A Little Trip

17 Years ago, they tore open a hole in the sky.

At the turn of the millennium, scientists operating the largest, most complex machine humanity had every constructed, tried to create a doorway between Earth and the asteroid belt. They hoped their wormhole would be a gateway to limitless resources.

They made a mistake.

Instead of empty vacuum, they tunneled through to another universe and found someone waiting on the other side.

We could have handled aliens . We would have accepted flying saucers. We could have fought an invasion.

We were not ready for fairies with sparkling wings in little yellow dresses.

THEY were not ready for the internal combustion engine.

Both worlds were forced to change.

Now, immortal elves write for newspapers, typing opinion pieces on how modern life relates to a thousand years in a treetop village. Pixies are the ultimate team mascot, and Concorde is flying between floating fairy kingdoms in another universe.

For Chase, the University of Southampton was his first and only choice. Not only is it a centre for computer sciences, but it has the highest ratio of human to Kinside students in the country.

For Christine, the human world has more magic than a Leprechaun's den; Music spills from silver disks on command, clocks do not need gears, and her mortal friend seems to carry his brain around in his mobile phone. But after three years, home, and the normalcy of griffins flying in the shadow of the Worldbridge, an 8,000 mile long pillar, calls to her.

But she won't be going alone; Chase accepted her offer to stay in her father's castle.

However, what neither of them know, is that their little trip is going to take them further than just one step into another universe,