There is only one thing better than sleeping in and that is sleeping in during summer break. Especially when your kids are still asleep. The wife was already at work and it was a Monday like any other. You know except for that. You know the whole phenomenal cosmic powers!

I could still feel the energies from the artifacts pulling on me. It was slight, like the feeling of a hat on your head all day. If you try to notice it's there, otherwise easily forgotten.

Alright time to get this day started! Quick piss and time for a brush.

Turning on the shower I wait for it to heat up. Heading into my closet I need to pick out some clothes for the day. Some grey slacks with a light blue button up. Simple comfy clothes for what is going to be a long day. A quick and hot shower sets me up to feeling good for the day.

A few minutes of a solid shave and life is good. I have a beard that grows thick enough and fast enough to make a Viking warrior jealous.

Which would be great if I was a Viking instead of a pale skinned, green eyed dirty blonde French Irish kid with a German father.

I am one of the few men that a beard does not look great on. I mean it looks bad, like really bad. So, every day is the struggle to trim this jungle of a beard. Trim because even with a straight razor freshly stropped every morning it still is visible underneath.

Getting dressed is quick enough and the kids are still asleep it looks.

Correction, my son is still asleep. Her tablet is not on the charger anymore. At least she is quiet enough to not wake me up getting it. Heading down stairs I see her curled up in front of the fireplace in her favorite chair.

"Morning mouse, sleep well?"

She unburies herself from the tablet looking up.

"No Nicholas woke me up."

"Sorry mouse, lock your door if you need to okay?"

"Okay, good morning Dad!"

Strolling over I kiss her on the head before making my way to the kitchen. There is a just slightly old pot of coffee waiting for me.

Aww, she set the timer on the coffee pot for me. Thanks baby doll!

Pressing my hand against the fridge I feel the rush of my entire life up to this moment flash through me again as I create Save Slot 2.

Instead of going back to being tired as all get out having a second on to use in the morning feeling well rested makes a great deal of sense to me.

Sure, totally believe that. So why exactly did you wait until you poured your coffee first? That's what I thought.

Whatever! I don't have to justify myself to my own third person sarcastic inner thoughts!

Now I have a good handle on this artifact it's time to start to get a feel for item number 2.

Or as I like to call it, Make Everything Maximumly Excellent!

Uh, yeah no! Not using that, wtf is wrong with me? Did I just come up with such a ridiculous name so it has the initials of MEME?

Looking at the clock on the stove quick it reads 8:03. Okay that will help confirm the time freezes when in my universe. Whatever, moving on I can feel the energy radiating from the necklace. Pulling on it space twists and I find myself in a great void of nothing.

Strange that, what can I even do here?

Putting thought to that idea suddenly I am aware of the universe I am now a part of. Huge, holy god is it huge. Like curl up in a corner and let your sanity slip away huge.

The only thing even keeping me sane at the sheer scale of it is knowing that it is mine. Here is part of me and as such it keeps the terror at bay.

 Alright, deep breathes and calm down. It's okay, nothing to worry about here. This is my domain and I have nothing to be worried over.

Speaking into the void I let out my thoughts.

"So, what exactly can I even do here? I know I can create anything but what does that mean even?"

"Start simple here and work my way up from there."

I remember Iron is EL26 so I can work from there.

Start with some quarks and leptons, force those together into electrons, neutrons, and protons.

Okay, man this is easy. Cool, okay now push those into groups of 26 and voila!

Iron!

Alchemy can kiss my behind! Behold my power!

Now that I have iron what exactly can I even do with it? Seriously, okay, let's make a sphere, then rate the difficulty.

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Creating more iron, I focus on it willing it to form a sphere. Making it larger and larger until it's the size of my fist.

"Okay that was easy enough. Next step complex shapes."

Step by step I shape and reorganize the structure until finally it looks like a horse.

It's a good-looking horse statue I must admit. Way better than I could have ever achieved on my own before. Cool!

Okay now what? I can make Iron so I could make all the elements in theory right? Yes, I can, in fact I am sure of this.

Just how many millions, billions of even trillions of years would it take though to create an entire universe this way.

So, a handmade universe is right out the window! Not happening that is for sure.

So, options what do I have for options?

