Quantum Immortality
by Melanie Brown
Copyright  © 2022 Melanie Brown

Derrick and Stan died. Or did they?

 

---

 

Stan and I exited the theater and turned towards the direction of Stan’s car. The brisk November air cut through our light jackets which neither of us had bothered to zip close. We splashed through the small puddles in the parking lot. It must have rained while we were watching the movie. The dark clouds scudded quickly across the sky.

Glancing over at Stan, I said, “I thought that was one bodacious movie, bro. Definitely more action that Zombie Squad 3-D.”

Stan nodded. “Yeah those were some of the best effects I’ve seen. Korea is making some cool zombie movies lately.” Stan fell silent for a moment while we approached Stan’s car. As he unlocked the driver’s door, he asked, “So, Derrick. Are you hungry or do you need to get back home?”

Waiting for Stan to unlock my door, I said, “Even though it’s Sunday, Mom isn’t making a dinner tonight. She said I could do whatever I want tonight.”

As we slid inside Stan’s car, Stan asked, “Wanna go shoot some pool or go to Taco del Rey?”

I chuckled. “I thought you said we were going to Gildersleave’s to eat?”

Stan shook his head as he turned the ignition key. Frowning, he said, “Are you kidding? Neither one of us could even afford to just look at the menu there. Dad took Mom there for their last anniversary dinner and he had to take out a title loan on this car.”

I grunted a chuckled. “Seriously?”

Stan looked at me as if I was stupid and said, “Don’t be stupid. But it was almost that bad.

I laughed. “Then Taco del Rey here we come. At least their hot sauce is actually hot.” I swiped my fingers across the dashboard of Stan’s car and left a smear of dust. “Dude. Are you ever going to get an actual car? This thing was a piece of shit when it was new.”

“Tell me about it. Dad said he’ll help me after graduation.” Stan backed his car out of the space and began driving towards Taco del Rey. Stan glanced over at me and said, “And like you have room to talk. You don’t even have a car.”

“I’m saving up. My dad also said he’d help after graduation… Oh my God!”

A huge “dooley” pickup truck came blasting through the intersection on a red light. And it wasn’t like it just changed. He dead ran the red light. The truck had one of those over-sized steel bumpers that plowed right into the side of Stan’s car, almost cutting it in half, it was hit with such force. The truck came right through the driver’s door, crushing Stan, cutting him off in mid-yell. I was slammed into the passenger door. Everything went black.

*          *          *

With a start, I sat bolt upright, my breathing coming in gasps. It was dark all around me. I just sat there a few moments terrified and breathing hard. As my breathing started to slow to normal, I looked around the room in the dim light. I was actually surprised I wasn’t dead.

I wasn’t wrapped in the steel of the car. I wasn’t even in a hospital bed. This was my bed. But it wasn’t. That’s when I noticed long strands of dark brown hair hanging down into my face. There was an odd weight sensation on my chest. I was wearing pajamas which I never do.

What the hell is going on? Was the crash just a nightmare? But what’s with my hair? And the clothes? I reached for the small lamp I keep on my beside table. It’s a GI Joe lamp I got when I was a kid, but never replaced it. It works, so why get rid of it. Stan is the only one outside my house who has seen it and he doesn’t care.

I just stared at my lamp for several seconds. I turned it off, then back on, not sure what I thought would happen. Instead of GI Joe blasting away with his machine gun, I saw Barbie in a bikini sitting on a beach. Under my breath, I uttered, “What the fuck?”

My stare switched from the lampshade, to my hand, still hovering over the button. My knuckle hair was gone and the skin looked very soft. My nails were long and shaped and painted with a black nail polish. Dangling around my wrist was a charm bracelet. A little louder, I said, “What the fucking hell?”

My building desk, instead of being covered with junk, it was fairly neat with my homework stacked on it. Starting to shake, I slid my legs off the bed. I was wearing blue flannel PJs. On wobbly legs, I stood up and looked at my desk. One of the papers had a name written on it. “Jennifer Bradley”. Was that the name of the girl that lives in this room? With just a few exceptions, this room was identical to mine.

“This just isn’t happening,” I said out loud. Maybe I was injured in the accident and I was brought here to this room to wait for an ambulance. No, that was stupid. Nobody would move me because I might have a broken neck or something. I wouldn’t be walking around with a broken neck.

