Chapter 49

I woke in the morning alone in bed, and found myself smiling about the night before. Shelly had dragged herself away sometime around four, with apologizes but explaining she had to return home to change clothes before her shift.

It was nearly 11 when I got out of the shower, and pulled on clothes that just didn’t fit right.

‘I need better clothes, and I need to get back before I change so much that is obvious that something is really off.’

‘We can go right now, and you’d come back to this same location and time at a future date.’

‘I think I have to. I was thinking I’d go ask the restaurant to pay to be put on the Beef Wellington line to get more practice.’

‘With my ability to monitor temperature, you had the best Wellington at the class. With superior ingredients, and perfect cook timing, plus what you learned about pastry and decorating it, I have no doubt you will win.’

‘I never did ask, what does her Wellington look like?’

Adam projected an image on the wall, it was nearly identical to the one from the recipe.

‘That’s it? This is exactly what Tyler made, little brown leaves and everything.’

‘I’m convinced you will win in both flavor and presentation.’

‘Me too, but this was a seriously awesome trip, so it’s been totally worth it.’

It took about half an hour to gather up what I needed to be sure I had with me. I was leaving most everything I didn’t need, because I would be right back. I anchored the thread from the pocket Uber to the wall in the bedroom, and opened it up. Stepping inside, I found it just as I had left it.

I stepped back out, and closed the door. One last trip to the bathroom, then I headed back in, and closed the door behind me. I loosened the thread tying the bubble of space to this reality. I could feel when we moved free.

I went to where the other doorway was marked by Adam, and reached in, finding the thread leading home. I simply tightened the string, and felt the pocket reattach to my bedroom, where it had been anchored.

‘Are we in the right spot, and the right time?’

‘Yes, the local elapse of time has been 13 minutes, 17 seconds.’

‘I thought it was virtually seamless.’

‘That’s how long it took you to unhook from this universe, after closing the door.’

I reached out, and opened the door, stepping back into my bedroom. I looked around, everything seemed the same, so I closed the pocket. There was no space jump this time, it was very pedestrian, almost like taking an Uber.

I started working out the plan that Adam had devised. I was throwing all my new clothes that didn’t fit into the junk drawer, as Adam downloaded the same items into my laptop as photos. I copied the photos into a new folder, and renamed them.

Then I started pulling them out of the screen until I had everything I had tossed, back in larger sizes. I gathered up the clothes, and pulled off all the tags, studying the clothing that needed washing into my hamper. I carried everything down the stairs to the laundry, where I loaded and soaped, but Adam programmed the washer.

I’d already had breakfast, and was getting a need to run. I wasn’t wearing a set of clothes that were new and fit well, but old sleeping shorts and a t-shirt. I decided to bounce back to my room, where I put on a tank top and running shorts, and tied a slightly larger pair of new shoes. In the process I discovered that my arms and legs weren’t the only thing that had grown. I had been using it a lot on the trip.

Back downstairs, I left a note for Dad, and with my phone strapped to my arm, and headphones plugged in, I headed outside.

I did a few warm up stretches, then started my run. I let Adam keep watch, and fell into the zen zone as I ran. He nudged me to turn a couple times, and as asked, I found myself back at the house after an hour.

‘How far was that?’ I asked as I did a cool down routine.

‘Twelve miles, at a pace that would win a great many half marathons.’

‘I still feel energy enough to run it all over again.’

‘It looks like you have a future as a track star when spring comes.’

‘Better than being pulled in to football team.’

‘Ted wants you as either a guard or maybe as a running back. He really needs a new tackle to protect his blind side.’

‘Too much testosterone, and too much chance of either hurting someone, or getting noticed for being indestructible.’

‘Well I’m not willing to let you take a hit that might cause injury, and the Orb will keep you locked in local space automatically. Pity the vehicle, if you ever get hit as a pedestrian.’

‘Really? What will happen?’

‘Same thing that happens when anything at high-speed hits something immovable, go squishy crunch.’

‘squishy crunch?’

‘It’s a technical term, look it up,’ he added smugly.

I rolled my eyes, and got in the shower to wash of the road sweat. I came out wearing a towel to find Dad coming out of his bedroom. His eyes glanced over my chest then my face.

“You are looking really buff. It’s making you look older too.”