Life Shift by Michelle Slee Page B

afternoon she toyed with the idea of ringing Matt. When she had gone back to her desk it had been filled with post-it notes to ring various people. His name appeared several times.

    But no, she thought. She should concentrate on her work. Even now realising there were multiple universes in existence she still lived in this one and this was the one in which she had to operate. She still had jobs to get done.

    But should she ring Damien she asked herself? Should she tell him that they should spend more time together? That she knew that would help them both.

    But just as she was about to dial the phone she felt the now familiar pain. The white light shone, the colours danced, and somehow somehow she kept the scream from escaping. Automatically she closed her eyes. She briefly wondered what she’d see when she opened them.

    It was her old house – the house she'd grown up in. She was alone. She took a couple of breaths to steady herself. While mentally at least she was now almost getting used to the transition her body physically needed time to recover, to readjust to the world around her.

    After a moment she felt steady enough to look around.The house wasn’t exactly the same as in her childhood – some things had changed and been modernised. The walls were still the cream her mother had painted them years ago, but the TV was a modern flatscreen rather than the boxy set they’d had for years. The same chocolate brown drapes were hung over the front and back windows but the carpet was different, a lighter brown than she remembered. She noticed photographs on the mantelpiece and walked towards them to take a closer look. The first one she noticed was a wedding photograph. It was immediately familiar - an informal shot of Matt hugging her tightly and kissing her on the cheek, her veil blowing behind her in the light breeze. She realised she could remember the moment that photograph was taken. The next photo along was one of her brother and his wife Pat. They looked exactly the same as they did in Christine’s normal world except that the house behind them was not the same house. They lived in a small terrace but this looked to be a medium sized new build, a semi-detached. She carried on examining the photos – but the next one brought her up short. It was another wedding photograph but this time her mother appeared to be the bride. She was holding a bouquet and beaming brightly at the camera. The man beside her was unfamiliar to Christine. She felt faint. She sat down on the sofa (a leather sofa- again different from the sofa her parents had had when they lived in this house). She couldn’t believe it. Her parents weren’t together in this universe. How could that be?

    She heard a key in the front door and looked up to see who it was. Part of her was terrified it was the unfamiliar man. What would she say to him? He would know her of course but she wouldn't know him. But already some memories of him were starting to play at the edges of her mind. After all in this universe she did know him. But she pushed them away. She didn’t want them. She was scared they'd make her forget her father.

    But it wasn’t the unknown man. It was her mother. She bustled in through the door and smiled when she saw Christine. “Good you’re here already. I thought I was going to have to ring you and remind you that you said you’d come over today.”

    “No I remembered,” Christine said, knowing that she was meant to help her mother sort out her wardrobe. The memories were coming back quicker now. She realised that they were getting stronger with each shift.  

    She went to help her mother with the shopping. As they unpacked she took quick glances at her to see if she looked different in this universe. And she did. For a moment Christine couldn’t put her finger on it but then realised it was a lack of tension in the face. It made her look younger. Her eyes were the same colour but seemed brighter. Her lips the same shape but