Crooked Pocket

Crooked Pocket

You know that saying, “The grass is greener on the other side?” Well, I got to go to the other side. No, not that side. I was alive when I went there.

Okay, let me go back a bit to explain...

Five months ago

I was a Physics major. Heck, a PHD in Advanced Physics. I won't bore you with the details. Anyway, the most agreed on theory is that our dimension is just one of many and there are smaller pocket dimensions near or connected to ours. I did a Doctoral thesis that explained that maybe our universe could be a pocket dimension instead of a main one.

Ha! I was chasing my own doom back then.

Anyway, I built a machine. Something that would send me to the main universe. Well, I hoped there was one.

The machine was not too big, something that could fit in a semi decent sized Manhattan apartment. It ended up that the energy requirements were not that bad, I needed some extra batteries, but it was still way less than I thought. A lot of test animals gave their all before the machine was ready for me. If I knew back then what I know now...

I looked at the pale green walls with peeling paint, black cables that snaked all over my apartment, black rows of batteries in stacks. Of course there were some silvery metal cages that were empty and others that had occupants. Every flat surface had piles of paper or remains of several meals.  

Geez, what a freakin mess! I just shrugged at the sight. My last name is not Stewart and no doilies for anything here! I was expecting company though.

Ian Boardman, my closest and probably my only friend was coming by to help out. I knew him since high school. We spent too many nights discussing Physics while soldering and wiring up my machine. Maybe if it works, I will make up a name for it.

Someone was at the door.

What passed for rock music thundered from upstairs. It was loud enough that I could hear someone croak out lyrics. Great.

I peered through the yellow tinted peephole to see who it was. Yep, it was Ian. I unlocked the five locks so Ian could walk in.

Ian shook my hand with a quick squeeze. I could see the excitement in his blue eyes. “So, mate, are you ready to light her up?”

“Sure. As long as I don't end up like my test subjects,” I joked.

“Hey, don't joke about that,” He replied, while a sad look crossed his face.

Yeah, I remembered some of them. It was kinda okay when they arrived dead but when they came back inside out or in other ways... Well, that was pretty bad. Some bile rose up in my throat when I remembered how twisted some of the twitching lumps of flesh looked. Ian had the fun task of disposing of the poor creatures. If that task was left to me, I would just dump the remains on the pile of black garbage bags outside. Homeless people have been going through the bags for bottles and cans. All someone has to do is to see a bag with a dead cat or mouse in it and the animal lovers would be sniffing around the area. One thing would lead to another and my mug shot would be on all the news stations.

Thinking of mangled animals didn't stop me from finishing off a pizza slice that was lying on my checklist. Why I did not put the pizza on something else, I don't know. I was thinking of licking off some tomato sauce on the clipboard when I made the mistake of looking back at Ian.

The grimace of disgust on his face made me get a napkin. Too bad, even cold and several hours old, this was some seriously tasty pizza.

“Why you mess with a man on death row's last meal?” I said.

Something about the serious look on Ian's face cut through my levity. I guess it was time to get the party started.

Click, click, click, we turned on the batteries. For the next step, we turned on the machine. A steady low hum filled the room. I glanced back at Ian then I checked the status of the confining field.

Oh yeah, let's talk about the confining field. The field allows me to travel to the main universe with my clothing, shoes and a few items. I brought my Iphone seven. It could take still pictures and do video. No weapons, I did not want to give what ever is there any more bad ideas about me. It did not help that I forgot to wear clean underwear too. Sorry Ma!

Okay, okay, you want to know why I was not concerned about being sent to someplace nasty like the inside of a star or empty space. Well, test subject 116 has been to the main universe and back with no problems. It won't look at me or let me touch it, but its healthy. Who knows about cats anyway, it probably acted like that before it went to the main universe.

Ian was not too happy about me using live subjects instead of machines but hey, I know the big money is sending live people places. I would like to live on more than junk food. Well, maybe high end junk food. Yeah, yeah, I am doing this for Science but I also want some benjamins too.

The good news is that I won't be over there too long, the clock on test subject 116's collar said five minutes though it was a day later here. A lot can be done in that short time.

I checked the status bar on the machine, it was in the green. Time for me to do that first step thing. I stepped into the machine and pressed the button that would send me to the main universe.

