Life Shift by Michelle Slee

of that. I mean - what has caused the rip between the realities that you both are experiencing? We just don’t know.”

    “He mentioned a rip too,” she said, “He said it happens randomly, he can never predict it.”

    “And is it happening randomly to you too?” he asked.  

    “Yes, the times it’s happened have all been very different.”

    “Are you certain of that?” he asked.

    “Yes,” she said. He looked at her oddly for a moment and then took another sip of his coffee.

    “And now we have to talk about Schrödinger's cat,” he said.

    “I think I’ve heard of that before.”

    “It’s probably one of the most famous theories in quantum physics,” he said. “Schrödinger described putting a cat into a box. The box holds a vial containing hydrocyanic acid and separately a small amount of radioactive substance. If just one atom of the radioactive substance decays a mechanism will trip a hammer, breaking the vial open and of course killing the cat. But the observer does not know if this has happened unless he or she opens the box. So, according to Schrödinger, there is a superposition of states. The cat is both alive and dead until the observer opens the box. At that point the cat is in one state or the other, reality is fixed.” He paused then added, “This is directly relevant to you Christine.”

    “In what way?” she asked.

    “You seem to be in a state of superposition,” he replied.   “You are existing in both this universe and the other universe. But unlike the cat and everything we know about the sub-atomic level, the act of observing you is not fixing you in either. You are shifting from one to the other - orbit jumping as it were –   and aside from your friend Matt this has never been known to happen.”

    Before she could speak he continued, “The parallel universe idea isn’t new. In the fifties Everett said that every time a new possibility is discovered the universe splits off. Each possibility creates a new universe. So you see there are an infinite number of universes. Each one created by a possible outcome of a decision made. Imagine all the possible outcomes in just one person’s life. Every decision taken has at least one alternative option spinning off to create another universe. Infinite lives and infinite universes. But usually – usually - we observe just the one, just the one outcome and just the one universe. My theory is that as the new universe is created so a part of our consciousness breaks off   to live in that other universe. The new life is unobserved by the original consciousness. But this is not happening in your case. Not anymore. And this is the same thing that I’ve talked about at the quantum level - unobserved particles in a multitude of states, only fixed   when observed. So this universe is only one of an infinite number of possible universes and only real and fixed to us because we are conscious of it. But there are others. And there seems to be one created by a decision you made many years ago that now has a pull on both you and Matt and the act of observing this universe isn’t strong enough to keep the other universe from cutting in. And that’s what I don’t understand yet.”

    He saw her face fall. “I said yet,” he said, smiling reassuringly, “I will understand it.”

    Something he had said was still troubling her.   Then she remembered. “You said a decision I made. What decision was that?”

    “Only you know that Christine. But don’t worry about it for now,” he said. “You’ve taken in a lot today. You must be exhausted.”

    She realised he was right. It had all been so much to take in. Electrons, particles, parallel universes. How could it all be true? And yet it was true. And she didn't need science to tell her that. She had her truth. The one she was experiencing every time she shifted from one reality to the other. The same one that she knew in her own heart.  

    She must have been lost in her thoughts