.

I gasped aloud a second time, turning to see him standing in my living room. He calmly stepped from behind me to sit back down at the table in front of me. I had no words, my mouth moved but nothing came out. I was quite literally stunned speechless.

Harold laughed softly and placed his hand on my shoulder. "What appeared to be no time at all for you was actually about twenty seconds for me. I stopped time, got up from my chair, and then moved behind you before starting time again. Shall I demonstrate once more?"

Once again I stared in wide-eyed astonishment as he popped out of existence. I looked around and even behind me, but he was nowhere to be seen. When I looked back to the chair he had been sitting in he was suddenly there once more.

I stood up hurriedly, knocking over my chair in my haste. "Okay... okay..." I said, finally finding my voice, "Please... just stop doing that."

"Of course," said Harold, obviously concerned by my anxiety, "I did not mean to cause you consternation, I merely wanted to make my point about being able to stop time. Now, please... sit back down."

I bent and stood my chair back up and then sat down, my mind reeling. What the fuck! Did he really just stop time? If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes I would have never believed it. But I HAD seen it. It was no magic trick, it happened. It really fucking happened.

"I do apologize," said Harold with a frown, "Judging from your reaction just now, it was a lot more unnerving than I had anticipated, and I'm sorry for that."

"How...um... how do you make it happen?" I stammered, my heartbeat slowly getting back to normal.

He stood and moved his chair beside mine. "Here," He said, holding up his hand that held the ring. "See these grooves in the metal?"

I nodded, there was a series of vertical grooves that encircled the ring, an otherwise plain silver band.

"I take the thumbnail, or fingernail, of either hand and press it into one of the grooves. I won't do it again just now," he said with a smile. "But, it's as simple as that. One press stops time, and then doing it again restarts it."

I swallowed, the process certainly seemed simple enough. Suddenly all of the possibilities opened up for me if I were to actually have possession of such a ring. My God, I thought, I wouldn't have to worry ever again about making ends meet. It boggled my mind, the possibilities suddenly seemed endless.

"I can see by the look on your face that you are coming to terms with the possibilities that might come to someone who owns my ring," Harold said with a smile and a raise of his eyebrows. "I hope this means that you will consider allowing me to gift the ring to you."

I bit my lip, my heart pounding with anticipation. "Yes," I responded tentatively, "I mean... as long as you're absolutely sure you want me to have it."

"Oh, I'm quite certain of that," he responded with a smile. "But before you actually take possession and put it on your finger, there are some very serious things you need to be aware of."

"Okaaayy," I responded, drawing out the word suspiciously as I raised my eyebrow.

Harold pursed his lips thoughtfully, "There's actually a great deal I need to tell you," he said, "But first, might there possibly be more hot chocolate?"

"Oh, sure," I said, quickly standing to gather up the empty cups from the table. I added more water to the kettle and plugged it in. When I turned back to the table I was rather astonished to see Harold sitting there with several hand-written pages of paper.

I smiled somewhat sheepishly. "You just did it again, didn't you?"

Harold returned my smile and nodded. "I took the liberty of rummaging through your office materials for paper and pen, I hope that's all right with you."

"Sure," I responded with a laugh, turning back to add chocolate to the cups and then pouring in fresh water.

"As I mentioned a moment ago," said Harold, as I stirred the chocolate and returned to the table. "There is a lot you need to know and be aware of. I needed to write everything down so as to not forget anything. Perhaps you should read through what I have written so that I can answer any questions you might have."

I took the pages from his hand, surprised to feel the weight of the pages, I quickly thumbed through them, guessing at least a dozen pages with writing front and back.

"Wow," I said, glancing up at him, "There's a lot of reading here."

Harold smiled, "Indeed," he responded, "It took a few hours for me to complete. There is a lot you need to know. Maybe think of it as a bit of a common-sense, time-stopping training manual."

I turned to the first page and began to read.

********************************************

James. I need to put some thoughts down on paper for you. It is infinitely better for me to do it this way because at my age I can't rely on my ability to remember everything I need to tell you about.

My gift to you is just that, a gift. It is meant to provide you with a means of ease and comfort for the rest of your life. Indeed, that is my fondest wish for you. A blessing, if you will. But, one day you may come to see it as a curse as well. I hope that never happens.

Having the ability to stop time is not something to be taken lightly, it comes with great responsibility as well. --FIRST AND FOREMOST!-- Under no circumstances are you to EVER reveal your ability to anyone. And I mean ANYONE. Were it ever to become known that you possess my ring and the ability it gives you, your life would be forfeit. Let me explain.

