Bargain Basement

Jack Hanshaw can't believe his luck. Every week, the odd little basement store on Maple Street seems to have exactly what he needs, at prices too cheap to question. A television set for a dollar. A wristwatch for a nickel. The merchandise works perfectly, almost impossibly well, and the store owner just smiles when Jack asks how he does it. But Jack's roommate Ken isn't so sure about these "bargains." Something about the store feels wrong, and when the truth finally emerges, it will shatter everything Jack thought he knew about cause and effect. This 1950s novella is a perfectly crafted tale of temporal comeuppance: every deal has a price, and every choice ripples backward and forward through time. Fontenay builds quiet dread into the mundane act of shopping, transforming a simple trip to the corner store into an existential thriller. The ending lands with the precision of a grandfather clock striking midnight.