One second, I was in my messy apartment then well I was not. I was expecting lights or other special effects, but there were none. The room looked familiar, but I could not dope out why for a bit. No problem. Then I saw the ray of sunlight hit the floor.

No, I was not moving that fast to see light enter the room. I just looked at the light after I saw the room. If I was an artist, I would have used gallons of yellow and gold paint to describe the light. It was so soft looking. Regular sunlight back home looked so plain and weak next to light that looked like molten gold was pouring down from the sky onto the floor.

Too bad I did not trust my senses more.

I stuck my finger into the golden fall and pain flew from my burning finger. Nope, I was not too smart that instant as I put my toasted fingertip in my mouth. Where is this dangerous light coming from? Time for me to carefully find out.

A quick look outside showed me buildings under a cloudless blue sky. Maybe back home this would be a good description but here it was not. For a second, I felt like I was seeing well made children dozing under the warm loving gaze of a happy parent. I know, I know, these were just buildings but even one glance at the building across the street showed me how well it was built. I could sense the love of the builder and his desire that the inhabitants would have a good life in his or her building. I would have taken more time to gaze out the window, but time is limited. A quick glance at my watch showed I had two minutes left.

Time to find something definite. I tore my gaze from outside and checked out the apartment. A long white table had a newspaper on it. Across from that was a beige wood bookcase filled with books. Now I knew why this room felt familiar, it was my apartment. Nice to know that my analog was neat and clean. Time was running out and I decided to take a few pictures of the room. After that I would check out the newspaper.

I picked it up. As I expected, I could not understand the language. I took a few pictures of some of the pages with my Iphone. My watch beeped then I was back.  

Hey! Who turned down the lights? It took me a minute to realize that there was nothing wrong with the lights. In the other universe, even the air was luminous. Here the air was just air. No light in it. For some reason, I did not want to look out the window, but a morbid curiosity made me do it.

Regret hit me like a filthy rusty hammer as I looked outside. My vision kept going further and further into the blue. I could see cracks and blemishes in the color. Behind that I could sense the feeble love of the Creator of this world. I looked down from the sky and things were worse. Crass structures slouched under the cracked sky. No love here from the builders just a desire for money or worse nothing. I turned away from the window to look at my apartment.

Now it was like looking at a landfill, all I needed were some gulls and it would be complete. Well, it was not quite a landfill, they don't let people sleep in them. Ian was snoring in a chair. I noticed that he had several days worth of growth on his face. I wanted to wake him up but I started yawning. Well, I am going to go to sleep, my report could wait until tomorrow.

One moment I was sleeping, well, more like flailing and screaming then Ian woke me up.

He scratched at the brown fuzz on his face, “What was it like in the other universe?”

“It was like here just better,” that was an understatement. He gave me this look that said he does not handle terse. So I had to talk in detail about the other place. It made me feel sad that I was here. I felt like my decent junk filled apartment was now in comparison to a better world, a trash filled hovel that a sane homeless person would avoid. Heck, even a pig would turn its snout up because it had standards, and my apartment was lacking.

Ian tapped my arm. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah. I'm fine. How long have I been gone?” I said.

Ian scratched his face again,”Two days, you were gone two days.”

I yawned. Ian saw me and he pointed to my computer.

Oh yeah, I forgot. I copied the pictures off of my Iphone and transferred them to Ian's phone while I tried not to crack my jaw with huge yawns. Exhaustion was pulling at me to go back to sleep.

Ian left promising to get the paper translated but I lose most of his speech because I was so tired.

Next Morning

I got up around eleven and had breakfast delivered to me. Nothing like greasy eggs and toast to make you feel alive. Kinda. I wanted to go back so I prepped the machine. Ian was sleeping at his home in a proper bed. He was not going to help me today.

The machine hummed. I was ready. Before I stepped into the machine, a feeling of apprehension filled me. Why am I doing this? Why am I torturing myself by going to a better place? I could take a break and do something as mundane as walk outside. No, no! I desired to feel the love of that better world. With that thought, I slammed my finger on the button.

I was back in the luminous apartment when I heard noises coming from the next room then a being opened the door and stood in the doorway. Somehow I knew the being was me, but it was not me. This was a version that had made all of the right decisions, not like me. There were a few, well, a lot that I regretted. This better version even had parents that made the right calls all the time. I had this strange feeling that the whole family, heck, the whole race had been making the right decisions.

