makes no sense. But if that part of the story is understood as pro-Morgan propaganda, it makes perfect sense.”
“Anything you’d care to share with the class?” Jackson had walked up behind us. If you want to draw someone’s attention, just whisper, and they’ll come a’running to see what you are up to.
“Stan and I were just trying to figure out what could have happened to us. Neither of us have a clue, though, but…CARLOS, DON’T DO THAT!”
Carlos had picked one of the admittedly delicious looking apples and was just about to bite into it.
“What’s your problem, man?”
I couldn’t very well tell him that if he ate anything in a faerie realm, he would probably be trapped there for all eternity.
“This place looks too good to be true. I don’t trust it.”
Carlos glanced again at the apple, then reluctantly tossed it aside. “You’ve got a point, I guess. But what could all this be, a mass hallucination? In that case, the food isn’t going to be poisonous or something, just nonexistent.”
“I doubt all this is a hallucination,” replied Stan. “It’s too real for that, and we found ourselves here too suddenly and too completely. Hallucinations don’t work that way. Anyway, documented mass hallucinations are extremely rare.” I had to give Stan credit—he could think on his feet.
“Okay, Professor,” said Carlos with a hint of sarcasm. “What do you think this is?”
“A parallel universe. Hugh Everett proposed the idea way back in 1954, and the erratic behavior of quantum particles offers some support for it.”
“Nonsense,” replied Natalie with surprising vehemence. “The issues with quantum mechanics don’t mean the results are being thrown off by parallel universes. They just mean we haven’t discovered everything about quantum mechanics.” Wow, I could really see what Stan saw in her.
“I believe Arthur Conan Doyle had Sherlock Holmes say, ‘Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth,’” interjected Aabharana, in an eerie coincidence picking the same Doyle quote Stan had used when he first tried to unearth my secret. Natalie started to object. “No, hear me out,” continued Aabharana. “I don’t know anything about quantum physics, but I know enough about science in general to know there is no scientific explanation for our suddenly moving from one place to another without passing through the space in between. That is what we have done, isn’t it?”
“Looks can be deceiving,” replied Natalie, but clearly because she had nothing better to say. After all, as much as she might disbelieve the idea of parallel universes, she could hardly deny that there was no other obvious explanation for our unusual situation.
If nothing else, the conversation had taken everyone’s mind off of our immediate dilemma.
Well, almost everyone.
“What are we going to do about Dan? We need to help him,” pleaded Eva.
Before anyone could respond, we heard the sound of a horse’s hooves in the distance, and everyone froze. Time itself seemed to stand still. Even the drowsy buzzing of the bees stopped abruptly.
Then almost all of us gasped in unison, though for somewhat different reasons. The rider we had heard earlier cantered into the clearing on a mare whose hair was generally as white as the inside of a fresh apple, but whose mane shined as red as the apple’s peal. The rider herself was even more striking: jet black hair, white flawless skin, flashing green eyes, model perfect features, voluptuous figure beneath an apple red samite gown interwoven with gold thread. She scanned us disdainfully, until her eyes met mine. Then hers widened in surprise.
“Taliesin? I hardly expected to see you here. Different body, but your soul is always unmistakable.”
“So is yours, Morgan.” Stan gasped again. I inclined my head just slightly in greeting. She probably expected a bow, but I could not make myself go quite that
“Anything you’d care to share with the class?” Jackson had walked up behind us. If you want to draw someone’s attention, just whisper, and they’ll come a’running to see what you are up to.
“Stan and I were just trying to figure out what could have happened to us. Neither of us have a clue, though, but…CARLOS, DON’T DO THAT!”
Carlos had picked one of the admittedly delicious looking apples and was just about to bite into it.
“What’s your problem, man?”
I couldn’t very well tell him that if he ate anything in a faerie realm, he would probably be trapped there for all eternity.
“This place looks too good to be true. I don’t trust it.”
Carlos glanced again at the apple, then reluctantly tossed it aside. “You’ve got a point, I guess. But what could all this be, a mass hallucination? In that case, the food isn’t going to be poisonous or something, just nonexistent.”
“I doubt all this is a hallucination,” replied Stan. “It’s too real for that, and we found ourselves here too suddenly and too completely. Hallucinations don’t work that way. Anyway, documented mass hallucinations are extremely rare.” I had to give Stan credit—he could think on his feet.
“Okay, Professor,” said Carlos with a hint of sarcasm. “What do you think this is?”
“A parallel universe. Hugh Everett proposed the idea way back in 1954, and the erratic behavior of quantum particles offers some support for it.”
“Nonsense,” replied Natalie with surprising vehemence. “The issues with quantum mechanics don’t mean the results are being thrown off by parallel universes. They just mean we haven’t discovered everything about quantum mechanics.” Wow, I could really see what Stan saw in her.
“I believe Arthur Conan Doyle had Sherlock Holmes say, ‘Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth,’” interjected Aabharana, in an eerie coincidence picking the same Doyle quote Stan had used when he first tried to unearth my secret. Natalie started to object. “No, hear me out,” continued Aabharana. “I don’t know anything about quantum physics, but I know enough about science in general to know there is no scientific explanation for our suddenly moving from one place to another without passing through the space in between. That is what we have done, isn’t it?”
“Looks can be deceiving,” replied Natalie, but clearly because she had nothing better to say. After all, as much as she might disbelieve the idea of parallel universes, she could hardly deny that there was no other obvious explanation for our unusual situation.
If nothing else, the conversation had taken everyone’s mind off of our immediate dilemma.
Well, almost everyone.
“What are we going to do about Dan? We need to help him,” pleaded Eva.
Before anyone could respond, we heard the sound of a horse’s hooves in the distance, and everyone froze. Time itself seemed to stand still. Even the drowsy buzzing of the bees stopped abruptly.
Then almost all of us gasped in unison, though for somewhat different reasons. The rider we had heard earlier cantered into the clearing on a mare whose hair was generally as white as the inside of a fresh apple, but whose mane shined as red as the apple’s peal. The rider herself was even more striking: jet black hair, white flawless skin, flashing green eyes, model perfect features, voluptuous figure beneath an apple red samite gown interwoven with gold thread. She scanned us disdainfully, until her eyes met mine. Then hers widened in surprise.
“Taliesin? I hardly expected to see you here. Different body, but your soul is always unmistakable.”
“So is yours, Morgan.” Stan gasped again. I inclined my head just slightly in greeting. She probably expected a bow, but I could not make myself go quite that
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