I closed the refrigerator and began opening cabinets, looking for anything to eat. After several tries I found the cabinet that held most of the food and dug around until I came across a familiar brand of crackers. I pulled out a handful of the round snacks, my mouth watering in anticipation, then placed the first one in my mouth. The taste was not what I had expected and I frowned in disappointment. I had eaten this brand of cracker before, but it tasted nothing like I remembered. There were unusual seasonings in the flavor. I looked at the box more closely and saw that it was a fat-free and sodium-free variety.
Continuing to eat despite the strange flavor, I found a glass and filled it with tap water, then gulped it down. By the time I began to feel full, I had eaten a quarter of the box and had three full glasses of water. I closed the box and placed it back in the cupboard, then grabbed my jacket, found the stairs, and began climbing, anxious to find my bedroom.
At the top of the stairs I paused, listening to see if anyone was actually home. The only sound was Goldie panting next to me. I reached down and patted her back, her presence a comfort to me, then I walked down the short hall, glancing in each of the four doors. There were three bedrooms and one bathroom.
I went into each bedroom in turn. My parents’ bedroom didn’t have its own bathroom like the other house had, and there was only enough room for a full bed and a small dresser. One of the other bedrooms obviously belonged to my younger brothers; the dirty clothes stuffed in corners and the toys scattered around the floor made that clear. The last bedroom held bunk beds shoved against one wall, along with one dresser and a small desk along the other walls. This had to be my room, shared with my thirteen-year-old sister, Amy. As I realized I had lost my own room, my heart sank. It had taken a long time to convince Dad I deserved my own room and now I had lost it.
I could tell that the top bunk belonged to Amy—there had been no attempt to make it—but the bottom bunk was mostly made and I assumed it was mine. I draped my jacket over the back of the desk chair, then sat on the edge of the bed. After a moment I stretched out on top of the comforter, staring at the bottom of Amy’s bunk, questions racing through my mind.
How had my family moved here and gotten settled in so quickly? Why had they moved in the first place? Why did it look like I had slept here already when I knew for a fact I had never stepped foot in this house before?
At the last question, I sat up, my thoughts tumbling around in my head. How was it possible that it appeared I’d been living here when I knew I had never been here before? I jumped up and went to the desk, yanking open drawers. I found several homework assignments with my name on them, assignments that had been graded, assignments I had no memory of doing. How was that possible?
Then I thought again about Fred’s comment that maybe I had come from a parallel universe. The idea terrified me, but what else could explain all the strange things that had happened to me since I’d run away from home and spent the night in that little hut?
I didn’t really know anything about this parallel universe theory, but suddenly I was desperate to know everything about it. Hurrying down the stairs, I found a computer monitor in the living room with the computer tower next to it. I sat in front of it but couldn’t see where the power button was. Dad had always been interested in technology and liked to get the latest models and I wondered if this was a recent purchase—before he was taken by the F.A.T. people, of course. I knew I hadn’t seen it before.
I leaned toward it, trying to see where it turned on, when a light briefly shined in my eyes. Startled, I jumped back, then heard the sound of a quiet fan as the computer turned on.
How did that turn on? I hadn’t even touched it.
I leaned toward the computer tower again and noticed a small device plugged in to the side. I picked it up and examined it.
I think this is an eye scanner, I thought, amazed that my family would have something like that. Did it recognize me?
I set it down and turned toward the monitor, which now showed the desktop. Pulling up the browser, I did a search on parallel universes. Multiple sites appeared in the search engine and I spent a while pulling them up and reading the information. The main thing I learned was that many people believed in parallel universes, but I still found it hard to accept that that was what had happened to me. If I had traveled to another dimension, wouldn’t I have noticed something? But I had no memory of anything unusual happening. That is, besides my family disappearing and learning about the F.A.T. centers. But nothing like wandering to another universe.
I heard the sound of the front door being unlocked and I froze, suddenly terrified to see my family. What if it wasn’t my family? What if it was a group of strangers who lived here with Goldie? My heart pounded as I closed the browser and dashed up the stairs to what I hoped was my bedroom.
Chapter Twelve
I ran into the bedroom that I had assumed was mine and slid open the closet door. There wasn’t much space, but I shoved aside some of the clothes hanging from the rod and stepped behind them, then moved them back into place. My heart hammering, I reached forward and closed the closet door.
Muffled voices floated up the stairs and I strained to listen, trying to verify they were the voices of my family.
“Nooo,” a young voice whined. “It’s mine.”
I thought that sounded like my eight-year-old brother Brandon.
“Give the car back to your brother,” a woman’s voice demanded.
I smiled as I recognized my mother’s voice. I slid the closet door open and stepped out, then jumped when I heard a loud scream. Trying not to laugh at the look of terror on my sister’s face, I calmly walked out of the closet and slid it closed behind me.
“Morgan! What are you doing?” Amy said, obviously embarrassed to be startled.
“I was just looking for a shirt.”
“How could you see with the door closed?” she asked, squinting with disbelief.
Thinking quickly I said, “Flashlight.”
“Oh.”
