Steph drove a baby blue new style Volkswagen Beetle. Channie was already regretting her decision to help as they took off down the street and made their way towards the freeway. Poppy, electronic dance music thudded from the car’s stereo. Steph, in high spirits, wiggled slightly in her seat, dancing along to the music with her shoulders.

Channie yawned widely. She had been about to go to sleep before Steph’s unexpected arrival.

“I already wrote the note for Mr. Gray,” said Steph. “I just couldn’t remember which tree the time pocket was in.”

Time pockets were invisible pockets of space that existed outside of time. Eddies in the river of time. Items put into them could be retrieved in the past or the future. It was confusing and weird, but placing a note inside the time pocket they knew about was the easiest way to get in touch with Mr. Gray.

The odd creature must have frequented the pocket at some point in history. At the current time, it was situated under a gap made by an exposed tree root growing up over the topsoil deep within a city park in Edmonds, Washington, about thirty minutes south of Channie’s mom’s house in Everett.

Between songs, a rustling of plastic bags sounded from the backseat. A look of concern appeared in Steph’s eyes as she noticed the curious crinkles. She glanced in the rear view mirror and then quickly twisted in place to look behind her.

“Which bag has the snacks in it?” came a high-pitched voice from the backseat.

Steph slammed on the brakes.

Channie screamed as the car continued to slide, drifting off the road towards a utility pole.

Steph screamed, knuckles turning white against the steering wheel as she turned back around.

Their seatbelts locked.

Mr. Gray squealed, rocketing unrestrained through the air with all the bags of goat meat into the front seat. His tiny, gangly legs flopped around, bumping into the stereo system, turning the volume knob to max.

The beat dropped in the music as the car lurched to a halt, inches from colliding with the pole.

Channie’s heart was pounding in her chest along with the beat of the music.

Steph quickly cranked the volume back down. A nervous laughter escaped from her like a chattering bird.

Channie let out a deep breath that she hadn’t realized she was holding. She soon joined in with her own manic laughter.

The relief was short lived.

Everything lit up suddenly inside the car—piercing fluorescent headlights pouring in. A truck horn blared. Steph and Channie both screamed again. The whole car shook as the truck barreled past, too close for comfort.

“We’re all fine,” said Mr. Gray, standing up on the center console. “No need to panic. It doesn’t hit us, obviously.” His eyes shined like a cats, reflecting red in the darkness.

Steph turned on the cab light. Both girls watched Mr. Gray as he brushed off the little button-down suit he always wore—it was a patchwork mess that looked like a bunch of cloth swatches sewn together. Bits of the patches stuck out along many of the sew lines, giving the pale skin creature a disheveled appearance.

“How long have you—?” Channie started, but trailed off from the pointless question. Mr. Gray was magical. Channie learned long ago not to fret over the how’s or why’s. Her hands shook softly—adrenaline lingering with no clear direction to take her.

Steph rummaged through her purse and retrieved the note she had prepared to place into the time pocket.

“I already know of your quest,” said Mr. Gray without looking at the note. “Other versions of you have wanted to save that goat. You always make the same request. I came preemptively. The Agares are watching over some time pockets now. It’s not safe to use them for communication.”

Channie’s heart beat faster at the mention of the Agares. An inter-dimensional war was raging outside of—and all across—time, perpetuated by the Agares’ thirst to repurpose the energy of countless universes to fuel their own. It meant a slow, cold death for Earth and many other realms if the Agares succeeded. Most humans were blissfully unaware of all of this, but Channie and Steph knew the stakes. The Agares were not small like the Parcae. They were up to twelve feet tall with slender limbs, and although they often stood upright like a human, they could move terrifyingly fast on all fours. They were the ones who sent the vampiric ghasts to kill Channie and her friends—and Jerry, indirectly—at summer camp all those years before.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Mr. Gray told them both previously that they were destined to oppose the Agares’ agenda.

Lucky us, thought Channie, rolling her eyes while no one was looking. She envied the carefree existence everyone else got to scoot around living. She knew the truth about the things that lurked beyond the fringes of science. So much more existed than anyone knew. She couldn’t be carefree. She had to worry about the Agares literally erasing her. They could do that—erase people—with energy weapons. People ceased to have ever existed when struck, evaporated and forgotten by everyone who ever knew them. The Agares were working to end the universe.

“So you’ll help us?” asked Steph.

