Previously..
"You almost didn't make it there son but I helped you to negotiate with some of the
influential to go back and well here you are and in my service again son. It seems like you
have a interest in exploring the possibilities or am I mistaken?" he asked and Carter
suddenly felt very chilled.
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"No, I mean yes! I've always wondered but this is ridiculous. Things like this don't happen!
I have to wake up, you're just dreaming Johnny! I can close my eyes and I'll wake myself
up" he muttered and closed his eyes. He opened them up again but the strange man was
still in front of him. "Oh god I'm not dreaming," he thought with a moan.
"No you're not dreaming John and before you ask, yes your other reality still exists. I will
give you a week in this reality and then we will move onto the next until you want to stay
in one or go back to the one you came from" the man explained hoping he would
understand. Carter blinked at him dazedly. Could he trust this stranger? What if he just
told him that he wanted to go back now? Did he want to throw away this opportunity?
Not really he decided. Suddenly a thought came to him.
"And Lucy?" he asked hope gleaming in his eyes. Was she alive in this reality? Did he
know her here? What about his other colleagues? Where they in different professions?
Briefly he imagined Benton working as a party clown and smiled.
"That is what your week here is for. That should give you enough time to figure out how
your life is here and about the people you knew in the life you just came from. I can't tell
you more than that. Just remember that I will be back in a week. Oh yeah, almost forgot,
this is your address plus some additional information so that you don't seem to act too
oddly to the people around you" he said while handing Carter some papers with typed
print on them. With shaking hands Carter took them from and started to leaf through
them. Suddenly a bell and students started to pour out into the hallway that he was
standing in. He went to look over at the strange man but he was gone.
"Great, just great" he grumbled and looked around to see where the students were filing
off to. With relief he noticed that most of them where opening their lockers and putting
coats on. That meant luckily that his workday was over and he could have some time to
figure out what exactly he was going to do now. He saw a door across the hall that was
marked as the teachers lounge and decided to go in.
"Hey John, rough day?" a petite red head who looked to be in her fifties asked while
drinking a cup of black coffee.
"Uh yeah I guess you could say that" he said and smiled at his own personal joke. He
had to watch himself or he would start to think himself mad. He went over to the coffee
machine in the corner and picked a mug that he thought might be his and poured himself
a cup. Awkwardly he made his way over to a table as far as he could from what he
assumed was another teacher. Sighing he began to look over the papers that the
mysterious stranger had given him. Hrmm... he had a small house in the suburbs, a
dog, and taught molecular biology at Franklin High School. Wait there was more.
He was...married!
"Wow" he muttered and continued through the papers. It told him he owned a Yugo..
uck.. and that it was parked in the back lot and that he would find the keys in his coat
that he had left in the classroom. He was still a graduate of Chicago University but not
that of medicine. And finally there were lists of names. Next-door neighbors on left
Laura and Eric, to the right just Joe with a little girl Leah. Best friend was just named
as Jenkins and his wife's name was Stephanie. He wondered if it was the same
Stephanie that had dated as an undergrad. He remembered having broken up with because
she was always trying to control him.
Carter finally decided it was time to go check out his new house. He walked to the
classroom that he had departed from earlier and collected his coat and what looked to be
his bag. It was a ratty looking thing. It was then that he also noticed his clothes, they
weren't that great either. He shrugged and went off to look for the Yugo.
As Carter pulled into the sub he suddenly realized that it was the same neighborhood that
Peter Benton's family's house was in. As he got closer to the house that was marked as his
he found out that the Benton family was only three doors down! He didn't know whether
or not they would still be there or not. His self question however was answered as he pulled
up the drive and saw Peter come out of the house. He didn't know what to do. Did this
Peter know him? Should he go up and find out?
To be continued....