Jon was sitting in the passenger seat of the old truck waiting for the farmer to return. As patient as he tried to be, he couldn't help but squirm around in his seat. The worn leather was hard and not particularly comfortable. He was also in a somewhat nauseous state. This feeling was caused by the smell of animals, manure or whatever unidentified strong pastoral aroma was ingrained into the inside of the vehicle. The silence was disturbed by a rustling from the open window.
Unrestrained by the lack of a seatbelt, he cautiously peered out.
"Boo!" Zoe spouted as she jumped up from below. A huge grin formed on her face as she watched her 'brother' nearly hit the roof in fright.
"Jeez Zoe! That isn't funny," he said as his heartbeat started to slow down again. A gradual realisation came over him. Several thoughts began to quickly overlap in his head. "Hang on..., you shouldn't be here. Unless the wish..." He paused for a second not wanting to admit to something he'd later regret. "What are you doing here?"
"Duh! Looking for you weirdo. I was right, he was wrong," she said with a sound of smug satisfaction. "Not so clever now are you?"
"What are you babbling on about now?"
"My Jon thought you would have gone to the store first, so he went to look there. I figured if some weird teenager showed up in strange clothes, saying he was from the future, I'd take him to a doctor first." She peered over the hood towards the building the truck had been parked beside. "Odd, just looks like a big regular house, not a medical centre at all. I guess that hasn't been built yet." She looked around at the sparsely placed buildings. "I guess most of it hasn't be built yet."
Zoe's extended observations were frustrating Jon even more. "Okay, I can see the town too," he said before raising a finger to point at her, "but what are you actually doing here."
"Oh, we're rescuing you," she said focused on her alternate sibling again.
"Who is we? And what are you rescuing me from?"
"I'm with you," she said before pausing and pointing back at him, "not you-you obviously, my-you. We're taking you back to the future."
"Who is My-oo?" Jon asked thinking it was some sort of weird name.
Zoe scrunched her nose up. "Not My-oo, MY-YOU..., my brother Jon."
"God Zoe, I am your brother Jon. You must be seeing things." His irritation was actually turning into concern about her mental wellbeing.
A wave of understanding passed over Zoe. "Jon must have to deal with this shit every time he goes to a different dimension," she said inwardly before looking directly at him again. "No, you are not. You are from a parallel universe or something. My Jon has a handheld thing that can take you back home."
Jon felt even more confused after her explanation. "You aren't very good at this are you?"
Zoe shrugged her shoulders. "Give me a break. I've just found out about all this stuff, magic rocks and time travel and Gameboys that can go to different realities. I'll also add - I didn't exactly choose to come here either."
"So, let me get this straight. There is another version of me here, right now?"
"Not here-here," she said as she pointed at the ground.
"Let's not start all that again."
"He's at the store. If he couldn't find you there, he planned to meet up with me here." She turned around to look into the distance. "He shouldn't be far away because obviously you aren't there."
He was still somewhat sceptical that the other Jon actually existed. He did notice that she did know about the rock though so someone must have told her about it. "And he's going to take me back home?"
"Yep, might be your only chance," she said recognising a look of uncertainty on his face. "What's wrong?"
"It would be great but I mean, I've only just got here. It would be kind of cool to explore 1960 and see how it is different."
"I suppose but you could end up here permanently."
"The rock must have sent me here for a reason. I'd like to think it wouldn't actually leave me stuck."
"I wouldn't rely on that," she said remembering DTH Jon telling her about the chaos it was causing to the multiverse as a whole. "My Jon doesn't trust it."
"He doesn't?"
"Nope but I guess the decision is up to you. It isn't like we can force you or anything. Do you want to go back or stay here?"
Jon took a bit of time to think about the whole situation. "I will..."
