If you received this as a forward, and would like to subscribe, all you have to do is click this button:
Author’s note: Nature documentaries are emotional safe spaces right?
I managed to move us to the bench where we sat down. I guess despite what I thought last night Sarah had been doing her best to hold herself together and was still really upset about her brother's "early departure" from this life. How is it possible to feel guilty for something another person did? I never abandoned her. I just showed up here yesterday, but I guess I'm left holding the bag. Will the last person leaving please turn off the lights? Lol, guess it's more of cleaning up the mess from the previous resident.
What should I do? She still hurts so much and I'm standing in the image of her pain. I tried to help the best I could as I held her close and whispered, "It's okay. We can take our time. We'll figure this out. We don't have to rush. We can take our time." I suddenly felt her body go rigid as she pulled back from me and said, "No, we can't. You said you have to leave soon." she kept speeding up as she said, "We don't have enough time. We don't have any time. You're gonna leave and everyone's going to think I was hallucinating if i tell them anything and now I'm just going to remember how much I miss you and you're never coming back and this world is unfair. So, maybe I should just join you?"
Wait, what?! Oh, I'm not sure what she means, but I doubt either possibility is good. As always, I played for time ‘til I could figure out what to do, "okay, take some deep calming breaths. We don't need to make any quick decisions. There's no set time scale. How about we take a break and maybe watch something? Maybe make some tea and sit on the couch? What do you say?... Does that sound good?"
Sarah started to calm down a little, looked at me and nodded.
Tea, where's the tea? I saw it last night. It's here somewhere. Just need to make tea and we can all calm down and it will all be better. Well, okay probably not but anything is worth a try.
"How about some Rooibos? Maybe, with a little honey? Does that sound good?" I called to her from the cupboards.
"Sure, can you double the water? It's usually too strong when I brew it normally." She shouted back from the couch. "Have you watched Blue Planet before?"
I looked over at the TV, "Nope, what's that?"
She sat up and turned around sitting on her knees with a big grin on her face, "Just David Attenborough at his 'life is fascinating but so cruel' British voiced best!"
"No complaints from me, sounds perfect" I said with a smile as the water began whistling. Now where are the cookies and snacks? Surely, they are in the cabinet beside the tea? Nope, how about on top of the fridge? No luck... Fine! "Hey, where are the snacks to go with the tea?" I asked as jauntily as I could.
She was already intent on queuing up the movie, so didn't even look at me as she called out, "they're under the island where we always keep them, silly."
Yeah, this was definitely a different place from any I'd known and she was definitely not a clone of my sister back home.
So, I plated cookies, poured some chips in a bowl, grabbed some dip and other goodies from the fridge and sat down next to Sarah for a much needed emotional break as we watched other animals live in places we'd never been to. What could go wrong?
Sarah suddenly chirped up as we watched a scene of seaside birds that live in giant constructed mud houses on the side of a cliff, "Hey, remember that time we went to Cancun for spring break?"
I quickly filled my mouth with some chips and dip, not sure if I should be honest or pretend like I knew what she was talking about. After a few seconds I figured I should stay honest as it would probably be obvious pretty quick I'd never been to Mexico, let alone on a spring break trip. "Uhm,... no, don't think I've ever gotten to go to Cancun. How was it? I'd always heard it was really fun to go to while in college."
Sarah looked at me then with a slightly dejected expression but then put on a cheerful smile and did her best to put on a happy demeanor, "Yeah, the beaches were awesome. The food was good. No one got food poisoning despite what we were told. Though the alcohol probably helped kill anything that would've made us sick. The shopping... oh, I've gotta find images from that trip. You've gotta see what you looked like in those outfits. They still make me giggle."
I smiled back at her though I wasn't sure I wanted to know what the other me dressed in that would stay perennially funny for so long. The rest of the morning progressed as expected. Sarah lost interest in the documentary at that point and started madly going through her phone I assumed looking for the pictures. We got lots of laughs out of the photos and remembering the good times that were had on the trip. Then as we were ordering lunch for delivery she remembered I hadn't finished my story.
