Portals

Has any man attempted to craft a portal in your world? No, I speak not of the false gateways that pretenders use to cross a small distance in a time they call short. A true portal, a bridge that crosses the ocean between worlds. I have seen it, I was there. I walked through it myself. It was a day gone too fast, but for that I remember it.

I had no real idea why I was given the opportunity to help world famous scientists in a teleportation experiment, but on the bright side, I got a free promotion. Besides, being the first person to teleport was something of a novel experience. My excitement, however, did seem a bit misplaced.

"This is the portal?" I asked, not bothering to hide my disappointment. What would you think a gateway between worlds should appear as? I had pictured a rip in space and time, an orb reflecting the light of stars beyond, or even a grandiose ship decorated in metals that would make gold seem cheap.

The truth, as it turns out, was not grand in the least. I stood before what appeared as a wooden casket. I rubbed my eyes, and looked sideways at what my fellow men knew as the great scientific minds of the time. I rubbed my eyes, unsure if they were deceiving me. Truth to be told I expected a smile, a laugh, a bellow of mockery, or all three. Surely it had to be a joke, I thought. Surely they were cruel geniuses taking pleasure in the folly of less educated men. But it was not so.

"Yes." The man said, his voice flatter than most soccer fields could hope to be.

I laughed. This was no happy laugh you would find from a man holding his newborn child, or that of a good citizen suffering a bad joke in politeness. This was a hysterical, booming laugh, from seeing something so ridiculous it makes one wonder what they saw in the first place.

At his stony stern face my laughter ceased. "So, you want me to stick a knife into my throat and lay down in a casket. I don't suppose you're hiring coffin dancers to escort me to the afterlife too?" I asked.

He sighed, a sound resembling that of my old teacher explaining a math problem. "The distortion of spatial relationships between matter in the pocket of space inside of the casket allows for reversal of a man's physical state before he entered it. Any changes undergone while inside the casket shall be removed upon the distortion's end, which we can cause at any time." He explained.

Just like my old teacher, that left me with more questions than answers. "Now, now, do you perhaps think that I am an idiot?" I protested, waving my arms. If I was not offered a promotion, I think I would have left.

"An intelligent man has the ability to realize when he is drawing illogical conclusions." He replied, a response which I did not understand. Perhaps because I didn't want to. Intelligent men are nigh impossible to argue with, you never understand half what they are saying and admitting it makes you look stupid. I was many things back then, but stupid was the least of them. Well, perhaps that wasn't entirely true. Point being, I didn't want to look twice the fool they believed me to be.

Yes, they. I probably should tell you about the other men and women in the room. Great minds of the world that no doubt had more inventions to their name than I had letters. The issue lied in me not knowing a single one. Oh I know I should have, but of the many abysmal failures that the schoolteacher frowned upon I was one. Do not blame me for not sharing the same idols as them. Had I did I may have not became a soldier, but that's besides the point.

The person speaking to me was a white haired old man among a group of people who had white hair or white eyes. Yes, they rolled their eyes at me. Do trust me on this, education does not make a man more polite than another. If anything may be evidence of that it would be my own unfailing politeness.

My eyes drifted over the several dozen faces that were staring at me. There were not many things I could read from their bodies, but amusement was not one of them. In the shadows that lined the walls I could see with clarity their backs, some of which slouched as if being crushed while others straighter than most rulers. A mixed reaction, if I were asked to describe.

"I presume that the prospect of a promotion is more serious than this? I would not want to find a fake officer's badge." I said, not knowing how to feel. Maybe I was trying to convince myself to leave.

Consider this a lesson from a well spoken man, questioning a group of people's sincerity is something to do behind their backs rather than to their face.

The old man's voice became frosty, so cold that I shivered. "You may proceed with the experiment, or you may leave. Do not waste our time. A copy of the contract lies within your home, and any violation of it rends the results of our experiment invalid. Please make your choice now. If you do not feel fit for the task we shall not force it upon you." He said, the please sounding more like you will.

I looked at the coffin, the intricate artwork of the wood suddenly looking like the pits of hell itself. Turn back, my gut screamed, a scream that I ignored. Trusting one's instincts were for the very smart and very stupid, none of which described me with any accuracy.

I can not say what madness drove me to agree. Was it the frosty certainty of the man's voice, the wonder of being the first to enter a portal, or the attractive prospect of a promotion? Or was it the insult veiled in his statement, implying I was unfit for the task.

Lesser men would have balked at the challenge, but I, ever brave and courageous, took it upon myself to complete it. I lifted my trusty army knife to my neck and made a cut, not a large cut. Just enough to draw blood and not enough to cause permanent damage. If these great minds were correct it would fade away after they completed whatever their grand experiment was. I scoffed, making a silent vow to buy them all drinks if it did.

What happened next was apparently possible, although how I had no idea. I now know that nothing is impossible, although I thought the same when the great scientists broke all laws of physics I knew. As I laid down in the casket the lid slammed shut in my face with a roar rivaling any beast, cloaking me in shadows and a silence that would have scared a man long dead. But that was not anything special. It was the light.

In that moment when the light from my world faded another began shining, brighter than I thought possible by even the sun. A tearing sound filled my ears. A cold, terrible rip that I knew subconsciously as the fracture of space and time. Whatever it was, it mirrored the sound of my scream.

I was no little girl on that day, mind you, but certain sights would scare even me. For a brief few moments I felt the earth flee from beneath me, as if I were being carried into the sky. A blinding flash of light darkened my vision before my eyes revealed the source of my terror.

I was flying, though not like a bird. Falling would be the better word. Like a rock tossed off the tallest mountain peak I was launched through the open sky, and the ground was rushing up to greet me with a kiss that would end my life.