Shots of Eternity (Part 2)

When Gavin landed amid the chaos of a war-torn battlefield, the thunder of artillery and acrid smell of smoke assaulted his senses. Gone was the playful atmosphere of ticker-tape parades and summits; this was a living nightmare. And it wasn’t just any battle—it was the day an iconic photograph would capture the desperation and courage of frontline soldiers. Heart pounding, Gavin set his eyes on the war correspondent’s camera in the distance, envisioning his fleeting cameo in history’s lens.

He scrambled between foxholes, each explosion rattling his confidence. The $TIME watch glowed hotly, struggling to anchor him among the disjointed timeline shifts. It flickered, then sparked, as bullet casings pinged around him. Determined, he pressed on, sweat lining his brow. The instant he ducked behind a half-collapsed sandbag wall, the watch made a final whine of protest. Smoke curled from its circuitry, and all at once he felt the timeline slip out of his grasp—like stepping off a ledge into empty air.

Gavin lunged for cover, cradling the watch’s shattered face. A single beep fizzled and died, leaving him stranded. The roving photographer snapped his iconic shot just as an explosion illuminated the sky, capturing Gavin’s distant silhouette—yet now he had no means to return home. With horror, he realized this moment would become more famous than any cameo he’d staged before. Except he’d be stuck in it, his destiny forever entangled in a war he could no longer leave behind.

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