"Lightbulb! Big bang baby! Create enough matter to fill the universe and condense to Planck size or less."

"Big Badda Boom!"

Yep that'll work for sure, then just speed up time a few billion years and I have a Universe to explore!

Okay before getting started let's get a solid game plan first.

Step 1: Let there be light!

Step 2: Create Magic Hell Yeah!

Uhhh, how do I follow step 2 exactly? Shit that's a problem. I know I can create anything just, well that's not the most helpful of descriptions. Sure, if I create all the right materials I could make a watch, or something. I would have to know how to make the watch though first right?

Just because I can create anything does not mean I know how they work. This is going to be a pain in the ass for sure.

I have read more than my fair share of fiction over the years. It should be easy enough to figure this out. Well let’s start with what is magic exactly?

Is it just ‘any sufficiently advanced enough technology will be indistinguishable from magic’ or is it MAGIC? Like making thermodynamics your bitch and having Newton beg for mercy magic stuff.

I would lean towards the first honestly but that second though. Man, that sounds so much fun!

Still I have no idea how to do either really. Well the first would be easy enough though more than a bit boring honestly.

Just speed up time until some civilization in this universe gets powerful enough to be at that level. Use their tech and create techno-magic. Damn I do not want to do that. That is going to be so lame honestly.

OI! So, are we just going to gloss over the extremely obvious philosophical, existential, metaphysical and everything else point that just came up!?

You know the whole ‘This universe is about to be created through an act of some random dude so why not ou..’

“Nanananananananananana Batman! Batman! Batman! I’m motherfucking Batman! Hell yeah!”

We’re going with escapism here instead of world shattering revelations? That’s the plan?

“Yep totally am the most badass Batman of all time. Well okay, second best, Christian Bale is totally the best. Not that I’m a fanboy or anything…”

Yep, not doing that! Not sure what I am going to do but that is not it! Okay, time for a break for sure.

Heading out I look at the stove and sure enough, it’s still 8:03! Awesome on so many levels!

Even better yet I notice something that I was worrying about. I am not facing the same way I was when I entered. That means changes truly happen, as in it is not just some magical mental space.

Therefore, any changes I make to myself physically, like hella exercise, would show up on Earth as well!? Awesome for sure.

How to create magic though in a universe for real though? That is just escaping me to say the least. I am a creative person, at least I feel I am, yet I am also a logical man as well.

I want magic to exist though honestly the rational side of me is saying this is not possible in any manner I would be happy with.

Lightbulb!

Walking back into the den I head over to where my daughter is curled up in the chair.

“Hey mouse can I ask you a question? If you could make magic become real, like really real, how would you do it? Like what would you use to make magic become real?”

She pauses her tablet for a moment and I can see her little nose scrunch up as she thinks about it bringing a smile to my face. The mouse nickname is there for a reason.

“Um, it comes from love and friendship daddy! And rainbows, definitely rainbows!”

She really wants to make sure I know magic comes from rainbows from her yelling the word twice.

“So, My Little Pony and Rainbows make magic in the universe for everyone to use?”

“Well, sorta? It’s the Golden Princess Alicorn who gives everyone their magic. The rest use it after she gives it to everyone.”

“Okay so rainbows and Golden Princess Alicorn give everyone magic to use. Cool thanks mouse, you are awesome!”

I kiss her head again and she smiles super happy to have helped me solve one of the most important things ever. At least to a child that is, where magic comes from, which this time happened to be truly important to me as well.

Walking upstairs with a smile I trek down the hallway to my son’s room. He is still passed out sprawled out all over his boat bed.

Not worrying about it I wake him gently and pick him up cuddling my little buddy. Moving over to the rocking chair he wakes up slowly and tries to get comfy.

“Hey Nicholas, can you tell me where magic comes from?”

He is still so out of it but he manages to draw a few strings together and figure out what I said.

Half delirious from sleep he mumbles back to me. “Eating vegetables and the Nerf Gun Store.”

Breaking out into a loud laugh I think of my kids’ answers. Ponies and veggies grant magic powers huh?

You know, why can’t ponies and veggies give people magic powers? Why do I have to know any of this shit? I’m the boss in charge of that universe, why can’t I do whatever the fuck I want in there!?

