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Back Little Universes Save as PDF
Chapters (63)
  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright Notice
  3. Dedication
  4. Epigraph
  5. Part 1
  6. Mae
  7. Hannah
  8. 1
  9. 2
  10. 3
  11. 4
  12. 5
  13. 6
  14. 7
  15. 8
  16. 9
  17. 10
  18. 11
  19. 12
  20. 13
  21. 14
  22. 15
  23. 16
  24. 17
  25. 18
  26. 19
  27. 20
  28. 21
  29. 22
  30. 23
  31. 24
  32. Part 2
  33. 25
  34. 26
  35. 27
  36. 28
  37. 29
  38. 30
  39. 31
  40. 32
  41. 33
  42. 34
  43. 35
  44. 36
  45. 37
  46. 38
  47. Part 3
  48. 39
  49. 40
  50. 41
  51. 42
  52. 43
  53. 44
  54. 45
  55. 46
  56. 47
  57. 48
  58. Epilogue
  59. Mental Health Resources
  60. Acknowledgments
  61. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
  62. About the Author
  63. Newsletter Sign-up

Another pause. One that is long enough for me to enter the quantum realm, where particles do not follow the natural laws of physics, where anything can happen. Quantum leaps. Where you can suddenly jump from one place—the land of having a big brother who loves your sister and is part of your family—to another: the land where this big brother is a lying, cheating bastard who just might be the death of her.

Unless I can somehow fix this, my sister just lost her real-life version of the Little Prince.

“You’re so lucky my father’s not alive, Micah.” This voice, this cold, hard voice, is not my voice. It is the voice of Commander Mae Winters, who is reaching Mach 2, about to put a two-million-dollar plane into a forced tailspin. It is me, suddenly, right now, getting ten years older. “Because if he were, he would tell you to your face what a sorry excuse you are for a human being.”

Micah loved my father. His dad is a total loser who lives in Michigan and calls him once a year. My dad wrote Micah’s letters of recommendation, checked his trig homework almost every night, and took him hiking up in Malibu Canyon, just the two of them, every Father’s Day. It is the cruelest thing I could possibly say to him.

He breaks down. Huge, heaving sobs tear through the phone.

And I don’t feel a damn thing.

I hang up.

I don’t have time for his grief.

17

Mae

ISS Location: Low-Earth Orbit

Earth Date: 23 October

Earth Time (EST): 18:00

Nah is holed up in her room. I knock, then try the door—she keeps it locked now. She doesn’t answer. She hasn’t been eating lunch with me for the past week at school, either. I don’t know where she goes. We’re strangers now. I know my lab partner better.

I wonder if Mom would say something about energy. She was big on that. Mom would assert that not telling Nah Micah is cheating on her is manifesting as negative energy, affecting my energy field. She would say that Nah is picking up on my deceit on a psychic level and responding by throwing up her own protective energetic barrier.

I’m starting to wonder if Mom was on to something.

I also know that, because I can’t rely on Micah to save the day, I need to get my family’s help. It’s time.

“I’m going to Castaways,” I say through the door, through the atmosphere and debris that separates us all the time now. “Do you want to come? Free coffee. Brownies.”