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Author: J. P. Roquard The city stretches out below me; …
Time for a Change
Author: Majoki
His friend Leonard had warned him that Ms. Carraway conducted her business very differently, but he’d insisted she was an extraordinary travel agent.
“What has brought you here?”
That was a complicated question for Travis Kite. So many things: his mundane job, stale friendships, aging parents, romantic relationships that never lasted. He was in his early forties and life didn’t seem to be panning out. He’d begun feeling empty and unmotivated like he’d missed life’s bandwagon. He couldn’t possibly tell a stranger all this, and yet he spent the next half hour doing exactly that.
Ms. Carraway listened attentively. She took no notes. Made no interruptions. Just listened. When Travis finished, she closed her eyes, and he felt like he was watching her sleep.
She stirred after a few moments, rising from her seat and studying the many travel posters on the wall. She tapped one. “This is what you’re seeking, Mr. Kite.”
“The Taj Mahal? India? I’m not an experienced traveler. I’ve heard India can be overwhelming.”
Ms. Carraway silenced his objections with a wave of her slender hand. “This poster of the Taj Mahal does not represent a place anymore than any of these other posters do. They represent a change, a way of becoming. When you travel with my agency, where you actually end up is determined by you and you alone. From what you’ve told me, you’re seeking to renew yourself, your purpose. I believe India represents a meaningful direction, a personal challenge for you. Though it will be up to you to determine the actual route.”
“I don’t get your meaning. Ms. Carraway. I thought you’d make all the arrangements we’ve worked out an itinerary.”
“I really haven’t much to do with destinations and the like, Mr. Kite. You’ll decide those things as you go.”
Travis balked. “What’s going on here? If Leonard hadn’t recommended you so highly, I’d think this is some kind of joke.”
“Did Mr. Sherman ever share any details of his travels with you?”
“Not really. He said you arranged a trip to the Grand Canyon that exceeded his wildest dreams. He mostly talked about how it’d changed his outlook on everything.”
Ms. Carraway nodded. “Mr. Sherman did indeed travel to the Grand Canyon. His wildest dreams were exceeded because he went to watch the canyon form, one geologic age at a time. He witnessed the birth and growth of a incomparable natural wonders.”
“What?” Travis stared at Ms. Carraway as if she were a unicorn.
“I helped Mr. Sherman personally witness millions of years of geologic time.”
“That’s ridiculous.” Travis now knew he was being played. “What kind of charlatan are you? Did you hypnotize Leonard or something? Is that your so-called travel expertise?”
Ms. Carraway simply shook her head and sat down behind her desk. “You see, Mr. Kite, that’s why Mr. Sherman would not provide details about his travels. It sounds unbelievable. Impossible. Like only hypnosis could provide a rational explanation. But that is not what I do here.”
She rapped a knuckle on her desk, “Nothing is as solid as it seems, Mr. Kite. Reality is merely a thin construct. Just as humans invented time to prevent things from happening all at once, reality is our way of keeping universes from colliding at decision points—which would be very messy for us. I help my clients sidestep the messiness.”
She swiveled in her chair and opened a side drawer. She handed Travis what looked like a thick pair of sunglasses. “Please put these on.”
The glasses were heavy and he hesitated. “What will these do?”
“Convince you,” Ms. Carraway replied as she began to manipulate a tablet on her desk.
“How?”
“Your consciousness is going to take a little trip, Mr. Kite. Then you will either follow or you will not.”
Of course Travis hesitated. This was crazy talk. Complete crazy talk.
When he approached his home much later that afternoon, the sun still shone like it had for five billion years, but Travis no longer believed in its singular power. Only hours ago he’d traveled another earth with its provident sun and come face to face with the consequences of decisions he’d never dreamed nor made.
Ms. Carraway had led him to new worlds. New Travis Kites. And now he understood why Leonard wasn’t able to explain his own journeys. One could only become them.
Travis still wasn’t sure what Ms. Carraway had done. It made much more sense to believe she’d hypnotized him and implanted memories and sensations. It made more sense, but he didn’t think he could shave that explanation close enough to the truth with Occam’s razor.
The poster of the Taj Mahal in Ms. Carraway’s office stuck in his mind. Before he left, she’d provided the details of the services her agency would provide during subsequent travels and their accompanying risks. She’d been very clear about the risks. Especially that he would not be the same Travis Kite upon his return. That was both the great risk and guarantee. The cosmos was vast. His decisions even greater.
Travis climbed the stairs to his front door and glanced back at the low sun, a brilliant dome like the Taj Mahal. He blinked it all into place and unlocked his door—to everywhere.