“More like a hundred, but in reality only a few hours.” Her dear friend sighed. “We didn’t think you would ever wake up.”

Darby swung a foot off the narrow bunk trying to get her bearings. “A thousand years is like day when you’re sleeping, and day is like a thousand years when you’re waiting for something to happen.”

She yawned and stretched and didn’t feel rested at all.

“A hundred years? Really? Did it work? The spell?” That was the reason for such a long nap.

Jul looked down at her feet and then across the room to Brock. Brock had been monitoring Darby’s sleep to insure she woke up at the allotted time. Spells were a tricky thing and never a certainty.

“I’m afraid not.” Brock plopped down in a chair in front of a row of monitors that looked like radar tracking screens. Darby frowned unable to read what they said.

“How can you tell?”

“You went into the future, then jumped back to the past, and I thought for half a breath that you caused a breach in protocol. But it wasn’t you.”

Brock scooted his chair out the way. “See this tiny speck right there?” He pointed to an almost indistinguishable dot on the screen of monitor number three.

Darby squinted and leaned in close but shook her head. “Who is it?”

“You know who it is.” Jul said softly, hoping her words would sink into Darby’s heart. “I think he still loves you.”

“That’s not possible. Why would he show up? He’s the one that said it was over.”

Jul stole another look with Brock. “You’ll have to ask him yourself.”

“What? Is he here?” Darby nearly panicked at the thought.

“Not quite.” Brock typed something then clicked a couple of keys. “He’s stuck.”

Darby peered at the minute dot for a second. “Stuck where? How?”