Bargain Basement

"Bargain Basement" by Charles L. Fontenay is a science fiction story that focuses on a mysterious store with unbelievably cheap, advanced items, suggesting something strange is going on with time itself. It looks at ideas about time travel, love, and the unexpected things that can happen when we make choices based on futuristic items acquired at low prices. The plot follows Jack Hanshaw and his roommate Ken Adaman as they find a weird basement shop with unusual goods at super low prices. Jack tries to fix a broken TV he bought and gets caught up in events that show the shop is linked to the future. Ken buys a futuristic car for next to nothing, and Jack, feeling jealous, uses a drug from the future to try to win over Lorene, who they both like. Their actions create a confusing situation where their choices change things so much that the store and its products disappear, but Jack still ends up marrying Lorene, which shows how love, wanting more, and the fragile nature of time can mix together in surprising and deep ways.