Imagine walking into the Department of Motor Vehicles without an appointment. You take a number, look around the crowded waiting room, and realize you could be there for hours.
Now imagine that instead of watching the clock, you could travel hundreds of years into the future without ever leaving your chair.
Sounds impossible? Perhaps. But that’s the wonderful thing about imagination—and a good audiobook.
The DMV: Where Time Seems to Stand Still
Anyone who has visited a busy DMV office knows how slowly time can seem to pass.
The digital display announces another number. People shuffle through paperwork. Someone sighs. Someone else checks their watch for the tenth time.
And you’re still waiting.
Without an appointment, the wait can vary considerably depending on the office, staffing, and services being requested. Some visitors are helped quickly, while others may wait an hour or longer.
Before visiting, it’s worth checking your state’s DMV website to see whether your transaction can be completed online or whether your local office provides walk-in service.
But what happens when you really do need to sit there and wait?
Turn Waiting Time Into an Adventure
Instead of treating every minute as wasted time, consider bringing something that makes the wait more enjoyable.
An audiobook can transform an uncomfortable chair into a front-row seat for an extraordinary story.
With headphones and a fully charged phone, you can explore distant countries, solve mysteries, experience history, or imagine the world hundreds of years from now.
Just keep the volume low enough to hear when your number is called!
What If the Future Isn’t Filled With Robots?
Science fiction frequently imagines a future dominated by cyborgs, robotic armies, and machines threatening to destroy humanity.
But what if the future takes a completely different direction?
What if scientific discoveries change what it means to be human?
What if genetic advancements create extraordinary abilities?
And what if time travel becomes possible?
Would you visit the past to witness an important historical event? Would you travel into the future to see how people live? Or would you return to one moment in your own life and make a different decision?
The possibilities are almost endless.
In MODIFIED: 2099 — Time Travel Romance by Eva Szilagyi, the future offers possibilities beyond the familiar stories of robots and machines.
It’s a world where genetic modification, extraordinary abilities, relationships, and time travel open the door to unexpected adventures.
The story invites readers and listeners to imagine a future shaped by something other than robotic destruction.
And because it’s available as an audiobook, you can explore that world while traveling, relaxing at home, or waiting for your number at the DMV.
Explore MODIFIED: 2099 paperback/Kindle and its audiobook at 10StarStories.com.
Where Would You Go First?
Imagine someone offered you the chance to travel through time, but you could choose only one destination.
Would you visit ancient Rome, witness the construction of the pyramids, see your grandparents as children, or discover what the world looks like in the year 2200?
There’s no wrong answer.
And while actual time travel remains a fascinating idea rather than an available technology, stories let us experience possibilities that ordinary life cannot.
Which brings us to Kay and David, who recently discovered that a long afternoon at the DMV could become much more interesting than either of them expected.
Kay and David’s Adventures
The Future Is Calling… Number 3, Please!
“Number three!”
Kay looked at the ticket in her hand.
“Eighty-seven,” she groaned.
David leaned back in his uncomfortable plastic chair.
“Well, that’s encouraging. Only eighty-four people ahead of us.”
Kay surveyed the crowded DMV waiting room. Every chair was occupied, several people were standing against the walls, and a baby was crying somewhere near the entrance.
“David, we’re going to be here all day!”
“Look on the bright side. We might get called before our driver’s licenses expire again.”
Kay laughed. “Very funny.”
David reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone.
“I have an idea. Remember that audiobook I told you about? The one about people living in the future?”
“The one with time travel?”
“That’s the one. MODIFIED: 2099 — Time Travel Romance.”
Kay opened her own phone.
“Perfect! We have our headphones. At least we can escape this place for a while.”
They settled into their chairs, put on their headphones, and pressed play.
A Different Kind of Future
As the story unfolded, Kay began imagining a world unlike anything she’d expected.
There were futuristic cities, extraordinary discoveries, and people whose lives had been changed by genetic science. But the most fascinating possibility was time travel.
Kay glanced at David. He was listening with his eyes closed, a faint smile on his face. She nudged his elbow. David removed one earphone.
“What?”
“If you could travel through time, where would you go first?”
David didn’t hesitate.
“Ancient Rome.”
“Of course you would!”
“I’d like to see how they really built their cities. Walk through the Forum. Meet the people. See history instead of just reading about it.”
Kay considered that.
“I’d go into the future.”
“How far?”
“Maybe two hundred years. I want to know what people wear, what their houses look like, and whether anyone still has to cook dinner.”
David grinned.
“Knowing you, you’d come back with three suitcases of futuristic clothes.”
“And you’d come back with a history book weighing fifty pounds.”
They laughed, replaced their headphones, and returned to the story.
Something Strange at Counter Six
“Number thirty-one!”
Neither of them paid much attention.
The DMV was slowly disappearing from their thoughts.
In Kay’s imagination, the dull fluorescent lights became the soft glow of a futuristic city. The crowded rows of plastic chairs seemed to transform into sleek seating pods. Then she looked toward the service counters.
The woman behind counter six looked different. Her eyes were an unusual shade of green. Her ears seemed just a little too pointed. She tilted her head toward a customer as though she already knew what he was about to say. Kay blinked.
At counter four, another employee appeared to be communicating with someone without moving his lips.
Daquiens!
She turned toward David. He was staring at counter two.
“David?” she whispered. David leaned closer.
“Kay, I think I’ve been listening to this book too long.”
“Why?”
“Because I could swear the man behind that counter just read somebody’s mind.”
Kay grabbed his arm.
“I SEE THEM TOO!”
Several people turned around.
David quickly put a finger to his lips.
“Shhh! We’re at the DMV!”
Kay lowered her voice.
“David, those aren’t ordinary people. They’re Daquiens!”
David looked toward the counters again.
The employees seemed perfectly normal.
Or were they?
“Kay, I think we’ve traveled a little too far into the future.”
“Well, we’d better get back!”
“How?”
Kay stared at him.
“Don’t they call it Binking in the book?”
David smiled.
“All right. On the count of three. One… two… three!”
They both squeezed their eyes shut.
BINK!
Kay opened her eyes.
The futuristic seating pods were gone. The fluorescent lights were back. The baby was still crying.
And counter six was occupied by a perfectly ordinary woman who looked as though she desperately needed a coffee break. Kay sighed with relief.
“Well, that was close.” David chuckled.
“Next time, let’s visit ancient Rome. I think the DMV of the future might be even scarier than this one.”
Back to Reality
“Number eighty-six!”
Kay sat bolt upright.
“DAVID!”
He pulled off his headphones.
“What? What happened?”
“EIGHTY-SIX! We’re next!”
David scrambled for his wallet and paperwork.
“Where’s the registration?”
“In your folder!”
“Where’s my folder?”
“Under your chair!”
“Where’s my—”
“David! Just get up!”
“NUMBER EIGHTY-SEVEN!”
They practically jumped out of their seats.
The woman at the counter looked over her glasses.
“Eighty-seven?”
“That’s us!” Kay announced triumphantly.
David leaned toward her and whispered, “You know, we just spent the last several hours imagining time travel.”
Kay smiled.
“And?”
“And I would give anything to travel back to this morning and make this appointment online.”
Kay burst out laughing.
“David, I think that’s the smartest thing you’ve said all day!”
And somewhere in the future, perhaps a Daquien was laughing too.
More Stories Are Waiting for You
From historical adventures and science fiction to children’s time-travel stories
and practical career guidance, there’s something new to discover.
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