I cautiously walked over towards the room’s door and flipped the overhead light switch. The room was instantly bathed in light. I looked at my hands. They still had the black nail polish. I looked down my front. I was wearing light blue footie jammies like when I was a kid. Was this a joke? It certainly wasn’t funny. Did Stan do this? Did the accident leave me in a coma and this was done to me as a joke? That’s stupid. No one would do that.

There was a desk with a large mirror on it. I felt compelled and deeply reluctant to look at my reflection. There were bottles of cosmetics lying on the top of the desk. I never had this desk with a mirror in my room before. I slid into the chair at my desk and looked at the mirror.

I gasped, “Oh my God!”

This isn’t really happening. It must all be part of the nightmare. Staring back at me was a pretty, teen girl with dark brown hair longer than shoulder length. I collapsed on my bed. This was insane. This wasn’t real. I jerked on my hair. Crap, it’s definitely my hair.

On the desk was a framed photo with the girl in the mirror smiling and standing close to a jock from school. Everyone called him Barney because his last name was Barnes. Barney Barnes. He was on the basketball team. Why do I… no scratch that. Why does the girl in the mirror have a picture of her and Barney Barnes?

I picked up my cell phone and saw that it was two-thirty in the morning. I need to call Stan and see if he’s having the same nightmare. Okay, that sounds stupid.

After several rings, a very sleepy sounding Stan said, “Hello?”

“Stan!” I almost screamed. “Thank God you’re there!”

Still sounding tired, Stan said, “Who the hell is this?” There was a pause and then he said, “If you’re going to prank call someone, turn your caller ID off. Okay Jennifer, whoever the hell you are, did you get a good laugh?”

Oh my God. My own phone says “Jennifer”? Frantic, I said, “Stan! Listen! It’s me, Derrick! I have to talk to you!”

“Derrick isn’t a girl, Jennifer. Who do you think you’re fooling? Are you that bitch cheerleader? The one dating that stupid basketball player with the dumb name? This is why nobody likes you. You got your giggles. I’m hanging up now.”

“No!” I yelled. “Stan, don’t hang up! It really is me, Derrick! Do you remember the car wreck? With that truck? We were headed for Taco del Rey. Do you remember?”

There was a long pause. Finally Stan said, “I… I… think I do remember that. It’s weird. I remember a moment of intense pain and then your call woke me up. But if you’re Derrick, why do you sound like a girl?”

I frowned. “Because I seem to be a girl. Check your room. Does anything seem weird or out of place?”

Stan sighed. “I’m done with this bullshit. Good night Jennifer. Don’t call me again.” The call was disconnected.

I fell on my bed and began to cry. He doesn’t believe me. I have to admit, I wouldn’t believe me either. But what am I going to do?

My phone began to ring. I looked at the caller id and it was Stan. I quickly answered it. “Stan! Thank God you called back!”

There was a pause and then Stan said, “Derrick. What’s going on? What’s happened to us?”

*          *          *

“After I hung up, I looked around my room,” Stan said calmly. “At first I didn’t really see anything strange and just thought you were crazy.”

“Gee thanks,” I said into the phone.

Stan exclaimed, “You have to admit what you were saying was pretty crazy. And then I saw it.”

Sitting on my bed, I asked, “Saw what?”

Stan took a deep breath. “On top of my dresser was a framed picture. I never had a picture on top of my dresser before. But the picture itself shook me to my core. The picture was me, kissing Brad McCreary.”

I gasped and said, “The same Brad McCreary who is the swim team captain and gay?”

“Yep,” agreed Stan. “The very one. And it wasn’t just a little kiss either. I looked back at past text messages on my phone. Holy shit, Derrick. Looking through those messages, Brad and I are totally in love with each other.”

“What are we dealing with, Stan?” I asked, knowing there was no answer. “I’m now a girl and you’re now gay. Can we get back?”

Stan said, “I think we both should call in sick for school and go pay Malcolm Parker a visit.”

I narrowed my eyes as I asked, “Why him? Isn’t he some kind of nut conspiracy guy?”

“Well, he is a professor at the university. He might have an idea, Derrick,” said Stan seriously. “He gave a talk to our physics class earlier this year. He’s really big into Quantum Mechanics and all that shit. I spent an hour trying to argue Schrödinger’s cat with him. This guy is like way out there. He might have an idea about what happened.”

I frowned at my phone. “Who’s cat?”

Stan laughed. “You’ve heard of that, right? The cat is considered both alive and dead until you open the box? Or something like that. Anyway, something maybe on a quantum level happened to us and it ain’t normal.”

