by CS Patra
“Then they might be talking about someone else with a heart under ice. Have you had any trouble at work?”
“No, everyone’s friendly over there. I’ve talked to most of the other employees and haven’t had any problems. I even get along with my boss.” She tried hard not to blush over this fact. For some reason, talking about Donnie seemed to make her turn red. It didn’t make sense, but she liked to think and talk about him. They barely knew each other, yet he made her feel funny inside.
“I take it that you like him very much.”
“Oh, I like him.” Olivia confessed. “We’re just coworkers, though. Nothing more.” Her face was burning hot as her mind went back to Donnie. This was not like her. He was the kind of man who would go after someone with the same intellectual interests. While she was smart, she probably wasn’t his type. It would be ridiculous if she were to hook up with him. She hoped that Ms. Howard would not question this further.
“So, you don’t think anyone at work did this. What other choice is there?” Ms. Howard said, and Olivia silently thanked her for not asking about Donnie.
“I don’t know. I’m not even sure this was meant for me.” She looked around the room and made sure her mother was nowhere nearby. “Can I ask you something, Ms. Howard? You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.”
“Well, if you don’t ask it, how will I know if I want answer it? There’s no question out there that’s too difficult or out of place for me. I’ve lived for a long time, and I have seen everything. What do you want to know?”
“How was Donnie as a child?” she asked. “You said he was quiet and smart, but what else was there? Did he talk to you much? Did he have any friends? What did he do for fun?”
“That’s a lot more than just one question. Not that I mind. I can see you’re curious about Donovan. Sometimes, I did have conversations with him. That’s how I found out he was so intelligent and eager to learn. I told him about the Great Depression, World War II, the Cold War, and the Civil Rights movement. I was there to witness all of that, though I can’t remember much of the first two. I was still a young girl then, and a lot of that didn’t make sense to me at the time. That’s about the time that Donovan told me he wanted to go back in time and see these changes. Since I couldn’t remember them, maybe one day he would make a machine that could take me there to see my family again. I could witness these events and keep the memories this time. But I told him it was unnecessary. Times change and things move forward for a reason. It could be a good thing that I don’t remember.”
“I’m guessing this is probably where his desire to see another universe came from. He must have been very imaginative,” Olivia mused.
“Oh, he still is. He made all kinds of strange things from junk, and most of them worked. He just never found enough time to finish that time machine, or whatever it is he’s making. I told him not to get stressed over it, but he refuses. He told me that if it took his life, he was going to prove to this world that other worlds existed.”
“He must have spent his entire life on this.” She mumbled, thinking back on the young Donnie. The poor thing must have had a lonely life. She pictured him spending his days staring out the window, just thinking of all the possibilities. It made her wish that she had met him sooner. Maybe he would not have been so lonely.
“I think he would sell his soul if he could prove his theories. This is all he has at the moment. The poor thing doesn’t have anything in the form of a social life.”
“Yeah, I figured as much,” she mumbled. “It looks like we have that much in common.”
“You always had friends, Olivia. I remember you going out with them, or them coming here to the house all the time.”
“True, but they’ve all left me for one reason or another. They’ve got their own lives and families now. I feel so weird. I know so many of them are married, while I’m still trying to figure my life out,” she sighed. “I do say hi to them on social media, but it’s not the same as it was when we were younger. I’m sure if I had a family to take care of or a better career, I would be busy as well. I can’t blame Donnie for feeling so lonely.”
“Ah, no one gets started right away with their lives. You’re still very young. You have time to get your life together and figure out what you want out of it. There’s no rule that says you need to get married while in your twenties, or that everything is over by then. You both have time. And if nothing happens? You’ll still be all right.”
“I know.” Ms. Howard was telling her everything that other people had already said. The marriage and career pushes had come mostly from her parents. Her mother was already getting baby fever, even though Olivia didn’t even know if she wanted children yet. Her father kept telling her to apply to jobs that she was not qualified for. It felt like too many people were butting into her life, and she had no real freedom to make her own choices. Even now, she felt like running away and leaving everything behind. At the moment, that sounded like the most ideal option for her.
“I guess that’s why I like Donnie so much,” she went on. “We have that bit in common. I thought he would be a polar opposite, but I guess not.”
“Yes, life is strange that way. People who you think are different from you can turn out to share something interesting with you,” Ms. Howard agreed. “Anyway I should probably go home now. I’ve held you up too long.”
Olivia nodded and went towards the door. “I’ll see you later, Ms. Howard.”
“Take care, Olivia. Try not to let the message disturb you.” Ms. Howard joined her at the door. “Everything will be all right, dear. Don’t dwell on anything.”
“Easier said than done.” She mumbled as the door closed behind her. Loneliness was starting to settle down all over again, and she hated it. No wonder Donnie seemed so sad sometimes. This was not a feeling she wanted to experience very often.
I hope you’re okay tonight, Donnie. I really do.
