[014] - Reality's Tear

A response to this prompt, about a tear in the fabric of the universe, the only way to fix it being to sew it up.

***

No one wanted to take on the task of fixing the holes in the universe.  Scientists couldn’t pinpoint what might have caused it, and remained even further from an explanation as to how people could pop out of existence or change into someone or something different before an observer’s eyes.  All they could ascertain lay in the location of the anomaly (an unassuming town in Ohio) and that the effects grew ever-more widespread and frequent.  Attempts to research it or close it proved fruitless, the instruments and remote controlled rovers falling prey to the unpredictable and impossible forces that spread forth.  Various means of stopping it had been proposed, but no one wanted to bear that level of responsibility should their efforts only worsen the effects.

Henry hadn’t had any desire to come here to ground zero, but when he’d woken up to the message from his grandmother expressing her desire to help the universe get better (and subsequently hadn’t found her at her home), he’d felt obligated.  Estranged from the rest of their family, Henry had always had a fondness for her and knew no one else would have concerned themselves overmuch with her departure.  So he’d followed her to Chillicothe, a small town still chugging along on its own in spite of the growing abnormality in its center.  Given that the effects had spread across the globe, Henry supposed that made sense.  Why bother leaving when it could affect someone regardless of where they were?

The variety of warning signs guided him to the anomaly, and true to the news reports, nothing appeared out of place, save the occasional shimmer in the air that made the surroundings look like a reflection in a pong.  Its location along the banks of the Scioto River made that seem even more apropos.  Scanning both directions, Henry finally spotted his grandmother beyond the last of the barricades that lay between the epicenter and the rest.  He rushed down from his elevated position on the embankment and called out.

“Grandma, what are you doing?  That’s not safe!”

She glanced back at him, took another couple of steps, then did a double-take, coming to a stop and facing him.  “Henry?  It’s nice you came, but I can nurse this back to health by myself.”

“Nurse it back to health?  That’s not a sick child, grandma.”

“Nonsense.  Clearly the world’s caught cold.  Can’t you see it?”

“No one can, they can only see the effects.”

“No one’s looking.  People just don’t care anymore.  This is just a symptom of that larger issue.”

“It’s a tear in the fabric of reality!”

“Well, time it was mended, then.”

“This isn’t one of your sweaters that you can knit back together, grandma.  This could consume you before you even know it!  Please step away from there before you’re gone!”

“A sweater?  No, no, this will take a finer touch, it’ll need to be sewn back together.”

“It’s not a literal tear!”  Henry had advanced beyond the barricades himself by this point, and gently grabbed his grandmother, trying to pull her away without success.

“It still needs to be fixed.  They can talk about it on the TV all they want, but they certainly don’t seem to be doing anything.”

“And how do you plan on correcting this?”

“The same way as anything else, Henry.  The material may be different, but the method is the same.”

“There is no material, though!”

“None that is plainly visible, perhaps.  But that which comprises all of it is all around.  Grass, rocks, water, the very air.”

“Grandma, come on.  That’s crazy.”

“Crazier than someone vanishing into thin air?  Crazier than a dog turning into a horse?  Reality is the very thread needed to repair reality.”

“Well, no, but…”

“Shush.”

She put a finger to Henry’s lips and pulled her arm free from his grasp.  She opened the bag she carried, revealing a variety of the items that she had just listed, then stepped forwards and vanished into the anomaly before he had a chance to react.  The scenery flickered at her entry, and every now and then, Henry thought he could see her popping back through, an oddly glowing thread in her hands.  Flashes of light soon accompanied the rippling in the air, and he heard his grandmother cry out.

Without thinking, he leapt forwards after her, and all of what he’d previously known vanished.  The riverbank and hills vanished in a blink, replaced by a void that seemed to alternate between utter darkness and blinding light and occasional flashes of the more familiar world outside.  In the emptiness, he saw a light flitting about, up and down, side to side, that he instinctually knew represented his grandmother.  Along with this came a rush of knowledge, images from around the world filling his mind.

Henry groaned as an incessant pressure built in his head.  A cacophony of voices rang out in every language imaginable.  Glimpses of places around the Earth at various points in history passed before his eyes.  Civilizations on planets other than his own.  Equations that would previously have baffled him to no end popped into his mind’s eye and made perfect sense.  Through it all, the pressure continued to grow, soon becoming an unbearable pain.

At his cry, his grandmother’s presence appeared before him and he found himself cast out into the cold waters of the Scioto.  He gasped for breath and struggled to get back to his feet, head still pounding even as the excess of knowledge receded.  Mere moments after he regained his footing, a strong wind blasted through the air and knocked him back into the river.

“You needn’t have bothered coming after me, Henry.” His grandmother’s voice accompanied her hand helping him out of the river.

“And let you sacrifice yourself?”

“I came out of it better than ever.”  Henry had to admit the truth of that; she looked a good twenty years younger at least.

“How exactly is that?  Have you done this before?”

“I may have done something similar, yes.”

“I assume that must have something to do with why my family is so estranged from you.”

“Yes.”

“Well, you’re certainly a font of information.”

“Hush and rest.  The Space Between isn’t to be trifled with.  I’m afraid you’ll likely not see the world the same way after this.  Some of that knowledge will stick with you.”

“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”

“It is whatever you’ll make of it.”

True of life in general, Henry supposed.  He closed his eyes and took his grandmother’s advice to rest.  Answers could wait until later.  Given the events of the day, Henry felt certain he and his grandmother would be spending more time together than ever before.