George and Nicole Harper had never had an easy life. From one set of divorced parents to another, these half siblings have had it tough.
Ever since their mother, Naomi, split from George's father and forced them to move from England back to her hom...
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George had never been to a wake before but he was fairly certain that Dustin shouldn't look that happy. He had made a beeline straight for the buffet and began inspecting every dish. George had been told at least three times that they didn't have real Nilla wafers, just the cheap knock off.
Dustin had just complained about them for the fourth time when Mike elbowed George in the ribs. He looked at Mike indignantly but Mike just tilted his head in the direction of the door. George looked over his shoulder. Mr Clarke had arrived. This was their chance.
George looked to Mike. Mike looked between the three of them and nodded. That was their signal.
"Um, Mr Clarke?" Mike asked, clearing his throat and looking at the floor with his hands held behind his back. He had his fingers crossed.
"Oh, hey there," He said softly, looking at them with his head slightly tilted. It was a look George was familiar with: pity, "How are you boys holding up?"
"Not real Nilla wafers..." Dustin grumbled again through mouthfuls of fake wafer. The brand didn't seem to stop him from eating handfuls of them but apparently it was worth mentioning five times.
"We're in mourning." Lucas said fiercely and stomped on Dustin's foot.
"Ow!" He exclaimed earning himself a stern stare from Lucas, "I mean- yes, we are in mourning."
"We were wondering if you had time to talk?" Mike asked, pressing forward with the plan before Dustin had time to complain anymore about wafers and blow their cover.
"We have some questions." George added looking sadly up at Mr Clarke. He made his lower lip droop and slightly raised his eyebrows in the middle to look pitiful. He even sniffled a little. And it worked too. Mr Clarke sighed and set down his plate of food.
"Okay boys," He said, leading them back over to his table, "What did you want to ask me?"
*
"Okay, so you know how in Cosmos, Carl Sagan talks about other dimensions? Like, beyond our world." Mike said, leaning across the table to where Mr Clarke was sat.
"Yeah, sure. Theoretically." Mr Clarke corrected.
"So, theoretically, how do we travel there?" Lucas asked, getting straight to the point.
"You guys have been thinking about Hugh Everett's many-worlds interpretation haven't you?" Mr Clarke asked them, looking at them each in term with the most impressed smile on his face.
George frowned and looked at the others, who frowned back at him too. He nodded and shrugged.
"Um, yeah..." George mumbled, "but I didn't really understand all of it."
"Well, basically, there are parallel universes." Mr Clarke said, starting to explain, "They're just like our world but there are infinite variations of it. Which means there's a world out there where none of this tragic stuff ever happened." He folded his arms on top of one another on the table and looked at them with a small, sad smile.