I was so happy to see her that I almost gave her a hug, but I stopped myself in time. A sign of affection like that would certainly raise her suspicions that something was out of the ordinary. But I couldn’t stop the big smile from spreading across my face.
“Is that a new shirt?” she asked.
I glanced down at the shirt I was wearing, then looked at her strangely. “This is the one you gave me for Christmas. Don’t you remember?”
Amy laughed. “No, I didn’t. I gave you earrings.”
My heart pounded as I touched my earlobes. I had never had my ears pierced. I had been too scared that it would hurt.
“Why aren’t you wearing any earrings, Morgan?”
“Uh, I just don’t want to.”
A puzzled look on her face, Amy walked close to me and stared at my ears. “But you always wear earrings.”
I quickly moved my hair so that my ears were covered. “Well maybe I don’t want to now. I certainly don’t need to get permission from a stupid thirteen-year-old.”
Looking hurt, Amy pouted as tears filled her eyes. “You don’t have to be rude.”
I frowned. She usually answered my mean remarks with something equally scathing. What was wrong with her? Or was it me that had something wrong? Oh well, I thought. She’ll get over it.
I watched as she sat on the bottom bunk.
Then it occurred to me that she might be able to tell me something about Dad. “So, Amy.”
“What?” Her arms were crossed and her bottom lip poked out in a full sulk.
“Where’s Dad?”
“You’re just making fun of me.” She turned her head away, clearly feeling insulted for a reason known only to her.
Her reaction just made me all the more curious. She didn’t seem upset by the mention of Dad, so that was a good sign. “Why do you think I’m making fun of you?”
Refusing to look at me, she spoke to the wall. “You know where Daddy is. Why are you asking a question that y
ou already know the answer to? Are you trying to make me look stupid?”
I had no clue where my Dad was but I didn’t know how to explain that to her without making her think I’d gone completely crazy. “No, Amy. I know you’re not stupid.” I paused, swallowing my pride. “I’m sorry I said that earlier. That wasn’t nice of me.”
She turned to face me, the pout beginning to fade.
Pretending I knew where Dad was, I asked, “So, when do you think he’ll be home?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “You know how those places are. You can’t come home until you weigh the right amount.”
I felt the blood drain from my face as I realized what Fred had told me was true. People really were taken to the F.A.T. centers and forced to lose weight.
“Morgan, are you okay?” Amy’s eyebrows were drawn together, a look of concern on her face.
“Yeah, sure,” I muttered as I walked over and sat next to her on what I assumed was my bed. I could feel her staring at me, but I ignored her, trying to come to grips with the fact that I was in some other universe and wondering how I could get back home. Closing my eyes in amazement that such a thing was even possible, I swallowed hard to force down the nausea that tried to push its way up my throat.
“Morgan, what’s wrong?” Amy asked, gently pushing my arm.
I opened my eyes and looked at her. “How long has Dad been gone? I can’t remember.” I tried to pretend I wasn’t shaken by the fact that he was gone.
“I guess it’s been about seven weeks.”
“Seven weeks?” I couldn’t hide the shock. Then I tried to cover myself. “I mean, wow. That’s gone by fast.”
“Yeah,” Amy said. “I guess it has.”
“Amy, who are you talking to?” Mom said, appearing in the doorway. “Oh, Morgan. Hi.”
Overjoyed to see her, I jumped up and threw my arms around her. As tears of relief filled my eyes, I blinked rapidly, hoping they would go away. After a moment I let go of her and she smiled warmly.
“I didn’t know you were back,” she said.
I didn’t know where I was back from, but I played along. “Yeah.”
“How was it at the Candee’s cabin?” she asked.
“Oh.” I was surprised to know that’s where I was supposed to be. “Uh, it was fun.” I didn’t know they had a cabin but I could only assume I would like it there. “Yeah, so we left a little early. When were you expecting me?” I asked.
“Not until after dinner,” she said. “But this is better. It will give you a little more time to make sure you’re ready for the first day of school tomorrow.”
I wasn’t sure what she meant. The school year had begun two months before, in September. Fortunately I caught myself before I blurted that out. Instead I said as casually as I could, “Yeah, I’m excited to begin my sophomore year.”
She nodded, so I knew I had guessed right, but I wondered if school started in November here or if this was actually September.
“I know it will be hard starting at a new school, but I know you’ll do great.” She wore the smile of encouragement I knew so well. “I just wish you’d been able to make some friends over the summer.”
What had I been doing all summer? Did I not know anyone? What a loser.
“Oh well, I’m sure you’ll make friends soon enough.”
I nodded, then realized that it was actually a positive that I would be starting at the beginning of the school year at a school where no one knew me. At least I wouldn’t be expected to know anyone, which would make it easier to hide the fact that I wasn’t exactly from around here. This universe, that is. I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep the hysterical laughter that was building inside me from coming out.
“Well, I guess I’ll get dinner started,” Mom said. “You’re on dish duty tonight, Morgan.”
“Okay,” I said, then remembered that there was no dishwasher in this house. Great.
