When Karyn emerged from the bathroom, she found Jon still right outside in the hall. He was perusing the wall covered with portraits and other photographs. She stood by his side and faced the array. "So, what can we tell about this world from the pics?"
Jon waved his hand to encompass the pictures before them. "This wall, it's supposed to be the one reserved for our family pictures. Almost all of them are totally different than those at home - my real home - but the people in them are familiar... most of them, anyway. I think I've got siblings now!"
"Or new cousins," said Karyn.
"Yeah, it's hard to tell. I assume this picture must be my nuclear family, though." Jon pointed at a shot of five people standing together in front of a beach. "Unless it's missing another kid who took the picture of the rest of us. Mom, Dad, me, one younger sister, one younger brother."
"Your sister is definitely out of place."
"Yeah, she's a Goth on a beach. Not her element. She looks kinda mean, or at least unhappy, and I don't think it's just because of the sun. I'm not looking forward to meeting her. The little guy looks OK, though."
"He could be a brat. Pictures don't show everything about a person."
"Yeah, they can only hint and mislead ..." Jon's voice trailed off as his eyes opened wide. "Oh no ..."
"What, Jon?"
"Look at that picture, Karyn."
"No, it couldn't be!"
"But it is! There's Sarah with my family! Is she my cousin in my new reality?"
"Maybe she's just their friend or something," suggested Karyn.
"I don't think so." Jon was already creeped out by the thought of having a new sister and brother. This was so much worse. He took the picture down from the wall so he and Karyn could examine it closely. "The people around Sarah look like my cousins. But in our 'home' reality, my cousins and their mother - my aunt - are brunettes. Here, they're blondes like Sarah. And their faces even resemble hers, though they still have enough of their old features for me to recognize them."
Karyn didn't know what to say. She had never met Jon's aunt or her daughters, but she had no reason to think he was imagining the whole thing. She certainly wasn't imagining the image of Sarah in front of her. "So you're saying they've been McMillanized?"
"Yes. And I wish I knew why!"