*          *          *

We both decided to try to get a few hours of sleep. That was pretty impossible. But anyway, instead of going to school, Stan would pick me up and we’d drive three hours to state university and have a chat with Professor Parker. I think he’s a lunatic, but Stan has high respect for him.

It freaked me out when I found myself just automatically being Jennifer. I didn’t give a thought to sitting down to pee. When I took a shower, it didn’t shock me to see naked breasts on me. It didn’t horrify me, when washing, to find a vagina instead of Mr. Happy. It was just normal. Just as I finished putting on my make-up, I realized I have no idea how to wear make-up, but there it was. I put on a dress, which felt perfectly normal.

Things are happening fast. By the end of the day, will I even remember who I really am? And who am I, really? I’m Jennifer and Jennifer is me. My memories are already getting mixed up. I remember as Derrick getting a train set for Christmas, but also remember my first kiss with a boy.

I got Stan’s text that he’s ready to pick me up. I did one last check of my make-up. I had put in my favorite earrings and then left my room.

Mom looked at me oddly. It was my mom. Not some weird substitute. She asked, “Jennifer. Shouldn’t you already be in school?”

Since I’ve never been able to lie to Mom either as Derrick or now Jennifer, I said, “Sorry, Mom. Stan and I have something urgent to do. We have to meet with a professor at the university.”

Mom frowned and set her coffee cup down. “What could be so urgent you miss school? You’re not avoiding a test, are you?”

I smiled at that. I did that as Derrick. I said, “Not this time. You’ll have to trust me, Mom. It’s incredibly important.”

Mom shook her head. “I don’t like it. Call me and let me know when you think you’ll be home. That Stanley is a sweet boy. Tell him to drive carefully.”

I nodded. “I will. Bye Mom. Love you.” Last time I was in a car with Stan, I was a boy. What will I be next?

As I got in Stan’s car, he gave a low whistle. “You’re very pretty, Derrick. And you smell nice.”

I smiled at Stan as I sat in the passenger seat. “Thanks, Stan. I’m a girl now. Girls always smell nice.”

As he drove his car away from the curb, Stan said, “You’ve never met my aunt.”

*          *          *

The receptionist sitting in the kiosk in the middle of the hallway floor greeted us pleasantly and directed us to where we could find Dr. Malcolm Parker. Not surprisingly, his office was in the Physics department. The receptionist informed us that he was expecting us. Stanley thanked her and we headed on our way.

Smiling, Dr. Parker stood and extended his hand to us as we entered his cluttered office.

Dr. Parker pointed at Stan and chuckled, “I remember you. You kept insisting the cat is always dead. Now, you said you had an urgent physics problem. We don’t get many of those here. Please have a seat and tell me what’s up.”

Stanley pressed his palms together and paused a moment in deep thought. Taking a deep breath, he said, “This is totally bizarre, so I’ll get straight to the point. Dr. Parker, Jennifer and I don’t belong here.” He spread his arms around and continued, “This isn’t our universe.”

Dr. Parker leaned back in his chair and stroked his beard. “Interesting. Why do you say that?”

Looking grim, Stan said, “Jennifer… or rather Derrick and I were in a fatal car accident yesterday. We should be dead.”

I said, “I saw Stan get killed right before my eyes! Then it went dark for me.”

Dr. Parker leaned forward in his seat and said, “That’s a pretty startling declaration. What makes you think this? I mean, seriously I just shook both your hands. You seem very much alive to me.”

“The world has changed,” said Stan in a serious tone.

Pointing at myself, I said, “I’m not a girl. My name is actually Derrick. But when I woke up this morning, I was a girl!”

Dr. Parker smiled at me. “And if I may say so, you’re a very pretty girl. Kids, I can tell by your faces that you aren’t trying to shit me. You seem to believe what you’re telling me. Honestly, if you had gone to any of my esteemed colleagues, they would be calling security right now. But I’m intrigued. This is actually an area of quantum mechanics I’ve been struggling with. What you’ve described I feel happens all the time, but nobody notices it. Have you ever experienced déjà vu?”

Looking incredulous, Stan asked, “All the time? Are you talking about a multi-verse?”

Dr. Parker’s face lit up. “Precisely! I see you paid attention to my lecture.”

My head starting to hurt, I said, “What are you talking about?”