Kissing my son and thanking him I pull on the energy from Save Slot 2 and find myself standing in front of the fridge this morning with a cup of coffee in my hand again.

“Oh yeah, waiting for the coffee was definitely the right choice.”

Taking a sip in comfort I then pull back into the universe. Looking around I think of where to start.

“Okay let’s make the Great A’Tuin first. Seems fitting honestly, couldn’t think of a better starting point.”

Picturing A’Tuin with four elephants holding up the Discworld I close my eyes and focus on it. Not on how to do it, just on doing it. Details do not matter at this point, only the result!

“Holy shit it worked! What the hell man! This is incredible!”

Looking out into the world I can see the Discworld from here floating through space as the giant space turtle flies without a care in the universe. A miniature sun and moon circle completing the image for me.

“So that’s how it works! I was letting myself get to wrapped up in the details that I forgot the most important part. Anything I want to create I can, so just create it!”

“With a snap of my fingers and a click of my heels,” I’m not wearing heels, that just an expression, wanted to make that clear. “I have to say sorry A’Tuin, for now I am going to put you in storage.”

In my hand in now an orb within which I can see the world of Discworld frozen in time. You know what? That is probably a bad idea, now that I think of it. I know the way that bookverse works. Freezing them in time is only going to make it into some crazy epic adventure.

Instead let’s just let time move on like normal and make the sphere be a model of their universe. That should work much better. Going to tag an alert on this thing though, do not want it just wandering off on its own.

“Time to cook this turkey! So what type of universe am I going to create? It has to be badass, like super cool. Not doing a world trees, mountain and valley thing, already read that book and don’t want to rip him off.”

Come up with a unique universe that no one else has so far as you know. Sure, what could go possibly be the hold up here?

“Island universe sounds boring, Dyson Sphere not much better. No as well to giant solar system universe as well.”

This is rather difficult, though I have faith in myself I can do this!

Oi! Training montage time!

As I stand under a waterfall seeking my inner peace to find the solution to my question.

“Never mind ignore, that just came up with the answer. Wow that was anticlimactic to say the least. Still happy with the result so, I’ll call it a win!”

Closing my eyes once again I picture it fully before trying to bring it into reality.

A gigantic waterfall, nearly a billion light years wide and several billion long pouring out a river of galaxies. All which pool into a vast sea of galaxies which pull downwards before falling from the top of the falls again.

No logic there, just pure awesomeness.

How do the galaxies move from the bottom to the top? Don’t know, don’t care, they just do. No warped space or anything special. They just do, because that is the way this universe works.

How do the galaxies all interact so close to each other moving at speeds that boggle the mind without causing a giant cluster fuck?

Don’t know, don’t care! Magic bitches, it works!

I set the speed so it takes 10,000 years to complete a cycle on average. Some may catch a stream once they hit the sea and go straight to the bottom. Others spray into the void floating for thousands of years before returning to the sea.

None disappear into the void though. Go far enough in any direction and you find yourself back at the waterfall.

In a fit of fun, I even arrange for some to be floating on the edges of the sea in little pockets of a few galaxies and even by themselves where they will be stable for several million years or longer.

As for the galaxies themselves I decide to just make a hodgepodge of everything I can think of.

Dyson Spheres large enough to eat the Milky Way tumble next to galaxies made of pure fire and others of ice. Space storms holding millions of planets in them crawl alongside even more fantastical and whimsical galaxies then I can count.

I have no idea how long this has taken though I know eventually I had to stop and remake my body as it was dying. Now in this universe for now I am undying for sure.

Perhaps it was only days, though I doubt it, likely it was decades as I lost myself somehow in the fugue of creation. It was a glorious experience unlike any other I could ever think of.

Which worries me honestly. I have a loving wife and two wonderful children. I cannot allow myself to forget that which is important to me. Thinking hard I craft an artifact which I attach to my soul when I am in this universe.

It will keep my love and memories of my family strong in my mind. They will always be of importance to me so no matter how much time I spend here they will matter to me.

I pause the universe for until I return, for I have much work still to do and I miss my family dearly now. I can tell they were slipping from my mind and eventually I would have likely lost all thoughts of them. Likely of the universe from which I came even.

Dangerous, yeah I need a break for sure.