Time twisted inward as I release my sweaty finger from the small red protrusion. Fire engulfed me as the world swirled. My vision grew blurry and shifted to hues of violet, gradually getting darker and darker as the rods in my eyes received less and less light, then nothing, not even pure black, but the lack of any visual stimuli. Void. Endless and isolating. Eons passed instantly, and moments lasted forever… 2 13 23 34 66 2 recounting over and over

Then a bright flash of light and a world, months younger, shifted out of the red haze. The small box in my hand warm and trembling, clicked out of order. I won’t be able to use it again for another few days. I had to act fast. My feet flew over the pavement between the temporal rift I had just created and the seven-eleven 3 blocks away. I passed dozens of onlookers as I bulldozed through crowds. Arriving to the chime of a small analogue bell, Cash slamed on the counter, I calmed myself, listed 6 numbers and waited in the back. As the announcer called out the winner, me.