Jon hurried out into the hallway toward the bathroom, even though there was a perfectly good one in his parent's room.
The door was locked, but after he tried, the person inside opened it. It was his mother...but she was dressed differently...her hair was messed up and she was wearing a pair of pajamas with feet. She gave him a big hug, and skipped off down the hall.
He looked dumbfounded for a moment, then turned and nearly ran into a confused looking Barbara Harris with a yelp. "What's wrong?" She asked.
"What if I told you something very weird is going on?"
"I'd believe you," she said. "You are acting weird this morning.
"How did we get into bed together?" He asked.
"We went to sleep there, Jon. Like we do every night..." she said, clearly wondering if she needed to call a doctor.
"What if I told you that I don't remember why we went to bed together?"
"I'd call a doctor. We've been married ten years now," she said.
He looked at her. She was fourteen...a freshmen. "How old are you? How old do you think I am?"
"You're thirty-four...three years older than I am," she said, very slowly. "We went to high school together, you didn't know I existed, I barely knew you...then, sophomore year, your sister and I were lab partners, and I came over to do homework..."
"I don't remember any of this," he insisted. "Umm...have you seen a stone...sort of reddish?"
"You mean the one your grandfather gave you? The one you found in the attic last night and showed to the kids? You left it on the coffee table."
He ran downstairs, grabbed it, and wished he knew what the hell was going on. Meanwhile, Barbara went for the phone.
The stone didn't do anything...flash, or otherwise. He looked around. Without it...he was stuck in whatever sort of version of reality this was. Where, despite appearances, he was married to a virtual stranger, with no idea what was going on.
