>Be Evan.

>Be two or three summers back.

>Jason has paid the family a phone call from his base in Afghanistan.

>Evan is taking his turn with Jason on the phone.

>His parents sound both relieved and worried all over again at hearing from Jason.

>I figured something out about the universe, I think, Jason told Evan after about ten minutes of bullshitting.

>What?

>Time moves in cycles.

>Cycles?

>Yeah, like, you know, the seasons and everything and the ways we measure time and space, there's boundaries that we create and then there's natural boundaries that are just outside of our senses. You can tell they're there, but you can't control them. But these boundaries, they move in cycles, you know, just like the four seasons revolve around the year. They move in cycles. And you see, you gotta plan your life accordingly according to the cycles.

>I don't get it.

>It's binary, evens and odds, positive and negative. That's what I've been reading about since I've been over here.

>Jason guards a prison. He says it's a boring job, and when Evan asks him to describe what he has to do on the daily, he says he's not allowed to say specifically.

>It's so fucking hot here. I hate it. I feel really off here.

>Well, I mean, you're in a war.

>Yeah, but it's not that kind of war.

>Jason hasn't seen any combat, and says he's not likely to.

>Evan's thankful for that, but doesn't say so

>But yeah, cycles. If you try something on an odd year or an off year that was supposed to happen on even year, it's gonna go worse than it would've if you waited and tried it in an on year. You get it?

>Yes, Evan lied.

>I tried this, my little military endeavor, on an off year. 2005 was when I enlisted, right? A year ending in an odd number. So I get it now. That's why I'm not feeling it. That's why I think I might have fucked up.

>Huh.

>I'm coming home in a few months, though.

>Good. For how long?

>Don't know yet. Hopefully as long as a year. Don't know yet, though.