"So, where were we with what would wind... darn, I thought I had something to finish the sentence. Anyway, so, you still haven't said how you ended up here. Just that your crush was getting married. How does that lead you to my door?" She said with a smirk.
Ugh, surely there was a way to put her off?
Suddenly there were fingers snapping my face. *Snap*, "Hello?" *Snap, Snap*, "Hey, you in there? I know that look. What's so bad that you don't want to tell me? I'm your sister. I'll understand." she said with increasing concern.
"Uhm, what? Oh, oh yeah. Sorry, I got lost in thought there for a minute." I hesitantly said as I realized I zoned out. She suddenly looked a bit stern as she responded, "See, that's what I'm talking about. You gotta stay present when you're with someone. You can't be leaving the here and now for a back then and what might be." she paused before continuing, "but really! I'll understand no matter what happened. I promise I'll understand. You're safe here, I promise." She said with a sad smile as she reached for my upper arms, probably unsure if she should give me a hug.
"So, I guess this is the part where I introduce the white rabbit? Or possibly Brer Rabbit? I'm not sure of his motivations, but I feel like I was tricked. I was pretty despondent at that point and you know how bad I am at hiding my feelings on my face. I assume that's what he noticed about me in the park. I was just sitting on a bench trying to enjoy the lovely weather and the quiet when he walked up behind me and asked if I'd mind him sitting across from me. I said sure figuring a little company might help my mood. When he asked me another question, 'Why the long face while sitting out here in this beautiful park?' I smiled embarrassedly and told him, 'Just sad over someone getting married. You know how it is?' He looked at me with an open and sagacious expression, 'Oh, I'm very familiar. Maybe starting a new adventure could help change things for you? I know it often helps to get a change of scenery and find something new to do whenever an old situation just makes you sad too think about.' I looked back at him with I guess a quizzical look cause he continued, 'Oh, I'm not saying move or anything but new places and new experiences have a way of displacing all those negative thoughts of feelings you seem to be having.' I looked at him with a weak smile, 'You're probably right, but it's hard to go on a vacation when you're low on funds and motivation isn't easy to come by.'"
Suddenly, Sarah broke in, "You're right!" I startled out of my recounting,"What? Well, yeah, vacations take money even when you've got the motivation." She looked confused by my response before responding, "No, silly, I don't trust this guy. I mean, even in your story you sound mopey. Who starts up a conversation with a mopey person they've never met? So, was he trying to get you into a cult? Maybe an MLM like Fruitriblenders or Sardine oil sales?"
"Huh, wait, what? Sardine oil?" I said, very confused by what she was saying.
"You know multi-level marketing that supposedly isn't a pyramid scheme?" She said a bit excitedly.
I responded to her, "I know what MLM is, but do they seriously have one for selling sardine oil?"
"Well, yeah! I mean it's healthy for you in several ways, but the company that started it got shut down for financial 'irregularities'." She said using air quotes for 'irregularities'. "Don't you have that where you're from?"
"Sorta, though they just called it fish oil and now they've upgraded it to krill oil." I told her.
"Krill oil, really? And you questioned Sardine oil?" She smirked back at me.
"Okay, you've made your point, but to answer the original question. No, he wasn't trying to get me to join some questionably legal organization. He seemed like a genuinely nice, concerned person. Who offered me what I thought at the time was just a magic feather but turned out to be an actual magic key."
She smiled, "Oh, now we're getting to the good stuff! So then what happened?"
Author's Note: Brace yourselves, dear readers, for the tangled threads of fate are tightening. Emotions run high, mysteries deepen, and the clash of parallel worlds intensifies. With each twist, the anticipation grows. Stay tuned, for the next chapter will unravel secrets and ignite a firestorm of intrigue. Be sure you're subscribed – the journey has only just begun