Alan loves the beach. More than a weekend respite, it is his home, his refuge, his sanctuary. And for most of the year, he strolls the sand in blissful solitude, letting nature-and no one else-touch him. But spring has given way to summer, and soon, the annual invasion of vacationers and tourists will subdivide the beach with blankets, umbrellas, and chairs, depriving Alan of his privacy and seclusion-the fundamental touchstones of his life. Resigned to endure another seasonal onslaught of beach-goers, Alan believes there is nothing he can do but prepare for the worst. But fate has other plans. Delivered to him on the crest of a rogue wave, the strange object appears to have no purpose, no practical use-until Alan accidentally discovers what waits inside. Now he must attempt to unravel an ageless mystery, unaware that the final outcome will change his life, and the beach, forever. In the companion novella Short Time, you'll meet a respectable but bored middle-class executive, who exchanges his future for six months of excess and extravagance, only to find out the price he must pay for his hedonistic indulgence is beyond anything he could have imagined.