Excerpt from the chapter Hands of Fate…

Ethan took the five leaflet-size brochures he had picked up on their way through the lobby, and put them on the table. He then opened each one about an inch and set them on their long sides to face each other about ten inches apart across the table like a row of dominos.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“You’ll see. Do you have a lipstick or something?” She pulled a tube of lip balm from her pocket and handed it to him. “Good. Have a seat.”

Alex sat down in the chair by the table so she was facing the ends of the brochures. Ethan took the tube of lip balm and set it upright on the table at the end behind the last brochure to his left. He then pulled the other chair around and sat to the left of Alex.

“Imagine your life as a line of dominos, with each successive domino representing your next moment in time. When we’re born, the first one is knocked over—that is our very first moment in this world. Then we go to the next moment, and to the next, and the next. For each new moment, a new domino is added, and they tumble continuously our entire lives until the last one falls.

“The thing is, regardless of how long we’ve been traveling in our respective lines, our moments all tumble in unison—a synchronicity controlled by time. We can see what everyone is doing in that moment, and we have memories of the past, but no one can physically move ahead or back to see what’s going on in any other moment. You see what I mean?”

“This isn’t going to be another science lecture, is it?”

“Not really. Just bear with me for a minute. Let’s say Mr. Lip Balm here is a person, and this row of brochures represents a line of moments in his life. So, let’s move Mr. Lip Balm to his next moment.” Ethan picked up the tube of lip balm and bumped it into the brochure, knocking it over. Then he set the lip balm down in front of the next brochure. “Now, in his present moment of time, he can see where he is, and he can remember where he’s been, but he can’t go back to relive that previous moment or physically see into his future. That view is blocked.”

Ethan picked up Mr. Lip Balm again, bumped over the next brochure and set him down. “Now, here again, he can see his present, and remember more of his past, but he still can’t see the future. Time prevents it.

“By studying past events, we can formulate ideas and strategies that allow us to estimate how certain future events might unfold. But the fact remains that we cannot physically know what will happen in a future event until that event becomes the present, or the past. Likewise, we cannot physically go back to relive expired moments. This is how our lives work. You following me?”

“Astonishingly enough, yes.”

“Okay then, theoretically, what would Mr. Lip Balm see if we were to slide him out here to the side, outside his normal timeline?”

Alex looked at the table, thought, and pointed. “Well…he would see his past…his present…and his future, all at the same time.”

Ethan leaned back in the chair and smiled at her. “Exactly.”