The Flip Side of Reality

Chapter 4

Snap, snap, snap, snap, snap, snap, snap, snap, snap, snap. My knuckles ring out in the silence of the woods. Short and sharp, exactly as it should sound. I breathe a sigh of relief and wait as my body is flooded with renewed energy, my lungs once again filling with wonderfully fresh air. I hadn't realized how stuffy that reality was.

Next to me, I hear Ria moving and I open my eyes to see her struggling to get out of the handcuffs. With a start, I glance around, scanning my surroundings.

"They're not here." Ria says, noticing my confusion. "The police pushed us, they were not in contact with us when we slipped through the fold."

"Oh good." I say, letting out an involuntary laugh of relief. "They would have been so confused! Imagine trying to come up with an excuse." Ria smiles and shakes her head, returning to her attempt at freeing herself.

I begin to shuffle my wrists too, and with a surprisingly little amount of struggle, I manage to get them off.

"Aren't these supposed to be secure?" I ask incredulously as I hold up the warped metal. "They were about as strong as paper clips!" I put down my own handcuffs and turn to Ria's. "Hang on, let me help you with yours." Her's are a little stiffer than mine, but I find a weak point. After a little encouragement, it breaks and I'm able to bend the remaining metal to my will.

"Wow those were uncomfortable." Ria grumbles, rubbing her wrists. When she removes her hand, I can see quite plainly that the skin where the handcuffs used to be is red and angry. Between that and the twisted ankle, I can tell she's in a bit of pain.

"I'm so sorry, Ria." I say, guiltily. "I should've paid more attention in that bus." She stops me before I can say any more.

"Don't worry about it," she shrugs and grins. "We could be in so much worse a position. Just think about it - we could have been on our way to a juvenile detention facility!"

"Heh, that would have been so bad."

"Tell me about it - my parents would have been so mad."

I'm quiet for a moment. "I wonder what the Laiyn in that reality was up to. I mean, the cops were completely ready to take us to a detention facility." I murmur. "And homicide? Destruction of property? What's up with that? What was she thinking?"

"I don't think we should be too concerned about it, Laiyn."

I give a small nod. "Sure."

"You do know that what you chose to do or not to do in other realities is in no way a reflection of your character in this one, right? I'm not going to think you're some serial killer just because some other version of you went haywire." I take a short, deep breath and stand up.

"Yeah, I know. Now, we've got to find our way back to our bus. Any idea what direction the highway's in?" It's a painfully obvious subject change, but Ria doesn't push. Besides, it's an actually pressing matter if we don't want to end us sleeping in the woods tonight.

We both stand up (Ria with a bit of help from me), looking for any landmarks that may guide us back, but nothing. Everything in this forest is practically symmetrical.

"Okay... who's best at climbing trees?" I ask, jokingly.

"That's not a bad idea, they're not too tall." Ria says, looking at the trunks, "Besides, they have plenty of branches, it shouldn't be too hard."

I look at her. "You wanna try?"

"I really wish I could" She says, "But I should probably go easy on this ankle." We both look down at it, and I can tell it's swollen up a bit.