“We’re in the money! We’re in the money!” Jon sang, as Sarah and Karyn jumped up and down in a light embrace, and then kissed, a quick, innocent peck.
It was hard to get ahead with their wages. They lost most of their paychecks to expenses: rent, utilities, food, so they could only invest a little here and there, but that had now paid off so many times over that it hardly even mattered how little they had to start with. The 1987 stock market crash had happened as they had been betting it all on, and now they could just relax. Their account value had gotten up to 60 thousand from investing in walmart, but suddenly having bought some risky options, it had suddenly jumped to 18 million. They didn’t know exactly how much it would crash, and had made a variety of wagers, not knowing how deep the selloff would be and how bold to be, but it had all gone so much further than the worst case scenario they were prepared for. They could buy a mansion, and retire to the good life. They had been gambling on it in more than one way: both Karyn and Sarah were heavily pregnant with Jon’s child. They could just ride out the remaining time until their earlier selves grew up, sent themselves into the past, at which time Sarah would get the powers back, and she could even make them all younger again and all 3 of them could have a future with even more limitless potential than what they were already living. All they had to do was wait in comfort and luxury. It had turned out not so bad. It was kind of fun getting to live through this time. Of course, life is what you make of it. And they had some people they really liked, to share it with.
They quit their jobs, getting an understanding farewell from the machine shop owner for all their years of service, and looked at houses the next day, despite Sarah’s and Karyn’s condition. They found the perfect one. It was a beautiful big house that was almost off the grid, and it had a big garden, in a nice neighborhood.
They signed the agreement. The house would be theirs. Jon went to the bank, and Sarah came along despite Karyn and Jon trying to talk her into taking it easy, but they apparently needed two of them there to sign documents. And just as they were getting the last one notarized, a deafening sound echoed through the bank.
A man in a ski mask was holding an AK-47, and had fired it into the ceiling. “Ladies and gentlemen, I’d like all of your undivided attention,” he said. “Jewelry and all your cash goes in this bag. Yes, I’m not just robbing the bank. I don’t recommend you be a hero.”
When he got to Jon and Sarah, he got a glimpse of the cashier’s check that was on the bank manager’s desk, for the amount of 11 million dollars. Which was most of their winnings, since they had to set about 5 million aside for taxes. “You’ll be signing that over to me,” he said, with excitement in his voice.
“You want us to sign it over to you, to your real name? And you think that’s going to work?” Sarah asked sarcastically. “Why don’t you ask the bank to just deposit it into your checking account, you dumb fuck.”
Jon tried to shush her. Her old habits emerged sometimes, somewhat, and Sarah had a talent for being abrasive.
But this time Sarah was abrasive to the wrong individual. He pointed the gun at her.
Sarah didn’t even have enough time to beg him not to, before he shot her with 7 bullets in fast succession. She fell to the ground dead. “Nooooo!!!!” Jon cried.
“You will sign that over to me, if you don’t want to end up like her,” the man said.
Jon listlessly signed the check over to him in despair, and burst into a fit of tears at the end. The bank robber was giddy and almost skipping in joy as he ran out of the bank with his big bag of loot and money from the customers and the bank, and got just a few feet outside before being gunned down himself by the police.
But the damage was done.
Jon drove back to their apartment, despondent.
Karyn was so happy on his return.
“Where’s Sarah?” she asked.
Jon fell to his knees, once again crying, and then delivered the news. Karyn cried with him.
After several minutes, Karyn looked at Jon, and asked him, “Where does your grandpa live.”
“Karyn, he’s not going to know anything, he’s not going to know where he’s going to go decades in advance. We just have to wait, for destiny to make it happen.”
And wait they did.
Karyn had their baby. That was another loss, Sarah’s baby. They resolved they would eventually get them both back. More years passed by. The possibility of actually accomplishing miracles, of recovering Sarah and their child, it seemed so far-fetched. Sarah herself hadn’t had those powers in a long time. It was hard to imagine there was a magical artifact that might actually be able to bring their precious Sarah back to them, that could fix all this. But they knew its power was real. It was what had sent them back to 1980 in the first place after all.