Mr. Gray licked his thin lips as he straightened his black stringy hair. “Your task is pointless,” he said, “but I know your feelings on this matter, so I’ll ferry you there and back in exchange for the calories in your snack bag.” He began to rustle through the plastic bags again until he found the only one that didn’t contain goat meat. He pulled a package of wafer cookies out, his little fingers working fast to tear open the foil and yank the plastic tray free. He’d already munched down three cookies before Steph could respond.

“I don’t mind sharing,” she said. “I bought those for the drive.”

Mr. Gray didn’t stop chewing as he smiled. “That’s why I arrived before you ate them.”

Channie was having doubts about the task ahead. Mr. Gray thought it was pointless too… but he also wasn’t stopping them.

“I’ll keep you both safe,” said Mr. Gray, “as long as you listen to my every instruction.”

Steph squealed with joy and squeezed Mr. Gray in a tight hug. The Parca grunted. Steph plopped him back down on the center console. Mr. Gray straightened out his suit again.

Another car passed around them, honking

Steph returned her attention to the road. She backed away from the pole and then pulled off into the nearest abandoned parking lot.

Mr. Gray spoke for only Channie to hear while Steph was distracted. “The goat isn’t important, but neither one of us is talking her out of this. It goes best if we just indulge her.”

Channie was still scared, but she felt her heart soften as she thought about how much Jerry must have meant to Steph if she was still thinking about him six years after his death.

Everyone exited the car. Channie helped Steph gather all the goat meat and then joined Mr. Gray off to the side.

He waved an outstretched hand through the air, gesturing for a portal to materialize. Wisps of smoke condensed in the air, swirling around the invisible doorway. The space seemed to deaden, making the distant strip mall behind it appear hazy to the eye.

“It’s ready,” said Mr. Gray, looking up at Steph.

Steph’s expression was steely eyed. She didn’t hesitate as she walked through the opening and into the Beyond.

Channie waited until Steph vanished from sight. “This is going to be stupid and dangerous for no reason, isn’t it?”

Mr. Gray chuckled, spitting bits of cookie crumbs as he finished munching down the first sleeve of the wafers. “Dangerous? Yes. Stupid? Extraordinarily so. But not for no reason.” Mr. Gray started walking towards the portal without explaining further.

“Ahem.” Channie cleared her throat, stopping Mr. Gray in his tracks. “Pray tell, what, then, could possibly be a good reason for saving Jerry?”

Mr. Gray turned around, continuing to walk backwards as he neared the mouth of the portal. “Isn’t it obvious?” he asked. “It’s friendship. Yours and Stephanie’s. The Agares don’t value such bonds, but you humans must protect one another if you wish to survive.” He gestured behind him towards the portal. “She won’t make it back successfully without you. Indulge her. Just stay alert.” He vanished through the opening.

Channie sighed. She’d never been all that close with Steph. It still didn’t quite feel worth the risk, but she closed her eyes and breathed out all the air from her lungs. Empty lungs eased the transition between worlds. A breath full of air was the fastest way to lose her dinner on the other side. She followed Mr. Gray in.

The air rippled with energy as she passed through the conduit, slipping outside of time entirely. She stepped into the Beyond, feeling the humidity of the air change as if she’d just walked off a plane in Hawaii. She was glad to be able to marvel at the sight of the Parcae’s home realm once more. The Beyond was the space between places. The sky overhead swirled with glimmering currents—all the energies of countless universes twisting together and flowing apart simultaneously.

The vast majority of the energy that surrounded her was invisible to the human eye, but the Parcae could read it like a book. Mr. Gray hopped along the barren landscape of dark jagged rocks until he’d found the correct point for reentry into the mortal realm, six years earlier than when they’d left. He opened another portal with another wave of his hand.

Channie wished she could stay a little longer. Being in the Beyond made her feel tiny and insignificant, but in a good way, like looking up at a sky full of stars at night. She imagined this was how astronauts felt when they looked upon the Earth from space. It gave perspective. She didn’t want to take her eyes off the shimmering sky, full of such unfettered potential. Few people got to witness such a beautiful sight.

Steph pushed on ahead, stepping into the return portal without looking back. Channie approached the opening and looked down at Mr. Gray. The gluttonous creature was in the process of eating the last wafer cookie. Crumbs tumbled from his chin as he tossed the empty packaging into the portal before realizing that Channie was watching him.

“Didn’t want to litter. Best to leave Earth trash on Earth.”