Tim’s Third Trade, Nancy’s First

The challenge Tim found himself in was that this next swap would mean the difference between life and **** for him and Nancy, but he also didn’t want to do something that would cause someone else to die. He could, for example, trade places with the truck driver, but that would lead to the truck driver being killed instantly.

He also didn’t want to end up with a big trade. His life had already been turned upside down, he preferred to minimize the damage the next trade could bring. So if Tim could find something small, perhaps the next change that Justice gives him would be barely noticeable.

Who was there to trade with? The truck driver was closest, but Tim had already written him off. Drivers of the other cars, too, wouldn’t work. If he traded cars with them, they would just end up killed by the driver instead of him. That was something he couldn’t live with.

About half a block away Tim could see a man and a woman walking away from their car. The woman was holding her fob over her shoulder, pressing the ‘lock’ button, as evidenced by the lights lit up on the car. Maybe he could trade with them somehow.

“Could I make a trade with two people?” Tim asked, “That way Nancy could be helped too.”

Justice closed her eyes for a second, then, “Since she is victim to my sister’s pettiness, I can make an exception, just this once. Same rules apply, though. Fair trade.”

“I don’t care, as long as it saves her life,” Tim said, pointing, “that couple up the street, could that work?”

“What do you have in mind?”

“Something small, then maybe the trade won’t be so profound. Less noticeable, cosmetic,” Tim said, hopeful, “How about we switch being out of the car. That way when the truck hits, it will miss us.”

Old woman Justice hummed and hawed for a minute, wiggling her fingers both at Tim and Nancy, then the corners of her mouth turned up.

“Yes,” she said, “that’s pretty clever. A small trade, but will change everything. Okay,” again she began waving her hand in front of her face, as if going through a virtual menu, “let me just… yes, this will work fine.”

Then she punched her fist forward and it started to smoke, then waved both hands over her head, then announced, "It is done! The trade is complete."

“Thank you,” Tim said, genuinely grateful, “you saved us.”

“Nope,” she said dismissively, “You saved you.”

The metallic smell returned, and Justice began to fade away. Just before she vanished, Tim shouted.

“Wait! What was the trade?”

“Don’t worry,” her voice was distant as she disappeared, “it’s just cosmetic!”