: How to effectively jump from one period of time to another in a short story? This is the first time I'm writing something that jumps from one period of time to another in a short story:

@Goswami879

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This is the first time I'm writing something that jumps from one period of time to another in a short story:

The field was vast and empty, like a green abandoned planet. Icaro and
Maru were lying on the middle of it, sharing a joint, and gazing at
the ocean of stars above them. Occasionally, a breeze would come
through creating gentle waves in the grass.

Maru took a long drag on the joint and passed it to him. "You know,
sometimes I wonder why we have to die. Why can't we last forever, like
a crystal?"

Icaro glanced at her, then turned back his eyes to the sky. An
airplane was passing over them, high in the sky. It almost seemed to
merge with the stars.

"I have a theory," he said, in a neutral voice. "Our lives are
temporary because we just serve as disposable machines for something
that is within us."

She sat up and narrowed her eyes at him. "Something like a soul or a
little alien?"

"More like a crystal," he corrected her. She kept silent for a moment,
waiting for him to continue.

"They built us to transport themselves, compete with each other, find
other crystals, and build new machines so they can continue living on
them," he said.

"What's the point of doing that?" she asked after giving it a thought.

"There's neither a point nor a purpose. They just do it because that's
what they are supposed to do. In fact, they are not even conscious of
it."

Maru looked up at the stars for a while, trying to digest what Icaro
had just said. The airplane was nowhere to be seen.

"So according to your theory, our lives don't actually have a meaning.
We are just cargo ships delivering supplies and goods to other cargo
ships," she said.

He glanced at her, took another drag on the joint, and blew the smoke
up into the air. "I know, it's not a very comforting theory."

They remained quiet for a few minutes, lost in their thoughts, feeling
as if the conversation had transported them into a foreign land.

"Well," Maru finally said. "Even if your theory tells us that life
doesn't have a meaning, it's still a cheerful thought."

Icaro turned his head and stared at her. "How is that?"

"If we happen to have these crystals, even if our bodies turn into
dust one day, part of us will never die."

He looked at her with a smile on his lips, and looked back to the
stars.

(Starts here)

Hundreds of years had passed, but the field looked the same as before.
It was early in the morning and the sun had just risen. The sky was
clear except for a few clouds on the horizon. A young boy and a girl
were walking through the field. There was a soft wind coming from
somewhere, blowing their hair slightly.

"I think this is a nice spot," he said and sat in the grass. She
followed his action, settling herself beside him.

They remained silent for a moment, listening to the sound of the wind.

"So your grandmother is not in good health?" the little girl asked,
turning her head towards him.

He nodded without looking at her. She felt as if she had just said
something inappropriate.

"You know, sometimes I wonder why life is so short," he said after a
moment.

She gazed up into the sky and looked at an airplane that was flying
near by.

"I got a theory," she said.

I am doing this effectively? If not, how to improve it?

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