Jenni asked, “Who is this?”
Sylvia asked, “Can you keep a secret?”
The universe grabbed Jenni and held her hand to the phone. She lost control of her speech and her movement.
Jenni said, “Yes, Sylvia. I can keep any secret you choose to tell me.”
Sylvia thought, “She must’ve recognized my voice. I wonder how?”
Jenni’s voice suddenly lost all inflection and emotion. She was speaking as if reading a cue card.
Sylvia said, “I have a major secret to tell you, but you can’t tell anyone, ever. Can you do that?”
Jenni answered, “Yes, Sylvia. I can do that.”
Sylvia didn’t notice the change in Jenni’s inflection. She was unaware that the universe had control of her best friend.
Sylvia told Jenni, “I’m a traveler. That’s a person who can travel between parallel realities. It’s a big deal because I can’t die until my specific time. I just jump from one reality to another. There are people who don’t like that I can do this, though. I've been warned to avoid psychiatrists at all costs. I’m not really sure what they can do to me yet, but I don’t really want to find out, either.”
Jenni said, “I’ll keep your secret. Only you will be able to talk to me about this.”
Sylvia asked, “How do I know you’re not going to send me to the funny farm?”
Jenni said, “I have given you my word, and you are my best friend. I will never tell anyone your secret.”
Sylvia warned, “You’d better not.”
Jenni hung up the phone. She had no memory of the call from Sylvia, but her phone showed the call in her history. She didn’t know why the call was in her log.
Jenni thought, “It must be a mistake. These things are constantly showing shit that’s not really there.”
Jenni called Sylvia to make sure her phone wasn’t lying to her. She hated technology that didn’t work correctly.
Jenni asked, “Did you just call me?”
Sylvia answered, “Of course, don’t you remember the secret I told you?”
The memory came back to Jenni as soon as Sylvia mentioned it. She remembered every word of the conversation. She remembered not being able to move or speak on her own. It was the strangest feeling.
Jenni said, “Yes, I do. I remember you asking me if I could keep a secret and then…”
Her lips went numb. The universe wouldn’t let her tell Sylvia about the universe’s intervention. Her voice was controlled by the cosmos again.
Jenni finished, “I promised to keep your secret. I will never tell anyone about your gift, I promise. You are my best friend.”
Sylvia said, “Why did you call me if you remember everything?”
The universe released control and allowed Jenni to answer the question. Jenni thought about trying to tell Sylvia about the loss of control, but she decided against it.
Jenni thought, “If I try to say anything about what happened, I’ll lose control again. That hasn’t been fun.”
Jenni said, “I just wanted to make sure I hadn’t dreamt it. I was asleep when you called.”
Sylvia said, “Oh, okay.”
Jenni thought, “I wonder why I can’t remember any of this once I’m not talking to Sylvia anymore.”
Sylvia hung up the phone, and Jenni’s memory faded. She remembered calling Sylvia, but couldn’t remember the conversation.
Jenni said, “Why did I call her? It’s so weird that I can’t remember. Maybe it’s because I just woke up.”
Chapter Thirteen
Dr. Johnson
Doctor Johnson made her rounds in the psychiatric ward. It was the same as every other day for her. She took patients’ vital signs, distributed medications, and made progress reports for every patient. She had a list of the suspected travelers in her hand.
She thought, “I wonder what would happen if they died here and went to a universe where they never came here?”
The universe didn’t let her finish that thought. She was immediately distracted by a patient throwing feces across the room.
She yelled, “Patient four, stop that.”
The patient yelled back, “Or what?”
She asked, “Do you want to be sedated for the whole day again?”
The patient said, “I’m sedated most days here. I’ve missed half my fucking life because of you assholes.”
Dr. Johnson said, “Well, if you stop misbehaving, we won’t sedate you.”
The patient said, “I wasn’t even crazy before I came here. This place made me crazy.”
Dr. Johnson replied, “I assure you, you were crazy. You kept telling people that you could travel between times and dimensions. That sounds a little bit nuts.”
The patient said, “I knew I shouldn’t have gone to the doctor. If I’d just died, I could be free in another universe.”
Dr. Johnson said, “There’s the crazy talk again. There is no such thing as an alternate universe. Physicists haven’t been able to prove they exist anywhere.”
The patient said, “You don’t have access to the entire universe. I’m sure there’s a more advanced civilization on some other planet that’s proved it.”
Dr. Johnson said, “We’re the most advanced civilization in the galaxy. We’ve met thousands of other civilizations, and no one even comes close to what we know.”
The patient said, “But that’s just one galaxy out of billions. Until you find a way to meet every race on every planet in the universe, you don’t know everything.”
Dr. Johnson said, “I know you’re crazy.”
Dr. Johnson pulled a needle out of her pocket. It had a sedative. She injected the patient with it and he fell to the floor. Two nurses came and lifted the patient back into his bed.
She made her notes:
Patient 4 is very smart. He has a working knowledge of the universe and the multiverse. He is DANGEROUS! We should keep him sedated so that he cannot share what he knows with anyone else. I’m pretty surehe’s a traveler. This record should be kept in a secure place.
