Content Warning: The novel includes depictions of suicide, suicidal ideation, and sexual assault.

An old man, Father Time, sits alone in a cave, listening to the voices of people coming from a pool in the corner. Father Time was once a mortal human who angered God and was banished to this cave and forced to listen to the people’s cries for more time.

One of the voices is Sarah Lemon, a teenager excited to meet with a boy, who is pictured on her phone, later that day. As she thinks about preparing for their meeting, she wishes that she had more time. Another of the voices is Victor Delamonte, a wealthy man in his mid-80s who is sitting in a doctor’s office alongside his wife. The treatment he has been having has not been effective, and he asks the doctor how much time he has left.

Although Father Time has been in the cave for “an eternity” (4), he is about to be free and return to Earth to finish what he began.