My better analog made animal sounds toward me. They were not just noises, they had meaning behind them, but I just could not understand. He left, and came back with a mirror.

I should not have looked into it, but curiosity drove me. A hunched crouched creature driven by base needs was in the mirror. The poor being had great potential, but it was wasted on worthless pursuits. My tear filled eyes prevented me from seeing more. He tried to comfort me with some light touches on my shoulders then he made sounds like lonely whales.

Then I was back home, no, it was Hell. Dark and dingy with the smell of something rotting. I even had caged, tortured denizens. I strode up to one of them, a cat then I looked into its blue eyes.

At first, it was just another need driven creature like me, but something changed. I I can't describe it. Its like trying to describe the barest glimpse of a rainbow of good emotions. The anger and hurt in my heart faded away. My apartment was just a messy apartment again. The cat was just a cat. Maybe I will make it my pet? Don't worry, I will find homes for the rest of my test animals.

I thought about dismantling my machine. Who knows how many hours I sat thinking about it?

Ian showed up later. By then I decided to dismantle the machine. I had a battery in my hand when Ian unlocked the door and came in.

He was so excited as he thrust his reports in my face. “You would not believe what I found out! It took me a while and a lot of phone calls!”

I put the battery down. “What did you find out?” I asked.

He took a breath before diving into his verbal report. “At first I could get no one to translate the language on the newspaper but then a friend of a friend, you know what I mean, helped out. That person said that the text was the modern equivalent of the First Language, the language that all men spoke before the events at the Tower of Babel.”

Something about that statement made a chill race down my back.

Ian continued. “Do you realize what that means? We have found something amazing...” He stopped talking as the sight of the disassembled machine hit home. Ian looked at me with surprise. “Why?” he asked.

“I don't think we should go back to that world, we do not belong there. Its not right,” I said.

“How do you know this? Wait. Did you speak to someone there?” He asked.

“Well, I did not say anything but I heard the person speak. It sounded like animal noises,” I replied.

Ian's eyes widened. “You heard that person speak and it sounded like animal noises? In the Bible, well, the few bits I remember, Adam and Eve could talk to the animals. The person was still speaking the First Tongue? Do you know what that means?”

My silence was all the confirmation he needed.

His next words came out fast and choppy. “Do you know what that means? In that world, Adam and Eve were not driven from the Garden of Eden. The Snake failed! Can you imagine what we could learn from that world?”

What Ian said jibed with my impression of my analog and his bloodline making all of the right decisions. I was not sure I wished to go back. If what Ian said was true, we might end up corrupting that world or worse. After what I felt when I returned, I did not want to go through that again.

“Ian, we can't go back. That place is pure. Maybe we should not have gone there in the first place. Who knows what would happen? Maybe we will end up being the Snake and ruining Paradise? Do you want that weight upon your shoulders?” I said.

Ian looked away and looked back. “You don't know for sure do you?”

I shrugged. “No, I don't but I do know that this is not what I really should be doing. My analog in the other world showed me what I really am. It was something I was not proud of but I did get a clue what I should be doing with my life.”

Ian looked at the machine again.

“Ian help me take the machine apart, then we will go hang out and enjoy this city afterward. I will try to explain to you what I saw in that other world,” I said.

He gave a sigh and looked over the mess for a screwdriver.

Now

For the next few weeks I was happy then the weeks after those I was content but I kept having ideas about rebuilding the machine. Maybe if I did this or that I could go to even better places? Then it hit me, that place I went to was not exactly friendly. I got burned by the sun like a vampire. Who knows what water would do to me? I have heard about its cleansing qualities.

I started to imagine running down the street of that strange world while burning and screaming. Someone would splash water on me and of course being holy, it would just dissolve the flesh from my bones. Yeah, it was not going to end well.

Maybe I need to tweak the settings more? Maybe instead of going to some place better than this one, I could end up in a place worse than this one. Before I could think of more lurid scenarios, my cat jumped up on my stomach. It gave me a look. For a few moments I remembered what I saw in the mirror. I had great potential but I was wasting it.

No more traveling to the other side and seeing how green the grass is, I will work toward making the grass greener here! I am not sure what to do but as I idly stroked my cat, ideas were coming my way.