Sarah was in the front seat when Jon reached the car, and her grandfather was still in the back. Jon had a little trouble reaching them, as she wobbled with each step she took, unfamiliar with high heels as she was, but she reached them without falling over and climbed in the back.
"Now, gramps," she said as Sarah started the car, "what's going on."
"First of all, Jon, stop calling me 'gramps.' I've become an actor in this reality, one of your costars. We're only coworkers in this reality, nothing more. If people hear you call he "gramps' they might become suspicious. Call me 'Robbie,' and I in turn will start calling you Melissa. You should call the young woman up here 'Liz.'"
"Okay..." Melissa thought that this would be confusing, but she would play along. She didn't want to upset her grandf... Robbie, and she didn't want to make things worse than they already were.
"Second, as I'm sure you know, this isn't your real world. It isn't mine. It isn't Liz's. Both of us came from your world, and the three of us are the only ones who remember that world. You created this world through a series of careless wishes, and in doing so you've endangered the structure of reality. The world had to change dramatically to create this new reality you've wished into existence, and as such this reality has become unstable. We have to try to set things right, and fast... but we still have some time, so I'll explain more about that later."
Suddenly Robbie's face grew softer, and Melissa thought she saw tears form in the old man's eyes. "And third... hello, my boy. It's good to see you again."
"It's good to see you too," Melissa said softly. She hugged Robbie, and he hugged her back.
"Now, Robbie," Melissa said, letting go, "you've said a lot aout unstable realities and everything, but I still don't know what you're talking about. Please, explain to me what's happened."
