Y/n's pov
"Fear not, for I am with you. Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you."
"Yes, I will help you. I will uphold you with my
righteous right hand." The pastor continued.
I spared a glance at the people around me.
I looked to Jonathan, his head bowed, and poor Joyce who was sitting nearby.
"It's times like these that our faith is challenged.
How, if he is truly benevolent... could God take us
from someone so young, so innocent?"
"It would be easy to turn away from God... but we
must remember that nothing, not even tragedy, can
separate us from His love."
I felt a nudge on my shoulder and turned to look at
Dustin.
He wore a sly smirk as he looked to his right, past me and Mike.
My brows furrowed in confusion and I turned my head to see what he was smirking about.
"Just wait till we tell Will that Jennifer Hayes was
crying at his funeral." Dustin said cheekily.
I almost laughed out loud before remembering I was at a funeral.
The boys all chuckled and our mom leaned down to shush us.
We were at the wake, and Dustin had spotted the snack table right away, leaving Mike and Lucas and I to look for Mr. Clarke.
"Hello, kids, how are you holding up?" Mr Clarke asked.
"We're in... Mourning." Lucas said, putting on his best sad face.
"Man, these aren't real Nilla wafers." Dustin said, examining his snack.
I looked up to see Lucas giving him a dirty look, and I chuckled as Dustin joined us at the table.
"We have some questions." Mike said.
"A lot of questions." Lucas added.
"So, you know how in Cosmos, Carl Sagan talks about other dimensions? Like, beyond our world?" Mike asked.
"Yeah, sure. Theoretically." Mr. Clarke answered.
"So, theoretically, how would we travel there?" I asked, setting my hands down on the table in front of me.
"Well, basically, there are parallel universes, just like our world, but just infinite variations of it. Which means that there's a world out there where none of this tragic stuff ever happened." Mr. Clarke said.
"Yeah, uh, that's not what we're talking about." I clarified.
"Oh." Mr Clarke responded.
"We're talking more about, like, an evil dimension. Like the vale of shadows." Dustin explained.
"Well, let me put it this way." Mr. Clarke started, taking a pen out of his pocket and grabbing a paper plate to use as a demonstration.
"Picture an acrobat... Standing on a tightrope. Now, the tightrope is our dimension, and our dimension has rules. You can move forwards or backwards. But, what if... Standing right next to our acrobat, there is a flea. Now, the flea can also travel back and forth, just like the acrobat, right?" Mr. Clarke asked, to which we all nodded.
"But here's where things get really interesting. The flea can also travel this way. Along the side of the rope. He can even go... Underneath the rope." Mr. Clarke said.
"Upside down." Dustin, Lucas, Mike and I said in unison.
Mr Clarke nodded, somewhat confused.
"But we're the acrobat, so we... Can't go under the rope?" I asked.
"No, not in this metaphor." He replied.
"Well, is there a way for the acrobat to get under the rope?" Lucas asked.
"Well... you'd have to create a massive amount of energy. More than humans are currently capable of creating, mind you, to open up a tear in time and space, and then..." Mr. Clarke stabbed his pen through the plate.
"You make a doorway. Kids, this is all-" Mr. Clarke started.
"Theoretical." I finished for him.
"But what if this gate already existed?" Mike asked.
"Well, I think we'd know. It would disrupt gravity, the electromagnetic field, our environment. Heck, it might even swallow us up whole. Science is neat, but I'm afraid it's not very forgiving." Mr. Clarke explained.
Great, just great.
Word count: 666