Capsules

Morris was only really killing time when he met the girl selling capsules.

He had arrived in town much too early for his interview. He was turning over a new leaf. He recently lost his last job through constant lateness and one morning had turned up late again for the last time, and had been told not to come back. He had never been a good time-keeper but the sacking had shaken him up. This was the reason for him being more than an hour early and following the sound of the fair.

After strolling through the stalls and rides aimlessly for a while, his eye was caught by a grubby-looking caravan drawn up at the back of the fairground. It looked kind of isolated, with nobody going near it or taking much notice of it, despite the fact that the grounds were bustling with people. There was something curious about it. Morris looked at his watch, he had time.

The door was hanging slightly open and he began to doubt whether he should be there. He climbed a couple of steps and tentatively pulled the door open. The interior was well lit and almost completely white.

A girl sat behind an enormous desk covered with plastic trays, each containing little blue capsules. She was very thin, with plastic features and completely bald. She was wearing a white trouser suit, zipped up to the chin. In a strange way she was attractive.

As he entered she looked up from what appeared to be some kind of tablet screen and said, “Hello, how can I help you?”

Morris looked around, then along the display of capsules. He looked up at the girl, who had gone back to her screen. “Unusual set up, I must say. Do you come with the fair?”

“No. Not really.”

“Ah! But you travel around from place to place I guess; this being a caravan, I mean.”

“Oh! Yes. From place to place, but never the same place twice.”

“Just fairgrounds?”

“Mainly fairgrounds, yes.”

“But surely, there are only so many. You would run out sooner or later?”

“No. We move to other cities; other countries.”

Morris looked surprised and said “Other countries?”

“Yes, other countries.” She went back to her screen.

“No vehicle I see.”

She looked up “Vehicle?”

“You know, a Jeep or something, to pull it I mean.”

She shook her head, “We don’t use one.”

He frowned and looked around the interior again. “If you don’t mind me saying, this is quite a set up for someone as young as you to be in charge of.”

She raised one hairless eyebrow. “You wouldn’t believe how long I’ve been nineteen.”

“Oh? How long would that be?”

The girl almost smiled. “Like I said. You wouldn’t believe me.” She put her tablet down. “As I said before, how can I help you?”

“Well, it does depend on what you’re selling in here.”

“Time.” Came the enigmatic reply. “Please feel free to browse.”

Browse didn’t seem the right word somehow, since all he could see was lots of tiny blue capsules, oblong and no bigger than a small fingernail. He was beginning to think the whole thing was some sort of joke and looked around for hidden cameras.

“Oh! I see, you’re selling time are you?”

Before she could answer the door swung open and three teenage boys trudged in sniggering and whispering to each other.”

“There you are, told you it was open, I saw this dude come in here” said the oldest boy; who was obviously the ring-leader. He grinned at Morris. When he saw the girl he paused before saying. “Hey guys, check this weird chick out will yer?”

Morris stood back to let the boy go forward and pick up a couple of capsules. “What are these?” he demanded, doing his best to impress his mates.

“I don’t think you’d be interested” said the girl, and went back to her screen.

The boy was embarrassed and said in an angry voice “Hey girly, I asked you a question.” He looked at Morris. Morris said nothing. He repeated “Come on, what the hell are these stupid things?” He held them up.

The girl stiffened. “They are ten-minute time capsules. They are placed under the tongue, they dissolve very quickly. Are you going to buy those?”

The boy scoffed. “Under the tongue, yeh, right.” With that he made a show of dropping them on the floor and treading on them. “Come on guys, this bird is a whack job. Let’s…” He was cut short by a ring on his mobile. He saw the caller ID and answered it. “Yes Mum, what’s up?” There was a long pause. “But you said…” Another pause. “But you said we could stay until five and we’ve only just got here. OK! OK! I’m coming!” He looked at his mates and said “Sorry.” They both groaned. He kicked the door open and they left.

Morris said “Wow! That was impressive. So, I take it from that little charade you not only give it, you can take it away.”

She nodded.

“How much did he lose?”

She tilted her head to one side. “Difficult to be accurate but around two hours.”

Morris checked the time, no rush he thought. “How much are they?” he asked.

“Five dollars each.”

He pulled out his wallet. “OK. I’ll take six. You just never know when the odd hour’s going to come in handy.”