suıʞʍɐɥ oʇ ǝɯoɔlǝʍ sƃuıɥʇ ɹǝƃuɐɹʇs

Chapter Five: Continued

ʇɐqoɹɔɐ ǝɥʇ puɐ ɐǝlɟ ǝɥʇ
ǝʌıɟ ɹǝʇdɐɥɔ

November 11, 1983

After leaving the cemetery everyone headed to the luncheon that was being held at the church. I had told mom, Mrs. Wheeler, and Mrs. Sinclair that I would watch the boys so they didn't need to worry about them. I wanted to go with Jonathan and Nancy but I also didn't want the boys and El going out to try and find this 'Upside Down' by themselves. The last thing we need was for one of them to get lost or stuck there like Will.

"There you three are. What are you doing?" I asked, coming up behind the boys. They turned around and looked at me. "We're going to ask Mr. Clark about other dimensions," Dustin said. "Mr. Clark. The science teacher?" I asked. They all nodded and turned to walk over to him. "Mr. Clarke?" Mike said as we walked up to him. "Oh, hey, there. How are you boys holding up? Miss. Henderson?" He asked. Dustin picked up Nilla Wafers and started chewing on one. "We're... in... mourning," Lucas answered.

"Man, these aren't real Nilla Wafers," Dustin said. I nudged him and he nudged me back. The joys of having a little brother. "We were wondering if you had time to talk?" Mike asked Mr. Clark. "We have some questions," Lucas told him. "A lot of questions," Mike said. We found a table and sat down. I stayed standing and stood behind Dustin's chair, leaning my hands on the back of it.

"So, you know how in Cosmos, Carl Sagan talks about other dimensions? Like, beyond our world?" Mike asked. "Yeah, sure. Theoretically," he said. He was also so patient with his students and never had a problem with any of them asking questions even outside the classroom. "Right, theoretically. So, theoretically, how do we travel there?" Mike asked. "You guys have been thinking about Hugh Everett's Many-Worlds Interpretation, haven't you?" Mr. Clark asked. I was smart and had food grade but I was so confused about everything they were talking about right now. Or maybe it was just the fact that I couldn't wrap my head around other dimensions existing.

"Well, basically, there are parallel universes. Just like our world, but just infinite variations of it. Which means there's a world out there where none of this tragic stuff ever happened," Mr. Clark explained. "Yeah, that's not what we're talking about," Lucas said. "Oh." Mr. Clark looked at us and waited for someone to explain. "We were thinking of more of an evil dimension, like the Vale of Shadows. You know the Vale of Shadows?" Dustin asked. He shoved another wafer in his mouth. "An echo of the Material Plane, where necrotic and shadow magic—"

MIke cut Mr. Clark off, "Yeah, exactly. If that did exist, a place like the Vale of Shadows, how would we travel there?" Mike asked. "Theoretically," Lucas added. Mr. Clark grabbed a paper plate and his pen and started to explain it to us. "Well... 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... right next to our acrobat, there is a flea? Now, the flea can also travel back and forth, just like the acrobat. Right?"  The four of us mumbled a "Right."

"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," he continued. "Upside down," the boys said. "Exactly. But we're not the flea, we're the acrobat. In this metaphor, yes, we're the acrobat," Mr. Clark said. "So we can't go upside down?" I asked. "No." I sighed and looked around the room. People were all just casually talking. "Well, is there any way for the acrobat to get to the Upside Down?" Dustin 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 some kind of tear in time and space, and then... you create a doorway," Mr. Clark explains.