She put the patient’s chart in a folder and then in a special cabinet labeled “DANGEROUS PATIENTS.” The cabinet was locked and then cloaked. It only appeared when a psychiatrist needed to access a file or put a file in it. When it wasn’t being accessed, it looked like a potted rubber tree plant. The tree never aroused anyone’s suspicion, and no one ever saw the cabinet unless they needed it. Even when it was being accessed, only the person interacting with the cabinet could see it.
Dr. Henley was watching Dr. Johnson from his office. He was her supervisor, but he couldn’t be with her every second of the day. He had supervised her from his office.
Dr. Henley thought, “I wish psychiatry didn’t have so much damned paperwork. I didn’t sign up to enter data all fucking day.”
He noticed Dr. Johnson’s interaction with patient four. She handled it perfectly, and he called her as soon as she finished the paperwork.
He said, “Good job, Johnson.”
Johnson replied, “How do you know?”
Henley said, “I was watching you from my office. I can’t be with you all day, but I can always monitor your interactions with patients.”
Johnson asked, “Do I ever have privacy?”
Henley said, “Of course. I can’t see you when you’re not on duty, and I don’t watch you in the restroom.”
Johnson said, “Good, because I’m already uncomfortable with you spying on me from your office.”
Henley replied, “I’m just making sure you’re doing your job. Besides, having a video protects you in case of an accusation.”
Johnson said, “I thought that was the full purpose of the cameras. I didn’t know you were spying on me.”
Henley said, “I’m not spying. I use the cameras to make sure you don’t need help, too. If you’re ever in trouble, I’ll know it and come to bail you out.”
Johnson said, “Well, that’s a little reassuring.”
Henley said, “There’s no
thing funny going on with the cameras. It’s all business.”
Johnson said, “So I handled patient four the right way?”
Henley said, “We weren’t sure he was a traveler until you just got him to confess. Now we can keep him here forever and neutralize the threat.”
Johnson asked, “Is that how they deal with travelers on other planets?”
Henley answered, “The planets that have advanced medicine deal with them that way. The less advanced ones need some help.”
Johnson asked, “How do we help them?”
Henley said, “We take the problem off their hands. We have a wing of this hospital that’s just for aliens from underdeveloped worlds.”
Johnson gasped, “So, we abduct them?”
Henley said, “It’s the only way to deal with the problems they can create on a world without significant technology. They could advance that world very quickly if they went down the right path.”
Johnson said, “But I thought they couldn’t choose their path.”
Henley said, “I didn’t say choose, but if they stumbled on the universe where the right choices were made, they could change their world really fast.”
Johnson said, “That seems extremely unlikely. I think we’re dealing with that all wrong. The travelers on underdeveloped worlds should be allowed to go their own way. They’re not a threat at all.”
Henley said, “Until one of them accidentally finds a path where they discover nuclear weapons before they’re smart enough to know how to use them. Then they become a menace.”
Johnson sarcastically asked, “Did the time people show us evidence of such a planet?”
Henley said, “There have been six instances of that very event.”
Johnson was shocked to hear that primitive people were given advanced technologies by travelers going down a highly unlikely path. It was incomprehensible to her mind, and she had a ridiculous intelligence.
Johnson asked, “Are there other reasons the travelers are dangerous?”
Henley answered, “You’ll find out when the time’s right.”
Mikayla Johnson was offended. She was tired of everyone treating her like a child who didn’t know anything.
Johnson replied, “I’m not stupid. I can handle the truth.”
Henley said, “The universe has a great many secrets that it chooses to reveal when it believes the recipient is ready. I’m not the one delaying telling you the secrets. If I were to try, the universe would stop me.”
Johnson asked, “When will I be ready?”
Henley answered, “When the time’s right. I can’t tell you about how it happens or anything else about it until the time comes. When you’re ready, you’ll know.”
Johnson asked, “How will I know?”
Henley said, “The universe will reveal it to you. I can’t tell you anything else.”
Johnson said, “None of this makes any sense. I feel like a blind person trying to search for a needle in a haystack.”
Henley said, “Even a blind person can find the needle. It sounds and feels different from hay. The blind person might actually have an advantage because they’re not limiting themselves to how the stack looks.”
Johnson said, “I would’ve never thought of it that way.”
Henley said, “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have work to get done today.”
Johnson said, “I think I do, too.”
Dr. Mikayla Johnson returned to her work. She found it difficult to concentrate on her patients. She kept distracting herself by thinking about what secrets the universe was holding from her.
She thought, “What the hell is going on? I thought I knew what the universe held. It’s full of galaxies, dark matter, dark energy and vacuous space. Galaxies are full of stars, planets, nebulas, dust, and space. How can the universe, which is essentially an inanimate object, have secrets? How can it make decisions? None of this makes any sense.”
She was moving from patient to patient while she thought. She had to stop thinking for a moment so she could make her notes in the patients’ charts.
She continued, “I became a psychiatrist to help people who are mentally ill. I didn’t think I was joining a cosmic battle to stop people from traveling between dimensions. I don’t even believe in quantum physics. I thought it was a load of hokum.”