Chapter Seven
Olivia kept thinking about Donnie and how lonely he probably was at night. She had gone to her computer and left her friends a few messages to see how they were. She got the usual response—they had family photos to show, vacation pictures to share, and rants about how their life wasn’t perfect. Olivia wanted to slap someone for complaining about that. They had at least had something in the form of a life. They weren’t lonely or being haunted by strange dreams. For once, she envied them.
The next morning was the start of the weekend, so she thought of doing something to take her mind off the parallel universe talk. Her parents had to run errands, and she would have the house to herself. Unfortunately, Ms. Howard had other plans, and Olivia saw a note left behind for her.
O,
Ms. Howard says she wants to see you today. She hopes that you are feeling better. Be good. We love you.
-Mom
There it was. She was thrust back into the parallel universe talk. A part of her did want to talk to Ms. Howard again, but she still wanted a break from it. Everything was coming down on her so fast. She was starting to miss the days when she didn’t have a whole lot to do. She might have been bored, but at least she wasn’t confused and scared. She wasn’t worried about getting strange messages or people coming for her.
Donnie was at Ms. Howard’s door when she pulled up. It was strange to see him dressed down and out of his normal work clothes. He looked so professional there, but here he looked like any guy she would find at the mall. She got out and waved to him. “I never thought I’d see you in my neighborhood.”
“Well, truth be told, I didn’t realize this was also your neighborhood.” He blushed. “I take it that you were invited here for the same thing?”
“If you were invited to talk about other worlds, then I guess that’s a ‘yes.’” Olivia nodded. “I’ve never actually been inside this house. I’ve known Ms. Howard for a long time, but she never really invited me in. Instead, she usually came to our place and just talked to my parents.”
“Really? I
used to come here all the time as a kid,” Donnie sighed. “Ms. Howard used to make all kinds of baked goods, and would give me double the sweets whenever I came around. She and my uncle would talk while I would explore the house.”
“She gave you sweets?” Olivia sighed. “Oh well, I don’t think she’s going to give us food now. Ms. Howard did say once that she used to be a commercial baker, but I guess that was a long time ago.”
Before Donnie could say something else, Ms. Howard opened the door and smiled. She was dressed in her robe, but that didn’t seem to bother her. “Oh, Donovan! It is so good to see you! You have become so handsome over the years! I still remember when you were a little boy, running around my halls and tracking mud on my carpet. Your uncle was embarrassed, but I didn’t mind it that much.” She turned to Olivia. “How are you, my dear? I take it that work is going well.”
“Work is great, Ms. Howard.” Olivia said, giving Donnie a smile. “Donnie told me that you used to bake him stuff all the time.”
“Oh, those were the days,” Ms. Howard said. “That’s when I used to have time for baking. Now, I’m just lucky if I can bake a loaf of bread. I’m sorry I don’t have anything fresh to give you. I have been so busy.”
“Don’t worry about it. I wanted to see you more than anything else,” Donnie said. “I know you always have something for me.”
“I do, but this is much different from the things I used to give you.” Ms. Howard led them inside. “I’m glad to see you take my offer. You’re the first people I’ve ever met who wanted to go to another world.”
“Really?” Olivia tried hard not to sound too surprised. Even though Ms. Howard didn’t pose a threat, she was still treading into this territory with caution. Donnie might have been eager to jump into this, but she wasn’t. “I thought it was a common thing. People make movies about time travel and have been imagining this for years.” Ms. Howard laughed at that. “What is so funny?”
“You think you have this whole thing figured out, don’t you?” she asked, leading them around the house. “You have heard about time travel through books and movies. It’s not a foreign concept. It’s just one that hasn’t been proven yet.”
“Yes, but I’m not just talking about time travel.” Donnie said. “I want to see what another world would be like. I want to know if other worlds exist.”
“Oh, they exist. They are as real as you and I are.” She nodded, showing them the living room. “Make yourselves at home. We have a lot to talk about.”
“We do. I am still confused about what you were talking about before.” Olivia said, taking a seat. Ms. Howard’s living room smelled like vanilla, and her sofa was the color of buttercream. She was beginning to see that her neighbor was indeed a baker. Even now, there was the scent of cinnamon and other spices coming from the kitchen. “You said that it wasn’t aliens and it wasn’t a normal person who left the message. So who did it?”
“That, I do not know. What I can tell you is this—whoever left the frost must have come from a world covered in it, or they have the ability to create it. I know that Donovan has tried for the longest time to find other universes. It sounded strange at first, but I didn’t want to turn him down like that. Second, who are we to say that parallel universes don’t exist? We just haven’t searched hard enough for them.”
Donnie smiled at that. “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell people, Madeline. How come you know this and no one else does?”
“Whoa, you call her by her first name?” Olivia was confused. “I didn’t even know she had a first name!”
Ms. Howard laughed at that. “Donovan’s the only one who’s ever called me Madeline. He had a hard time saying ‘Ms. Howard’ when he was little, so I told him to call me Maddie. Eventually, Maddie turned into Madeline, and I was used to it by then. Anyway, Donovan, I know you’ve always had this desire. You used to tell me when you were growing up that you wanted to see another world. I didn’t know you told Olivia, though.”