Mom looked at Amy. “And you’re on dinner duty. Please come help me with dinner.”
I watched as Amy followed Mom out of the room and I sighed. Though elated to be with my family again, I needed a little time to myself to process what had happened.
What had happened anyway? How did I get here and how could I possibly have traveled to another universe? I methodically went over everything that had happened since I’d left home.
“Wait a minute,” I whispered, an idea occurring to me. Maybe it was that hut that led me here. That long underground tunnel or something. Maybe if I went back to that hut I could get back home. But how would I get there? It was a four hour drive away. Not only that, I wasn’t at all sure I could find the hut once I’d gotten to my old house.
Then another thought occurred to me. What if I found the hut and nothing happened? What if this was a one-way thing and now I was stuck here? How would I survive in this world where I didn’t know the rules and everything was so strange? In the short time I’d been here I’d already grown to dislike the way everyone was so obsessed with their weight.
In the world I’d come from people had been concerned about being healthy, but it was nothing compared to here. In this world they made you go to F.A.T. centers and lose weight. What was that all about, anyway? Was it against the law to be overweight?
The thought of staying here for the rest of my life made my heart race in panic. I had to get home. But how?
On top of everything else, I was expected to restart my sophomore year? That really sucked. I looked around the room, trying to find a calendar and saw one pinned to the wall above the desk. I walked over to it and saw that the current month was indeed September. Then I remembered that the computer at the Candee’s had said today was September third. It was the same year as it had been in my other life, but just two months earlier.
I wondered what the significance of that was. Would the date have anything to do with me getting back home? Did I need to go to the hut on the same date I had been there before? On November tenth?
A new feeling of hope surged through me that maybe there was some logic to how this had happened and I began to formulate a plan. I would wait until November eighth, then I would make my way back to the forest by my old house and find my way back to the tunnel that led to the hut.
All I had to do was survive for two months.
Chapter Thirteen
“Morgan, dinner’s ready,” Amy called up the stairs.
My stomach growled and I realized I was starving. As I went down the stairs I tried to place the smell coming from the kitchen. When I entered the kitchen I saw Mom moving pieces of cooked meat onto a plate. “What is that?” I asked as I headed to the table, eager to satisfy my appetite.
“Liver,” Mom said.
I had begun pulling out a chair, but froze, not sure if I’d heard her right. It had sounded like she’d said liver, but she had said it like she would have said steak, or hamburgers, like it was a normal thing for us to eat. “What?” I asked, hoping I had misunderstood.
“Liver,” she repeated, a smile on her face.
Fortunately she didn’t notice me trying to withhold a gag. I sat in my chair and looked at the other items on the table, hoping I could fill up on the rolls and salad.
A few moments later we were all sitting at the table and Mom began passing the food around. When the liver came to me I passed it straight to Amy.
“Morgan, what’s wrong? Why aren’t you taking any? You always eat my liver.”
I like this stuff? I thought, trying to come up with an excuse for not eating it now. “Uh, we, that is, the Candee’s, just had liver last night.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. But you’d better have some anyway or you’ll be hungry later.”
“I thought I could just eat some extra rolls.”
“Oh, Morgan. You know you only get one roll,” Mom said, frowning.
“I do? How come?”
Her face reddened. “Maybe the Candee’s can afford to let their children have more than one roll each, but we, well, we just c
an’t.”
I didn’t know why she was getting so upset all of a sudden, but I grabbed the plate of liver back from Amy and jabbed my fork into a small piece before dropping it on my plate. Then I noticed that Amy and my brothers were staring at me. “What?” I asked, annoyed at their accusing eyes.
“You know we’re poor now,” Brandon said in a tone of voice that showed his disdain for needing to explain the obvious.
Amy reached over and lightly punched his arm. “Brandon!”
“Ow! Stop that,” he said. “It’s not my fault that we’re poor.”
“That’s enough,” Mom said sharply. “Yes, money is a little tight right now, but we have what we need.”
What had I started by asking about extra rolls? And why was money so tight? Was it because Dad had been taken away? Thinking about Dad and where he was and all the problems my family seemed to be having took away my appetite. But even though I wasn’t hungry anymore and the thought of eating liver made me want to gag, I cut a bite-sized piece off and placed it in my mouth. How could I not eat when food appeared to be so scarce? Slowly chewing, I wondered what I could do to help my family.
This liver isn’t too bad, I thought as I swallowed and then cut another piece. I managed to eat most of my serving of liver, but eventually I couldn’t force down another bite. Not because I was full. In fact I was still pretty hungry. But because after the first few bites, the texture and flavor made me want to vomit and I couldn’t force myself to eat any more. Focusing on my one roll and my small serving of salad, I managed to eat enough to keep me going for a while.
I thought that would have to do until morning, but then Mom announced she had something for dessert. Remembering the delicious desserts she’d always made, I pictured a lovely slice of chocolate cake or a warm slice of apple pie. So when she brought out bowls of sliced bananas and poured milk into them, my anticipation quickly turned to disappointment.
Gone (Parallel Trilogy, Book 1) Page 9