Expiration Date: A Novel by Swierczynski Duane

Author:Swierczynski, Duane [Swierczynski, Duane]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Mystery, Science Fiction, Crime, Fantasy, thriller, Suspense
ISBN: 9780312363406
Amazon: 0312363400
Goodreads: 7193226
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Published: 2010-03-30T07:00:00+00:00

I woke up in the office back in 1972. And yes, my right arm was gone, all the way up to the shoulder. I shouldn’t have been surprised by this, but I was. And more than a little horrified. The missing limb really threw my balance off. I swear to God, I felt myself tilting to one side.

Plus, I’d have to do my initial-carving one-handed.

There was nothing sharper than a butter knife in the kitchenette drawer. Not the most ideal cutting tool. Carving those two letters might take me the entire trip back to the past, but so be it. I would love to be there, in the present, to watch Meghan’s face when her initials start to carve themselves into the paint-chipped wood. Would they slowly appear, one stroke at a time? Or would she blink and then see all at once, the new reality conforming around her?

I wondered if Grandpop Henry, sometime down the road, would notice the initials and take a moment to ponder them.

The idea that I was about to change reality hit me hard. I’d read enough sci-fi novels growing up to know about the so-called butterfly effect—change one thing in the past, and the ripple effects could be potentially disastrous. Would something as simple as initials on a door frame make a difference? Sure, maybe if I carved a message like STAY OUT OF NYC ON 9-11-01 or BUY MICROSOFT. Initials were innocuous, though…right?

Then again, I had prevented a little girl’s death a few hours ago. And now there was one more person in the world who previously hadn’t been with us. Had someone died in her place? Had she grown up to do something awful? What havoc had I already wreaked?

I’d just pressed the tip of the knife to the molding when there was a loud scream outside my door.

The cry of a boy.

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