“She’s the first person at work that I’ve actually told,” he said. “Well, it’s more like she’s the first person who listened to me all the way through. I bet she thought I was crazy.”
“Not really. I mean, it’s not a topic I normally talk with people about, but it was interesting. At the very least, you went beyond the usual surface topic of what I want to do with my life, and when am I ever going to get laid. Those are usually the things people ask me.” Olivia returned his smile. “You know something, Donnie? I was thinking about what you asked me yesterday, and I think I’m going to take you up on your offer. I want to see this in action.”
“You do?” Donnie tried hard to hide his excitement, but it still seeped out of his mouth. “Well, that’s great! I was hoping you would reconsider! Ever since you told me about your future goals, I wanted you to think more about it!”
“Yeah, I gave it a lot of thought, and Ms. Howard made me realize how big this could be for you. You need someone in your corner, and I would like to witness this.” Olivia nodded towards Ms. Howard. “I have a feeling you do, as well.”
“Of course. I have to tell my colleagues, though. They will be most interested.”
“Your colleagues?” Donnie asked. “With all due respect, Madeline, I wanted to keep this between us. I know I told Olivia, but it’s because I trust her. She’s the first person who I was able to tell. I’m not ready to share it with the world yet.”
“Trust me, Donovan. You will be grateful for their help. They know a lot more about parallel universes than I do,” Ms. Howard said. “I’ll speak with Gemma and Alice tomorrow. They have told me stories as well, and they believe in the same things you do. I know they have things they want to witness, too.”
“Um, Madeline?” Donnie pulled on the collar of his shirt. “If you don’t mind, I would prefer that you keep all of this between us. I’m flattered that you think your friends would be interested, but I’m not ready to share this with everyone.”
“I understand your concerns, dear. However, I also know what is good for you. I think they could be of great help, but if you don’t want them around, I won’t tell them,” she promised.
“Oh, that’s good.” He turned to Olivia. “I must ask you to do the same, Olivia. I don’t want anyone out there to know about this.”
“Donnie, most of my friends have moved away and are busy with their own lives. Your secret is safe with me,” she promised. “Besides, no one would ever believe me if I told them anything. I’m having a hard time believing this myself. I’m not saying you’re crazy or anything. It’s just that it’s something that’s out of this world. Like, literally.”
“It’s true, Olivia,” Ms. Howard said. “You may not believe anything right now, but you will. Everything will be clear.”
“I don’t know about that,” she mumbled. “I don’t even know what’s going on with my life right now. What am I supposed to do?”
“The first thing is to not sweat over it. All answers will come to you in due time. You cannot force yourself to get the answers that you don’t have,” Ms. Howard said. “You need to trust yourself, and believe what you are seeing.”
“I’m seeing all kinds of things,” Olivia admitted. “I see worlds that don’t look the same as ours. One night, before I started working, I had a dream about a world made out of paper. The night before that, I had a dream of a world made out of steel. I thought these were just coincidences, but I guess they’re not. I think these dreams are trying to give me a message.”
“A message, hmm?” Ms. Howard pressed her lips together. “Next time you have a dream like that, I want you to write down everything you remember from it. If you talk to anyone in that dream, try to get their name and any other information about them. It could be the key to figuring out why you are connected to this other place.”
“You think she’s connected to a particular world?” Donnie asked.
“It’s possible. She could also be connected to more than one. I’ve rarely heard of something li
ke this.” Ms. Howard admitted. “As for you, Donovan, I want you to dig up that old invention you’ve been working on. Remember you used to have a time machine?”
“Oh, that’s an old piece of junk. I was a stupid kid back then, who was just trying to impress people,” Donnie said. “I was never able to make it work.”
“You were younger then. Maybe now, if you can figure out what was wrong before, I think it could be a great deal of help.” Ms. Howard said. “Try to do those equations again, and use the knowledge you’ve received since you first built it.”
Olivia felt out of place all of a sudden and wanted to go home. She didn’t know what anyone meant by her being a link to the other worlds. As far as she was concerned, she was just a normal person. “Would you excuse me? There’s a lot I have to do at home.”
“So soon? You can tell your mother you’ll be home later.”
“It’s not that, it’s—” Olivia struggled to come up with an excuse. “I just have stuff to do. I’m sorry, Ms. Howard. This is stuff that I have to think more about.”
Ms. Howard seemed confused, but she let Olivia go. “If you have any questions, just let me know. I’m not that far away.”
“Yeah, I know. I’ll see you at work, Donnie!” She waved at him and walked out the door. Donnie kept staring in her direction until he could no longer see her. Ms. Howard noticed this and knew it wasn’t good to pry, but just couldn’t help it. He had a look in his eyes that she had never seen before. He was completely captivated by her, and it seemed that he didn’t want her to leave for some reason. It was as though all cohesive thoughts had left his body.
“You feel something, don’t you?” she asked.
“Huh?” he blinked, confused. “What was that, Madeline? I didn’t hear you.”