Too bad. “There must be something your machine is good for,” I said. Then I had another idea. “Hey, you can bring me back a piece of fudge from the future, and I can eat it twice: Once now, and again in the future.”

“Yes, but the fudge wouldn’t stay in your stomach,” said Peter. “It would go back to the future.”

“That’s even better!” I said. “I can enjoy eating the fudge over and over again without getting fat!”

It was late, and I had to go home before my parents started to worry. Before I left, Peter said, “Look, Angela, there’s still a lot of work to do on LAFFF. Please don’t tell anybody about the machine until I’ve got it right.”

A few days later I asked him how he was doing.

“I can stay in the future time a bit longer now,” he said. “Once I got it up to four minutes.”

“Is that enough time to bring me back some fudge from the future?” I asked.

“We don’t keep many sweets around the house,” he said. “But I’ll see what I can do.”

A few minutes later, he came back with a spring roll for me. “My mother was frying these in the kitchen, and I snatched one while she wasn’t looking.”

I bit into the hot, crunchy spring roll, but before I finished chewing, it disappeared. The taste of soy sauce, green onions, and bean sprouts stayed a little longer in my mouth, though.

It was fun to play around with LAFFF, but it wasn’t really useful. I didn’t know what a great help it would turn out to be.