You are the only person on earth that I have confided in about my ring, but the existence of the ring is known by a very small number of people throughout the world. These people will stop at nothing to find and take possession of the ring. These people are not just rich, but insanely rich, with money and resources that would put a great many governments to shame. These people, who know of the ring's existence, are constantly searching for it. They have computer and satellite resources relentlessly pouring over every form of media, looking for any and all anomalies that might hint at the ring's location. These insanely rich men have teams of men and women--throughout the world--scanning through newspapers, emails, and social media sites for keywords and phrases, compiling all this digital information to look for patterns of inconsistency.

***************************

I paused in my reading and looked up at him. "Patterns of inconsistency?" I asked.

Harold nodded, "Exactly," He said, "Imagine, if you will, stopping time and then walking into one of the local casinos. You could easily walk out with hundreds of thousands of dollars."

I nodded, my heart racing at the mere thought.

"But..." He held up an admonishing finger. "I'm sure you can well imagine that something like that would most definitely not go unnoticed. It would generate all manner of casino and police investigations--as well as news coverage in the local papers and television newscasts. Casino employees would likely even lose their jobs over the affair. Do you see what I mean? Something so blatantly obvious would have quite the ripple effect--throughout the city... the state... the country... even the world."

I nodded, it, of course, made perfect sense and I honestly had never thought of that.

"And then..." continued Howard with his finger raised. "What to do with all that money? Would you deposit it in your bank? How would you explain the sudden windfall to the bank or the IRS? You could perhaps purchase a new Lamborghini for cash, but that would also draw unwanted attention to yourself.

"Or... perhaps you should happen to stop time and accidentally have someone see you do it. Imagine how YOU felt when you saw it happen? If someone happened to see you disappear, imagine how he or she might post something like that to their social media web pages. 'One second the guy was there, and the next he just vanished into thin air.' Too many such inconsistencies all from the Las Vegas area would focus the attention of those insanely rich people and their teams would descend upon Las Vegas like hordes of locusts, looking at absolutely everything in microscopic detail."

I nodded, these were indeed sobering thoughts. "I think I'm beginning to understand," I said.

"If you read on, I've outlined some of the best practices for you. These instructions are by no means complete, but an outline. I'm sure you will find other methods that work out better for you, but at least this will hopefully be a good starting point for you."

I again nodded, "It all sounds kind of intimidating," I said, "And, even a bit scary."

Harold laughed and nodded. "Indeed, but it is also supremely rewarding if you do things correctly," he said, "So... before you venture forth into the world of stopping time, please read these entire pages carefully."

"I surely will," I responded with a laugh of my own. "The Gospel according to Howard."

He laughed aloud and slapped his knees, "That's a good way to think of it," he said.

"I do have one question, though, that I'm sure you haven't written down. And it's been bugging the hell out of me," I said.

Harold folded his hands and looked at me expectantly. "Fire away," he said.

"When you were about to die in that flood abatement culvert," I began, giving him a curious look, "you could have easily stopped time and hauled your happy ass out of the water. But you couldn't, could you? The ring was in your pocket. Why on earth was that?"

Harold laughed aloud and nodded, "A very astute question, young man, I'm afraid it was just bad luck--and maybe a little stupidity on my part as well. I have a skin irritation on my ring finger--a small skin cancer lesion, I think--I took the ring off and put it in my pocket to relieve the irritation. A few minutes later, when the ground gave way beneath my feet, I found myself suddenly floundering in the rushing water and couldn't get to my ring."

He quickly slipped the ring from his middle finger to show me the small red irritation. "As soon as I get back home, I'll have it attended to."

"And, where is that?" I asked, "Where is home?"

Harold smiled wistfully, "Oh, I have a lovely place up in northern Idaho, a lakefront property that I managed to purchase with the monetary gains the ring has afforded me all these years. Up there I have everything I could ever want and enough money to keep me in the lap of luxury for the rest of my days. It's high time I relaxed and enjoyed what time I have left."

"I like the sound of that, Harold," I responded with a broad smile, "I'm happy for you. I hear the dryer has stopped, so I imagine your clothes are now warm and dry. I'll go check."

I returned a few minutes later with his clothing to find him sitting at the kitchen table with a small bag. He shrugged and laughed, "I took the opportunity to go down to the corner market to bring us some breakfast. I hope you like breakfast burritos."

I laughed and shook my head, "I love 'em," I responded as I handed him his warm and dry clothing. While he returned to the bathroom to dress, I set the table with plates and silverware.

"Ah... I feel like a new man," said Harold with a broad smile as he returned to the kitchen. "My shoes are still a little damp, but that's the least of my worries. I'll stop at a Sketchers on my way out of town and pick up a new pair."

We ate our burritos and chatted. I told him about my job and he nodded soberly. "Make sure you get yourself a safety deposit box to keep your money in," he reminded me, "No paper trail, remember?"

I nodded, thinking I would do that very thing as soon as possible.

