• Celica thought she was dead. She had to be. It was dark, silent, and she felt nothing. Except for a dull ache in her shoulder, but that had been there, from when she fell. She tried to move, but couldn't. She thought about movies where similar scenarios had played out. If she were in a hospital, she would feel the bed, and hear the busy noises of the doctors and nurses. All she felt was herself.

    But where had that boy gone? Had curiosity killed the Celica? She had run out into the street to find him, and now she was dead. Way to go, Celly. But if she was dead, how was she thinking? Or breathing? She was definitely breathing. Dead people didn't breathe. They didn't move their fingers, either.

    If she was in heaven, then there had been some seriously misled preachers back on Earth. She thought for sure it would be happy, and she would be surrounded by angels, and everyone would be innocent and happy.

    She didn't really care about the lack of dudes with harps, not as much as she desired to find that boy. He had simply disappeared. Again. If Celica could only have one more chance to find him, to ask him what had happened with the tree, she would-

    And then Celica was looking down into a small, wooden room, furnished with pale green leather furniture. For one surreal moment, she was just floating, half feeling the warm, drafty air inside. Then, she fell flat on her stomach, and her breath was knocked out of her. Gasping, she rolled over, clutching at her lungs, her mouth open.

    Then, she realized she was staring straight at the boy. He was staring at her, wide eyed. Celica tried to say something, to explain where she had come from, or to ask where she was, but she had still not inhaled. Still looking thoroughly frightened, the boy ran off through a door in the small room. She followed his progress, gasping her first sweet breath as he threw himself through the doorway.

    Suddenly feeling exhausted, she just lay there, confused, and finally realizing the full extent of what had just happened. She had wished to see the boy one more time, and there she was, mere feet from him. Perhaps when she had died, she had gotten one last request.

    The boy walked back in, talking animatedly to someone else who had not yet entered. He was talking very fast, and she couldn't catch anything he was saying. The second person who walked in was an old man, his expression calm and collected. He looked down at Celica without the slightest change of emotion.

    "I've seen this girl! She was on Earth! She saw me and chased me into the street, and she got hit by a truck! But she's here!"

    "Calm down, Peter, calm down." The old man said quietly, grabbing Peter's shoulders and staring him in the eye. "Now why don't you get a glass of water for our guest, and offer her a seat?"

    Looking aghast, he alternated his gaze between the old man and Celica, opening and closing his mouth, obviously trying to think of why that request was ridiculous. With a stern glare from the older man, Peter submitted.

    "Please, have a seat." He said, pointing lazily toward an armchair. Then he left through the same door, and Celica could hear the sink running. She got up and walked over to the chair, and plopped into it, still feeling drained.

    "Thank you," She said weakly to the older man, who sat across the small room, sitting straight up on a sofa. He nodded, smiling, and seemed satisfied when Peter came back in with a glass of water.

    "Ah, here you are." He said as Peter crossed the room, looking incredibly awkward.

    "Thank you," Celica said again, accepting the glass and drinking noisily, now feeling incredibly thirsty. As she drank, she heard Peter sit down on the other side of the sofa on which the older man sat. Nobody moved for a long time after that. Celice twirled her empty glass quietly, and the two men across the room stared at her shamelessly. Peter looked scared, but the old man beamed and seemed to be humming an unfamiliar tune.

    Realizing she had to be the one to break the silence, she asked, "Where are we?" It seemed to take a few moments for either of them to notice what she had said.

    "Well, to be broad, you are on Terra." The old man said, finally. Her mind raced. There was no place called Terra. Was that a city she had never heard of? Seeing the confused look on Celica's face, he continued. "It is a planet, child. You came her from Earth somehow."

    This was nonsense. How could she be on another planet? Everything was so absurd here, it was almost like everyone was playing a big trick on her. She began to get angry. "Another planet? What do you mean?"

    "He means a planet. You know, big round orbs of dirt? They orbit around the sun? It's not very difficult to decipher." Peter finally released his frustration.

    "Now, now, Peter, let's not be rude." The man said scoldingly. "I can understand your confusion, uh..." He trailed off, realizing they had not shared names.

    "Celica." She finished.

    "Ah, nice to meet you Celica. My name is Amos, and this is Peter." He indicated the frowning boy next to him, who seemed to slouch even lower at his introduction. "I can understand your confusion, Celica" Amos repeated, "But you must realize that we are just as confused. Peter says he saw you on your own planet, before he came here. Come, now, let me finish. Your planet and ours are very intimately connected. There are several doors between them. The inhabitants of your planet are left in the dark about this, because, of course, they've never thought to walk straight into a tree, thinking determinedly about our planet."

    Amos chuckled a bit before continuing.

    "That's how you do it. There are several trees, probably the oldest on the planet, that we can use as wormholes between our worlds. The one in your front yard is, apparently, one of them. Speaking of which, how did you get here?"

    This was going to be a hard question to answer. "I'm not sure." She answered honestly.

    "Were you thinking about anything before you arrived here? Something you felt strongly about?"

    She gulped. She had been thinking about the boy sitting in front of them right now. Not wanting to let him know that, she said "I was thinking about not getting hit by the truck." Peter laughed.

    "I see." Said Amos. "Have you ever found yourself in situations like this before, when you were thinking just as focusedly on something?"

    "No." Celica answered as soon as he had finished. "This is sort of a new experience for me."

    "Well, Peter, I believe we have a Jumper on our hands." Said Amos, beaming again. Peter looked incredulous, and Celica didn't feel enlightened one bit.

    "What's a Jumper?" She asked, not wanting to waste any more time with this conversation than she had to.

    "Someone who can jump between our two worlds as they please." Peter said, still appraising her disbelievingly. "You just did it."

    So when she had pleaded for a chance to find him and get the answers, she had done just that. It seemed more like a wish than a transportation. Next time she would wish for a pony.

    "So if I wanted to go back, I could?" Celica asked, anxious to leave. It must be approaching morning back on Earth. "Not that this isn't a pleasant home," She added quickly, "It's just that, you know, I have a home and everything."

    "Well, Jumping is a strenuous activity," Amos said, as though explaining it to a small child. "You seem exhausted as it is. If you do it too much, it will kill you."

    "Great." She said sarcastically.

    "That, and you'll need to practice. Many times, Jumpers get caught in the void between the worlds, and never turn up, on either side." Peter said, looking apologetic now.

    "So I'm stuck here until I'm well rested and good at Jumping?"

    "I'm afraid so." Said Amos. "But there's someone you can practice with tomorrow. He used to be a Jumper himself, but he retired. He can teach you what he knows. For now, you should get some sleep. There is a spare bedroom through that door." He indicated the door behind her.

    "Thank you." She said. She didn't even get a good look at the room. She fell onto the bed and was asleep instantly.