I enjoy reading books; getting immersed in a story is my favorite past time. On occasion I do not have the hour or two I would like to spend getting involved in a book and so I look for something shorter. Magazines can usually fill that slot, but short stories are my favorite quick reads. With that in mind, I decided to create short stories that sounded interesting and could be read during a lunch break. “The Time Merchant Café” is six short stories, each being independent except for the common thread of the waiter at the cafe. These stories have a touch of mystical intervention, just enough to make them interesting without being overwhelming. One of the reviewers called these stories “Twilight Zone Light” and I think that fits. The stories do not unfold in the café but rather set the stage to change the course of the lives of the people that enter. The café is only open for that particular person and once that person leaves, the café no longer exists at that location. The waiter offers the patron a view into his or her future with the caveat that once they see their future, it is no longer fixed. That premise sounds pretty simple and harmless, so why not take that look? Everyone wants to know their future, will I be rich, famous, married, live a long life, and on and on. Only good can come of knowing the future, right? Once you read these stories would you accept the opportunity to get a glimpse of your future or would you simply enjoy the coffee, which is billed as the best coffee of any time?
The waiter at the café is sophisticated, convincing, and disconcerting. He literally makes his living by the outcome in the change in life span of those that take that peek. If in seeing their future, they manage to shorten their lives, the waiter extends his life by the number of years the patron has shortened his or her life. If the patron extends his or her life, the waiter then subtracts that number of years from his accumulated total. Currently the waiter has a nice backlog of years and will keep operating the café for many years to come or as long as readers find these stories enjoyable.
