A Taste of Time
by Abby Goldsmith
A bottle of wine mysteriously appears inside Jane’s apartment on her 29th birthday with
the cryptic message Tabula Rasa—Warning: There Is No Return. So since she is
suicidal and drunk and other things associated with country music songs, Jane swallows a
mouthful, figuring that the worst it could be is a dignified poison.
Jane gagged on the sour taste in her mouth. She was so dizzy, she’d fallen.
. . but she was sitting in an office chair, with no memory whatsoever of
leaving her dark and quiet apartment.
Florescent lights beat down on her, and the
familiar voices of a call center surrounded her. None of this was possible. She was back
at her old workplace. It was a workday, late afternoon, judging by the angle of light.
Ultimata Insurance had laid her off months ago, yet here she was.
“A Taste of Time” by Abby Goldsmith, in Deep
Magic, May 2004.