Rene awoke to find that time slips back and forth, sand in an hourglass in a dryer. This had been his dream; he had been interrupted not by an alarm clock, but rather by the conclusion of the dream. He had even seen a roll of credits at the end- most of the names were familiar; some were new but he was convinced he must have seen them somewhere before.

He turned to his wife Margaret, who was still snoring softly, a bit of spittle on the white pillow, and looking completely at peace. “Maggie?” He pleaded.

“Huh?” She opened both eyes for a second, then closed the one closer to the pillow. “What is it Rene?”

“I just had the most incredible dream. Time wasn’t- isn’t- linear. It’s just another dimension.”

“I’ll call Hawking.” Margaret said as she turned to face away from him and the sunlight.

Rene was all grins himself. He caressed Margaret through her powder blue nightgown, took a strand of hair, kissed it. “Don’t you get it honey?” He whispered.

A “what?” was muttered from the other side of the bed.

“Not only are there second chances, but you can go back to the time before there were chances.”

They had named the child Rene if it was a boy or Margaret if it was a girl, three months ago. They both wanted to have their name live on. Now they were alone. It had been a tear-filled two months.

Margaret turned. “What did you say Rene?”

“Time isn’t linear.”

“You might be right, Rene. You might very well be the most right person ever. But in this reality, they’re just gone.”

“But Maggie…”

She kissed his hand. “Don’t make me cry Rene. It’s too early to cry, don’t you think?”