Three seconds

By Kane Banway

 “Use our T-Gate and be at your meeting in exactly three seconds!  Tired of the subway and its smells, the bus and its noise!  Take our T-Gate and forget those archaic times when the duration of a trip was a criterion for travel!*”

*Subject to status, property of Fast Food inc.

Jack is a loving father.  And as a perfect husband, he must please his wife who doesn’t want to spend 7 hours in a car when they could use a T-Gate and reach their destination in exactly three seconds.

Except that Jack doesn’t like T-Gates… But he loves his wife, so…

What wouldn’t a man do, for the love of his life?

A short story without pretension other than to entertain you for a little while…

P.S: If you liked this short story, please share or comment: negative or positive – because nothing’s perfect –, you have no idea of the impact it could have on an author in the making…

• Language: English
• Publisher: BadPress
• Release date: Sep 16, 2021
• ISBN: 9781507140550

Kane Banway

Né à Paris le 3 avril 1980, son père décide pour ses 12 ans de balancer sa collection de BD pour les remplacer par l'intégrale de Sherlock Holmes, ainsi qu'un curieux livre contant les aventures d'un nabot aux pieds velu nommé Bilbo. De ce jour est né un grand amour pour l'imaginaire, l'évasion, le fantastique et les causes perdues(retrouver ses BD). Verne, Tolkien, Doyle, Zelazny sont rapidement devenu ses compagnons, bien plus que ses pauvres livres scolaires délaissés. Pour des raisons indépendantes de sa volonté, un grand nombre de mondes sont restés emprisonnés, derrière les barreaux de ses multiples boulots liés à l'informatique. Jusqu'au jour où la nécessité de laisser sortir ses prisonniers s'imposa...

Book preview

Three Seconds

Kane Banway

Friday, 7:50 am

«Tired of public transportation? Sick of people in the bus who smell as though they forgot to take their monthly shower? Special offer ending tonight! Buy one T-Gate, get one free, including installation...

Honey, if we had one T-Gate for work and one for school, we could sleep two extra hours every morning... And I would get home sooner after work...

Is it the ‘smelly people’ argument that convinced you?

Among other things yes... so what do you say?

Ok, let’s get one!

YEAH ! Do you want a diamond with it?

Oooh...

Conditions apply. T-Gate is State-subsidized due to its positive environmental impact and is a registered trademark of Fast Food Inc.»

And the cheap jingle resumed hammering three notes in a loop for 10 seconds. I turned off my screen.

"So honey, are you getting ready to accomplish your feat of the day?" Teased my sweet wife.

I retorted with my #3 smile: a face mimicking a forced smile. Years of practice for a second of perfection.

One of the twins was staring at me the same way his mother did. Eight years old and already able to communicate at a glance judgment on my ability to achieve the feat of the day. Merry was good at making fun of my quirks. Terry, on the other hand, was more serious and focused. He was concentrating on his bowl of cereal, trying to capture the remaining green flakes.

"I don’t like that commercial, I said. It’s too sexist, as if a diamond could always please a woman: it’s such a cliché. Don’t you think, honey?"

Jane