She reached patient four again. He was still sedated, so she made a note of it in her chart. She got curious, so she flipped through Dr. Henley’s notes. They were mostly standard, except for page 42.
Patient 4:
This patient is a suspected traveler.
DO NOT ALLOW HIM TO COMMIT SUICIDE!
The consequences of him committing suicide have the potential to destroy the fabric of the universe.
Mikayla was confused, but a sudden wave of understanding flowed through her soul. She understood something, but she wasn’t sure why she understood it.
Chapter Fourteen
Choices
Jenni called Sylvia and said, “Brian’s worried about you. He called me to ask if I’d heard from you. I told him I hadn’t, but I hate lying.”
Sylvia said, “I forgot all about him! Thanks for reminding me that I need to call him.”
Jenni said, “So, are you going to tell him your secret?”
Sylvia said, “No, it’s too big. I’m not sure he’d understand.”
Jenni asked, “Are you saying you don’t trust him?”
Sylvia answered, “I’m not sure yet. I don’t remember most of our relationship because I was in a different universe for most of it. I don’t know who this version of Brian is.”
Jenni said, “Then maybe you should break it off with him.”
Sylvia said, “I don’t think I want to. I just want to know who Brian really is before I drop a huge bombshell on him.”
Jenni asked, “Then why haven’t you called him?”
Sylvia replied, “Because I’ve had a lot to take in over the last few days. I couldn’t deal with everything all at once.”
Jenni said, “Yet you called me, and trusted me with your monumental secret.”
Sylvia said, “That’s different. I know I can trust you. You’re my best friend.”
Jenni said, “Most of our friendship took place in another universe for you, the same way your relationship with Brian did.”
Sylvia said, “But you’ve been my best friend in every universe, and for my entire life. Brian’s been my boyfriend for less than a year.”
Jenni said, “That makes sense. So, are you going to call him?”
Sylvia said, “Yeah. I’ll call you back when we’re done.”
Jenni hung up the phone. Sylvia called Brian.
Brian answered, “Hello, Sylvia?”
Sylvia said, “Hey, babe. I’m back from my trip.”
Brian asked, “Do you want me to come over to your place and help you unpack?”
Sylvia answered, “That’s not necessary. I packed light.”
Brian said, “I didn’t think girls knew how to pack light. My mom and sisters always take three bags for a weekend trip.”
Sylvia said, “Well, I’m not like them. I can pack just a few things for a month long trip.”
Brian asked, “Can I come over sometime today and just hang out with you? I’ve missed you.”
Sylvia said, “Not today. I’m kind of tired; maybe tomorrow.”
Sylvia ended the call and cried for a moment. She wanted to trust her boyfriend with her secrets, but she didn’t know him that well. She called Jenni again
Jenni said, “Hey, Sylvia. What did you say to Brian?”
Sylvia said, “Nothing much. I just let him know I was back in town. He wanted to hang out, but I don’t feel like it today.”
Jenni said, “I don’t know how you met him in the universe that you remember, but here you walked into his crowd and asked him out. You really wanted him.”
Sylvia said, “I met him the same way, except that I asked him out privately.”
Jenni sai
d, “I’m not trying to tell you how to run your relationship, but maybe you should trust him with the secret.”
Sylvia said, “I’ll tell him when the time’s right. Just let me make the decision in my own time.”
Jenni said, “Okay, it’s your life.”
There was an eerie silence for a few seconds. Jenni didn’t want to stop pushing Sylvia to tell Brian her secret. Jenni knew that he would keep it, because the universe would force him to keep it.
Jenni said, “I know some people who can give us some advice.”
Sylvia asked, “What kind of people?”
Jenni said, “They’re numerologists.”
Sylvia said, “That’s sounds like hooey to me. I don’t believe in astrology, numerology, or any other form of trying to decipher the future.”
Jenni said, “This won’t decipher the future. It’ll make sense of the past.”
Sylvia said, “My realization did that.”
Jenni asked, “Don’t you wonder why you landed in this universe?”
Sylvia answered, “That does bother me. How does the universe decide where I land?”
Jenni said, “We should go see them.”
Sylvia said, “I’ll meet you in an hour.”
Sylvia took a shower and got ready to meet Jenni. She drove across town and called her when she was getting close to Jenni’s house.
Sylvia said, “I’ll be there in about 30 seconds.”
Jenni said, “I’ll be right out.”
They went to Jenni’s friend’s home. It was a regular house in a regular neighborhood. Sylvia was a little disappointed. She expected the house to be in a hidden neighborhood with mystical properties.
Jenni said, “You’ll like them. His name is Fred, and her name is Marley.”
Sylvia was disappointed again. She expected names that are more mysterious. Fred was as common as it gets, and Marley was an obvious tribute name. She chose to keep her disappointment to herself.
They rang the doorbell and Fred answered. He invited them into the house and everyone sat at the kitchen table.
Jenni said, “My friend, Sylvia, is looking for answers to her mysterious life.”
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