things that you could look at for hours and never grow tired of, soothing to the point of hypnotism. After watching the waves roll in for a while, I twisted around to look up at the tall clockpost behind me. It was already half past eight. Even if the train were to roll in at that exact moment, it still took about twenty minutes to reach our intended station, and classes started at ten till. This being the case, I resigned myself to the fact that there was no longer any hope of making it to school on time and closed my eyes to try to fit in a quick catnap. Not long after, one of the girls sitting across from me said something that made my ears perk up. “So hey… Have you ever heard of the Urashima Tunnel?” she asked her friend. “Uh-oh,” the other girl groaned. “This isn’t another ghost story, is it?” “Nah, not exactly. I mean, it’s supernatural, yeah, but more in an urban legend sorta way.” “A scary urban legend?” “Maaaybe?” “Nope. Nuh-uh. Don’t wanna hear it.” “Aw, c’mon. There’s no ghosts involved, I promise. Anyway, the basic gist is that it’s a tunnel that can grant any wish to those who enter it.” “Any wish? Just by walking into it?” “Yep. Any wish.” “Huh… And that’s all there is to it?” “No, but see, this is the part where it gets kinda spooky… So, like, say you’ve gotten your wish, right? And now you’re ready to go back home. But the Urashima Tunnel doesn’t let you leave that easily. It always takes something from you in return.” “And what’s that?” “Years. Years and years off of your life. Go in a teenager, and you’ll come back out as a wrinkly old woman.” “Whoa… So it’s like, would you trade all the best years of your life to be a billionaire or whatever?”