At the library, a dusty drawer hides unusual cards. Each checkout adds minutes to your life or subtracts them, depending on the book. Thrillers cost five minutes, cookbooks add ten, poetry is neutral. A retiree checks out atlases, stacking hours like souvenirs. A student loses weeks cramming for exams, but gains years from gardening manuals. No one knows the algorithm. The only rule printed on the card: "Return books on time; time may not be."
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