When we finished, Harold sighed, "Well, my young friend, I best be off. If you don't mind, I'll use your phone to call for a cab."

A few minutes later his cab pulled up out front and tooted its horn.

Harold smiled and stood, "I guess this is it." He said.

I smiled and stood with him. We looked at one another for a poignant moment as he slipped the ring from his finger and held it out to me.

"Thank you," I said.

Harold shook his head, "No, son," he said. "I'm the one who is thankful."

With that, he stepped up to me and put his arms around my shoulders, pulling me close. I embraced him warmly in return, actually sad to see him go. I watched from the window as he left the building and got into the cab, turning to wave up at me one last time before he disappeared.

I sat at the kitchen table, pondering the ring in my hand, turning it over and over in the light. I tried it on the ring finger of my left hand and it felt a little too loose. However, it fit almost perfectly on my middle finger, the finger Howard had worn the ring on.

I sighed and took a deep breath, thinking I might as well give it a try. I pressed my thumbnail into one of the grooves on the ring.

<------------CRACK------------>

A cracking sound occurred in my head and instantly I was plunged into the most profound silence I had ever experienced. Nothing moved or made a sound. The ceiling fan over my head froze in place, no sound came from my refrigerator or my ticking wall clock. No street sounds came from beyond my apartment either. I looked around, slightly unnerved by the depth of silence, and pressed my thumbnail into the ring's groove once more.

<------------CRACK------------>

Instantly I was suffused with the cacophony of noise I had been used to all my life and I laughed aloud. "Wow!" I murmured aloud, pressing my thumbnail into the ring to stop time once more.

I spent some time just experimenting with the ring, stopping time, and leaving the building to explore outside. I walked to the corner market where I helped myself to a cold soda and a bag of chips, being especially mindful of Howard's warnings, only taking things that would not readily be missed, and if discovered in an inventory, chalked up to pilferage or shoplifting.

Returning home, I restarted time, becoming more used to the cracking sound in my head and the sudden resolution of noise, and then climbed back into bed for a nap before going in to work the graveyard shift.

I awoke with a start. I looked at the bedside clock to see that I had greatly overslept and had only a little over half an hour to get to work on time. Cursing, I lept out of bed and jumped into the shower, thinking I didn't even have time to eat.

While dressing hurriedly, it suddenly occurred to me that I actually had all the time in the world to get to work. I sat down on the edge of my bed and laughed aloud for several minutes. I stopped time and finished dressing without hurrying. I thought about making myself something to eat but then smiled, knowing I would have to walk to work, and decided I would eat along the way.

I strolled casually to work, smiling as I passed cars and people frozen in time, and entered the Aria Hotel. I had always heard about their sumptuous buffet, which was always beyond my means, and decided that this would be a great opportunity to see what I had been missing.

*****************************************************

From the Gospel according to Howard:

For your first lesson, I want you to have a nice meal. There are a great many ways in which you may accomplish this exercise, but I highly recommend that for your first endeavor, you select one of the plethora of wonderful buffets available in this city.

First of all--and this is EXTREMELY important to remember--once inside a casino your movements and activities will always and forever be recorded on one or more cameras. Security is paramount in virtually every casino. Therefore, it is extremely important to always be aware of that and to stop time before ever entering. Perhaps in your apartment before venturing out, or in one of the many casino parkades. In parkades, it is always best practice to park far from other cars and to lean over in your seat so as to be completely invisible to and casual observer you might not have noticed before stopping time.

Once you have entered a casino, make your way to the ubiquitous buffet. Once there it is wise to always remember to leave no indication that you were ever there. For instance, never use an existing table setup. Always get your napkin and silverware from the bussing station from the large selection there and never use silverware directly from the table.

When finished, always take your plate, silverware, and napkin to the appropriate bussing area to be disposed of where they will go completely unnoticed among all the other dirty dishes and silverware, and leave your table exactly as you found it.

Select your food carefully, it would not be good form to, for instance, have a slice of pizza disappear from a tray of slices while someone was contemplating that particular tray. Select judiciously. And then, when you are finished, make your way out of the casino to a secure place before restarting time.

Money is literally everywhere here in Las Vegas, but one must be rather judicious when acquiring it. For instance, it is never a good idea to actually take money from a casino. Once a casino has that money, it is counted, recounted, and recorded. If it disappears suddenly it becomes a matter of record and innocent people may lose their jobs.

Pay attention to the gaming tables instead, where often people have large stacks of chips, a missing chip here and there will often be shrugged off as if nothing strange has happened. Move around all the tables taking a chip here and there and be satisfied with small dollar amounts instead of a large haul. Cash in the chips also in small dollar amounts so as not to attract attention. In this way, you can gradually build a bank, or use the money to make cash purchases.