Through the lightning bolt

Written for Pancreatic Cancer UK to fundraise and raise awareness of this terrible disease after losing my dad in November 2020

Part 4

Kerry

As my phone rang, Georgie flashed across the screen.  The professor had been busy and, in his lab, had recreated the lightning affect.  He had sent some mice into space and was now wanting humans to step into the time void.  Georgie and Abigail had also found themselves to be copies but where Georgie had heard of Hurricane Hannah, Abigail hadn’t.  We concluded that Abigail had been living in this timeline the longest.

Mastering how to return is a leap of faith, the mice had not come back, but we hope they are enjoying their new lives.

Georgie

Georgie wondered if the changes in James were because he wasn’t actually her James.  It appeared that the other Georgie had wanted a family, and family car.  She was not bothered, at some point a decision must have been made and her life stemmed from it.   With all the complications of decisions and timelines she was confused with how this all worked.

Curious and wanting to get back to her own time, she had agreed to jump into the unknown.  She had no family to think of, just James who appeared to not really be hers.

The thought of recreating the lightning bolt scared her but she trusted that if Kerry was brave enough then she should be as well.

 

Abigail

Abigail was more dubious about the plan.  She didn’t want to be a doppelganger copy, this was not her world.  However, she was settled here and all was good, she liked her life and was happy to stay. Agreeing to stay with Kirsty they would work with the Professor in their current timeline.

 

The decision

It has been agreed that Georgie and I will go on ahead.  The Professor has given us a tool that recreates the lightning from Hurricane Hannah, so hopefully we will be able to leap between timelines. I’m trying to stay positive, it’s going to be an adventure, but this could be dangerous. We might be copies but we are just as vulnerable as our human originals and people don’t usually hop between parallel timelines.

The plan is for the two of us to go in the morning.  Sleep is restless and uncomfortable, a mixture of excitement and anticipation. It’s not easy to rest when your life as you know it is about to be turned upside down.  I have spoken with my family, I’m hoping after all of this, there is a way to get everyone in the world and parallels back to where they should be.  Surely we can’t all stay in the wrong place forever.

 

The lightning bolt

Holding Georgie’s hand, we are both shaking, both anxious but both knowing that we must do this. Both clutching another lightning ball in our spare hand we smiled nervously as the room filled with sparks of recreated Hurricane Hannah. Standing at the edge of the void this was it.  As the fake storm started the room around us changed.  Kirsty and Abigail vanished but a familiar face stayed. As the room became clearer, we could see the shocked face of Professor Jeffries.  We had travelled from Cambridge University to Cambridge University.   We should have guessed that would happen, I’m assuming that the Professor did.

“Who are you? Where did you come from?”

“Hello, sorry.” I wasn’t sure what to say.  Glancing at the walls I could see diagrams of Hurricanes and lightning bolts and then lists of diseases to be cured,

“This is strange, what is happening?” Georgie was shaking.

 

Professor Jeffries

“What’s happening?”

“Professor, have you heard of Hurricane Hannah?”

“No, cause not, there was Hurricane Rebekah a few weeks ago, but not Hannah.”

“In your research, have you heard of the doppelgangers?”

“I’ve found no concrete evidence for them.”

“You have listed diseases on your wall, are they getting cured?”  I hoped for a yes, but that would be too simple.

“They are doing a lot of research; they are close with diabetes and the pancreas.  Dementia they have managed to reverse.   Surely you know this.”

“Do you know the theory that when a person makes a decision, another them is created and takes the other option.”

“I’ve heard of it but have no evidence.  Who are you?  You both appeared in my office in a flash of light, so what is this?

 

Doppelgangers

“Georgie and I are doppelgangers.  We are copies of an original.   We have jumped from a different timeline.  Was there lightning with Hurricane Rebekah?”

The Professor started to stammer and stutter.  “Yes, there was, and lightning is not normal with a hurricane.”

“So, when these hurricanes happen, we believe that somehow people and families are pulled between the time parallels.  It sounds far fetched but our DNA has checked out as identical to our doppelgangers.  There are more then one of us, each formed from a different decision”.

“Did you just leave another me?”

“We did?”

“I’ve a thought, the me you know, obviously didn’t have the answer you are seeking.  Why are you here?

“We are hoping to find the answer to cures for major illnesses like Pancreatic Cancer.  We also want the answer on how to put everyone back in their correct timelines and stop the frequency of the doppelgangers meeting.  People are shifting between time parallels, and not knowing.  Its scary to be told that you are a copy of someone else.”

“Right, I have no one here, and the University have just today dismissed me for my research that they don’t agree with.  I have paperwork on the illnesses and cures so far”.

Grabbing his laptop and a pile of papers he chucked them in a large bag. Looping it around his arm he added.

“Come on, all hold hands, I’m jumping with you, let’s find those answers.  If I’m guessing right, we will be jumping between the university in all the timelines.  I’m always here, hopefully the other me’s are too, come on, one of us, I hope, has the answer that you need.”

 

More lightning

As Georgie started to create the storm, I hoped we were doing the right thing.  Are we collecting Professors?

As we arrived in the new timeline there lay another Professor, this time asleep on his settee.  His walls again showed Hurricanes and Lightning and he had noted Hurricane Rebekah. Another timeline that knew Rebekah not Hannah.  Noticing the Professor approaching the man on the settee, I whispered for him to stop.  Being woken by your identical other would not a good idea.

I hoped we wouldn’t have to cross too many timelines to get home, one of these men must have found the answer.  Watching him stir I knew we would soon know about this world, before possibly jumping again.

 

Written for A story a day for Pancreatic Cancer UK

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