A Crossed Reality. Gerald Pruett

we love you.” Alex looked at Doug. “Right, Doug.”

      Doug gave Alex a slightly skeptical look before saying, “Of course.” Doug then stood up. “Dad; Mom, since everything is out then perhaps Alex and I should be heading back to Boston.”

      Avery looked at his watch before saying, “A plane back to Boston doesn’t leave for another five hours.”

      “I had chicken out to thaw for dinner, but that obviously won’t be enough,” Beverly said. “So how about we order a pizza?”

      “Pizza’s fine for me,” Alex said.

      “Same here,” Doug added as Alex’s phone rang.

      Alex gestured towards her purse and said, “I should get that.” Beverly just nodded. After Alex got the phone from her purse she looked at who was calling. “Trudy, hi. What’s up?”

      “Where are you?” Trudy quickly asked.

      “I’m actually at home and standing in my living room.”

       “Your home is in St. Louis and you cannot be in St. Louis right now.”

      “Why can’t I?”

      “Because you have a date with my brother Miles in two hours, that’s why you can’t be.”

      “Trudy, I completely forgot about that,” Alex said while trying to sound sincere.

      “Alex, you have been asking me to fix you up with my brother since he and his girlfriend broke up three weeks ago, and when I do, you bail.”

      “I wasn’t bailing I swear. Something personal and very important to me had come up.”

      “Well, you are the one who is going to call and explain things to Miles.”

      “Fine, I’ll call. What is his number?”

      “Alex, his number is stored on your phone.”

      “Yes, I forgot that too,” Alex said while trying to sound convincing. “I’ll talk to you later. Bye.”

      “Bye,” Alex heard Trudy saying just before she hung up.

      As Alex was scrolling through her phone numbers, Beverly asked, “What’s going on?”

      “Oh, uh, Trudy was just reminding me about a date I was supposed to have had tonight. Since I’m here, I have to reschedule my date.” Alex gestured towards the hallway before she continued to say, “Well, I’m going to make this call in… in my room.”

      “Of course,” Beverly said.

      As Alex was walking out of the living room, she mumbled, “If I can find my room that is.”

      Alex walked upstairs and as she was looking around Michelle came out of her bedroom. She noticed right away that Alex was looking around as if she was lost and when Alex looked at her, Michelle asked, “Are you okay?”

      “Don’t I look okay?” Alex nervously asked.

      “You seem… confused,” Michelle answered as she stood by her door. “Even when you and Doug walked into the living room earlier, you acted as if you were seeing me for the first time.”

      Alex thought for a moment before saying, “Actually, I am confused. When you saw me I was thinking about how I am twenty-one years old, and… and I’m confused about the direction of where my life is going.”

      “What are you talking about?” Michelle quickly asked. “You had your life mapped out since you were seventeen. You’ll go to Harvard and then you’ll go to medical school to become a doctor like mom and dad.”

      “Most likely that is what I’ll do, but I have been thinking, ‘Is being a doctor is what I really want to do with my life.’ What if my life was supposed to have been different?”

      Michelle gave Alex a curious stare before asking, “Did you have a near-death experience or something? You’re acting a bit strange.”

      “Not exactly a near-death experience, but very recently… in fact, it was this morning that I had this very vivid and intense dream. In this dream Mom was Mom. Doug was Doug, but someone else was Dad. Also in this dream, you weren’t born.”

      “I now know why you gave me a strange look earlier.”

      “This is going to sound a little bizarre, but I still feel as if I’m in some kind of dream. So can you point out my bedroom to me?”

      Michelle gave Alex a curious look. She then slightly laughed before saying, “You had me going there for a second.”

      Alex gestured to a bedroom door before saying as if only to make a joke out of it, “Oh, so my bedroom is still this one.” In the same joking manner she gestured towards another room. “Or is it this one like it was in my dream?” Alex pointed to even another door. “Or perhaps it’s this one?”

      Michelle gestured towards a closet and said, “Try that one.”

      Alex opened up the door and looked in before playfully saying, “This bedroom is very cramped. There’s not even enough room for a bed. You wouldn’t want to switch rooms with me, would you?”

      Michelle grinned before gesturing towards Alex’s bedroom and saying, “That’s your bedroom.”

      Alex cautiously walked up to the door before saying, “You tricked me into thinking that the closet was my bedroom. So how do I know that this isn’t a bathroom?”

      “Well, I guess you’ll have to just look and see,” Michelle playfully said.

      Alex opened the door and saw that it was a bedroom. The wall was painted in a rose color. She then jokingly said, “This isn’t my bedroom. I remember the walls being a different color.”

      Alex was caught off guard when Michelle said, “Yeah, Dad painted your room a week after you went back to Harvard.”

      “Okay, I guess this is my room then.”

      Before Alex was able to walk into her bedroom, Michelle said, “Alex, thanks.”

      Alex gave Michelle a curious look before asking, “For what?”

      “For treating me like someone you can joke around with. You never did that with me before.”

      Alex grinned before saying, “You’re welcome.” Alex then held up her phone. “Well I actually need to make a phone call. I’ll see you in a few minutes.”

      Michelle grinned and nodded. As Michelle was walking away, Alex walked into her bedroom and shut the door. She then looked over the room for a short time before she turned her attention to her phone and scrolled through the numbers for Miles’ number. When she found it she dialed it.

      Miles answered his phone on the second ring. “Alex, you caught me just before I got into the shower. What’s up?”

      “Miles, I’m afraid I’m going to have to postpone our date for another day.”

      “Is there anything wrong?”

      “It’s too long of a story to go into over the phone, but I’m actually in St. Louis right now and the first flight back to Boston doesn’t leave for another five hours. I know I should have called you sooner about this, but things around me got a little weird.”

      “I was actually thinking that dating this soon after Maria and I had broken up was too soon anyway, so us canceling the date might be a good thing.”

      “I wasn’t calling to cancel,” Alex quickly said. “I just want to postpone.”

      “Alex, I wasn’t really ready for this date, so if it’s all the same to you, I’d just rather cancel.”

      “If that’s what you want. Bye.” Once Alex ended the phone call she looked into the mirror. “I’m sorry, Alexandra. I didn’t mean to ruin things for you.” Alex was