“Dor came from a time before the written word, a timewhen if you wished to speak with someone, you walked to see them. This time was different. The tools ofthis era—phones, computers—enabled people to move at a blurring pace. Yet despite all theyaccomplished, they were never at peace. They constantly checked their devices to see what time it was—the very thing Dor had tried to determine once with a stick, a stone, and a shadow.”

“This time was different. The tools of this era--phones, computers--enabled people to move at a blurring pace. Yet despite all they accomplished, they were never at peace.”

“Consider the word “time.” We use so many phrases with it. Pass time. Waste time. Kill time. Lose time. In good time. About time. Take your time. Save time. A long time. Right on time. Out of time. Mind the time. Be on time. Spare time. Keep time. Stall for time. There are as many expressions with “time” as there are minutes in a day. But once, there was no word for it at all. Because no one was counting. Then Dor began. And everything changed.”

“And thus unknowingly, Dor began to serve his sentence -- to hear every plea from every soul who desired more of the thing he had first identified, the thing that moved man further from the simple light of existence and deeper into the darkness of his own obsessions. Time.”

“Dor shook his head. “The phrase. What does it mean?”Sarah wondered if he was kidding. “Time flies? You know, like, time goes really fast and suddenly you’re saying goodbyeand it’s like no time passed at all?”His eyes drifted. He liked it. “Time flies.”“With you,” she added.”

“With his power over time, Dor could have taken anything he desired from this new world. But a man who can take anything will find most things unsatisfying.”

“He had his time measures and he had her. That was his life. For as long as he could remember, it had been that way, Dor and Alli, even as children. "I do not want to die," she whispered."You will not die.""I want to be with you.""You are.”