We went into the living room and I told them everything. Mom was a Wytch in her own right, able to know the healing properties of any herb, tree, berry, vegetable, stalk — any growing thing. She healed the sick or wounded, provided relief to the infirm, and, well, grew, sold and distributed marijuana and psychedelics on the side. My father and she made a great team with Maggie Atkins sliding in with honey and James Atkins using the hammer.

Dad had apparently never become the entrepreneur in this reality; he still worked at the bank but was the region manager. Mom had a yoga/art studio she operated in town and ran her ‘other’ business out the back.

I’d never considered what mom did as ‘against the law.’ She was mom. The occasional raids that the police performed were all part of the adventure. Mom had several sources in the police department who would alert her when possible searches or raids would be coming.

“Desdemonia Landcaster?” she said when I got to that part. “That must have been quite the abrupt shift in perspective.”

“You can say that, again.” I said.

“Who wants pancakes?” Dad said, and Mom and I both raised our hands.

Around the kitchen table I related the events since the sneezes that shook the world. Ending with the strange other place I’d been and how I’d been stuck in Werewolf form but sill at the mercy of the elephant creature.

“Eight trunks, you say?” Dad said.

I nodded, shivering as I remembered how one of them had caught my ankle and hauled me upside down.

“The Hindu God Ganesh has eight arms.” He leveled some of his buckwheat cakes onto my plate. “I wonder if thats who you fought.”

“In Kama-Sutra, the elephant represents unrestrained raw sexual power,” Mom said, taking a bite. “Maybe this Witch’s knot caused some kind of a vortex between sexual energy and the energy of the multi-cosm.”

We both looked at her with raised eyebrows.

“Or not,” she said. “Eat your breakfast.”

“Anyway, the beast, or whatever, was just about to stomp me when I woke up here.”

The both nodded, looking down at their plates and not speaking for a time.

“What do you think it all means?” I said.

Mom smiled at me. “Not to eat tacos and pizza before bed?”

“Mom, I don’t think they were dreams. I think I’m literally crossing planes of existence. Where I grew up you died a few years ago from cancer.”

“You did have that scare, Margaret, you remember?” Dad said.

She nodded and touched a place on her breast. “I had that removed.”

“Maybe it didn’t get discovered in that plane, and…” Dad shrugged.

“I just don’t know what to do,” I said. “I mean, I was told that because I’m dual faction, that I’m a possible Key to the Gate, whatever that means.”

Mom nodded. “I’ve heard of it.”

This was news to me. “You know about this gate?”

Mom looked at dad, who gave a small shrug.

“He deserves to know, James,” Mom said

Dad nodded.

“We had hoped to keep all this from you, and have you lead as normal a life as possible considering the family curse,” Mom said. “You know it is not normal for factions to intermingle like your father and I have.”

“But other people have. Tommy from—“

“Different circumstances, but yes,” Dad said. “Since the curse went into you, and it didn’t appear you were powered, we assumed you were uni-faction. I’m thinking that the Landcaster girl might have unlocked your magical potential when she cast the spell on you. Your body reacted to the casting, by activating its own magical potential. I’m sure you’ve studied latent potential energy in your magical studies class?”

I nodded. “The potential for magical energy exists for everyone.”

“Yes.”

“The interesting thing here,” Mom said, pointing her fork at dad. “Is that when this sneeze catastrophe happened, the curse did not carry forth onto you in Desdemonia’s body.”

“It remained with April in your body, yes,” Dad said.

“April apparently used my body’s magical potential to retro change, but the wrong direction.”

Dad winced at that. “Yeah, that wouldn’t be good.”

Mom got up and sat next to Dad, wrapping her arms across his shoulders. “No retro-change for you.”

“If I’m ever caught as a feral werewolf, it would be a kindness,” he said.

“Are you able to open your third eye now, Seth?” Mom said.

I closed my eyes. All I saw was the inside of my eyelids. “Apparently not.”

“So in this reality you aren’t dual faction. Or your magical potential hasn’t been unlocked.”

“So does that mean we’re safe from the Who?”

“Didn’t say that.” Dad got up and started collecting our plates.

“You don’t remember what’s been going on the last ten days, I take it?” Mom said.

I shook my head.

“Magic, and therefore reality, has become quite unstable.”

“Oh?”

She nodded. “A lot of injuries due to inconsistent magical results. Potions I make are null, or their effects multiplied. Sudden appearances of mythical creatures…”

“Wow, like unicorns?”

She nodded. “But also wyverns, a hydra, a fire-breathing chameleon…”

“Wow, I’m glad you two have stayed safe.”

“Well…” Dad said.

“That’s why it was funny when you mentioned being stuck as a feral. Your father came too close to that the other day.”

Dad rolled his eyes. “I got mad at one if the branch managers and almost tore his head off.”

“Literally?”

He nodded, looking glum.

I wondered about Jeff, Mitzy and April in this reality. Were they still okay? Did Mitzy have to become her fool?

“I take it ‘I’ didn’t become April’s fool?”

They both shook their heads.

“What happened.”

Dad put a hand on my shoulder. “Seth…”

“Honey…” Mom said.

They looked at each other.

“What?” I said. “Tell me!”

“From what ‘you’ told us, toward the end of the day, April forced Mitzy to kiss her feet or something, and at the last moment slipped a piece of dog feces in place of her boot. Mitzy got upset…”

“And changed—“ Dad finished.

“Wait. What?” I said.

The both nodded. “We’ve spoken to the Bertollini’s…Mitzy has been taken to a butterfly farm out on Chesapeake road.”

“She became trapped…as a feral butterfly?”

They both nodded, looking sad.

Stung, I stared at the table. “Mitzy…oh my god.”

“You attempted to go in Mitzy’s place, but April refused.”

“I wonder if Desdemonia has taken her place yet,” I said.

“You did mention that ‘the bitch wasn’t at school,’ yesterday. So perhaps?”

I nodded. Poor Mitzy. She was such a happy person. To be stuck as an insect like that for the rest of your life. She’d been such a free spirit, so happy, such a good friend. I felt tears in my eyes.

“You can go visit her tomorrow if you’d like.”

I nodded. “What day is today?”

“Tuesday.”

Tuesday. I looked at the baseball calendar on the ‘fridge. “Tuesday the 12th…we play Montrose.”

“Yep!” Dad said. “I’m sponsoring the hot-dogs.”

“And I’m working the concession stand,” Mom said.

“How’s the team doing in this reality?”

They shrugged, looking at each other. “Oh…not bad. How were you doing in the other realities?”

“I’ve missed all the games this season for one reason or another.”

They nodded.

“Here too?”

“You..haven’t been yourself since Mitzy ah…”

I nodded.

Dad looked at the clock. “Well, it’s almost 5 AM. If you’re going to try to get any more sleep, this is your opportunity.”

“Yeah,” I said, standing up.

Both of them gave me hugs.

“Let us know if you’re going to be playing today, son.”

I nodded. “I will.”

Laying back down on my bed in my familiar room, I heard mom and dad speaking together in low tones, then soft laughter. It was such music to my ears.

But bittersweet music, as I thought about Mitzy. The whole reason I’d gone through the trials of April had been to avoid exactly what happened to her. The thought of that kind soul trapped in that body—

I decided I needed to see her for myself. I dressed quickly, then walking out to my truck and drove away.