Tevun-Krus #95 - Best of 2021

The Many Lives of Elizabeth Turner - A QuantumPunk Story by L. V. Lloyd

The Many Lives of Elizabeth Turner

By elveloy

When Dr Elizabeth Turner opened the door to her laboratory that morning, she had no premonition that she was changing the course of history. There was a brief moment when everything looked normal, everything spotless and tidy as she had left it, before the room exploded in light so bright it burned her eyes, the boom following a split second later threatened to burst her eardrums.

Instinctively, she leapt backwards and out of the room, slamming the door shut, trembling in shock. What the—?

She blinked, trying to clear her eyes, and opened them to find...

She was lying on the floor, her right cheek pressed against the cold tiles, as the flames swirled around the room. How—? She had to get up, get out of there, but she couldn't seem to move. The pain was excruciating, enough to overwhelm the fear. It felt like every bone in her body had been broken, smashed by the force of the explosion. She scarcely had time to register that her lab coat was on fire before the room began to shrink, as merciful blackness overtook her.

Outside in the corridor, Elizabeth bent over, hands on her knees, gulping for air. What the hell had just happened? Was she hallucinating? Imagining things? She looked down at her lab coat, pulling the back around to check, but there were no flames, not even a scorch mark.

She could feel the heat radiating from the laboratory and hear the roaring within, so that part at least was real. Unsteadily, she felt her way along the wall to the alarm and pulled the lever down as hard as she could.

Hours later, after the fire department had extinguished the fire and cordoned off the building, Elizabeth sat in her kitchen, sipping her second glass of wine. Try as she might, she couldn't quite dismiss that horrific vision. It wasn't as if she had ever had a very active imagination. Logical and literal, that had been her as long as she could remember, which was why chemistry had been such a perfect fit.

She stared with some surprise at the empty glass. Her hand hovered over the bottle for a moment then she filled the glass a third time. She wasn't a big drinker, either, but it seemed like today might be time to make an exception. The calendar on the fridge, a Christmas present from her great-aunt, informed her she was supposed to be at her sister's house on the other side of town for dinner, but she wasn't going to make it. She supposed she should really give Josie a ring and let her know. She would. Soon.

~~~~

Elizabeth stepped out of the cab and walked up to the front door, still buzzing from the events of the day. How often did someone escape death by the skin of their teeth? She still couldn't get over how incredibly lucky she had been... if she had arrived even a minute earlier, she would have been inside the laboratory when it exploded instead of outside with her hand on the door. She felt shaky just thinking about it.

Well at least for once she'd have something exciting to share with her family, instead of sitting quietly at the table listening to everyone else.

She had just raised her hand to knock when she heard a crashing sound inside the house, followed by an angry cry. "That damn cat! How did it get inside?"

The door opened and a black tomcat shot out from between Josie's legs and disappeared over the fence. Josie's face was flushed.

"Oh hullo, Lizzie. Damn cat! One of my favourite vases, the blue one with yellow flowers on it. Come in, come in."

Elizabeth gritted her teeth. She couldn't remember how many times she had asked Josie to stop using her nickname. Lizzie had been fine when they were children, but not for a professional adult woman with the title of Doctor.