Dr. Parker leaned back in his chair again and said, “Your friend attended my lecture, so he’s familiar with the concept. You see, miss, there’s a controversial theory that there is an infinite number of universes all existing at the same time. A copy of you, me, and Stanley exists in each one.

“Now, have you ever had a really close call and felt that maybe you really did die, but you’re obviously still alive?”

Stanley piped up with, “I’ve thought that occasionally.”

Dr. Parker smiled at Stanley and said, “That doesn’t surprise me at all. Perhaps you really did die in one plane of existence, but you’re still alive in another universe. There’s only a degree difference between the two universes so you don’t even notice you’ve crossed into a completely different universe of existence.”

Frowning, Stanley asked, “Do you think that’s what happened with Jennifer and I?”

Dr. Parker shrugged. “It’s just a guess, but it does fit the theory.”

Feeling confused, I said, “You said there’s just a small degree of difference so no one notices. Well, let me tell you professor, this time yesterday I was a boy. And Stan wasn’t gay.”

Dr. Parker leaned back in his chair and stroked his beard again. “You claim you both died at the same time?”

Frowning, I said, “I wasn’t exactly taking notes.”

Nodding, Dr. Parker said, “I understand. But as far as you know, deaths were simultaneous?”

Both Stanley and I nodded.

Dr. Parker leaned forward and said, “My guess… and it’s only a guess. This was the same as you both committing quantum suicide. I have no data to back anything up and we’re pretty deep into hypothetical-land, to get to where you were yesterday, you both had traversed into different number of meta-verses during your lifetimes. And then you both get knocked into a new meta-verse together and the different between that one and the one you were in previously were big enough to notice.”

I rubbed my eyes. “I have no idea what the fuck you just said.”

Stanley said, “I think I get it. For both of us to arrive in the same universe, we had to skip a lot of very different meta-verses.”

Dr. Parker shrugged. “Roughly speaking you can imagine it that way.” He suddenly slapped his forehead. “I’ve been a fool. I should be recording this. You’re living proof of my hypothesis.”

He picked up a video camera from his desk. He aimed it at me. “Miss. Very briefly, describe what you experienced from yesterday to today.”

I stared blankly at the camera for a few moments. I then said, “I’m Jennifer Bradley. Yesterday, I was a boy named Derrick and Stan and I had gone to the movies. It was a Korean zombie movie. It was Sunday and we were bored. Afterwards on our way to Taco del Rey we were hit by a truck running a red light. I woke up like I was having a nightmare and discovered I was a girl.”

Dr. Parker turned off the camera. “That was great. Let me play that back to make sure I actually got it.”

He plugged the camera’s output into his computer, reset back to when the recording started and pressed play. My image filled the screen. I have to admit, I am quite pretty.

On the screen I looked confused and then said, “Okay. I’m Jennifer Bradley and I have no idea what you want me to say, professor. It was a dull Sunday afternoon and my friend Stanley asked to take me to a movie.” I giggled. “That’s kinda sweet of him because he doesn’t like girls. Anyway, he took me to that new romance movie The Old Covered Bridge. Then on the way to dinner, we got hit by this big ugly truck and that was all I remembered until I woke up.” The recording ended.

I nodded at the camera. “Yep, that’s pretty much what happened.”

Dr. Parker frowned deeply. “That’s very interesting. The original recording was replaced.”

Stanley looked confused. “Isn’t that what she just said?”

I put my phone back into my purse. “Hey Stanley, can we go home now? I just got a text from Barney asking where I am. He wants to take me out tonight and it’s what, a three hour drive back?”

Stanley stood up and reached out to shake Dr. Parker’s hand. “Well, sorry to bother you, professor. I guess it was nothing and we just got a little spooked is all.”

Grinning, Dr. Parker said, “Oh hey. I’m really glad I got to talk to you both. It was very interesting.”

*          *          *

“Are you okay, babe?” asked my boyfriend Barney. “You seem a little distant, tonight.”

“I’m okay,” I said, while not really feeling okay. “I’m just feeling a bit off today. I don’t know how to explain it.” I waved my hand in front of us as we sat on my front porch. “I have a creepy feeling that none of this is real.”

Barney smiled at me. “It’s real alright.” With a finger under my chin, he lifted my face up. He bent his head down and suddenly, his lips softly touched mine. I closed my eyes as I slid my arms around his neck. I moaned softly as we kissed deeply.”

I quietly said, “I love you, baby.” Now this was most definitely real.

*          *          *

The End