Chapter 1 - Family Dinner

"Aarrgghhh," I bellowed as I chased after the little munchkins that hadn't left me alone for most of the day. "You better hope your little legs can carry you faster than that or I'm gonna getcha."

"Hahaha" Children's' laughter was the only response that I got back as they both tried to run faster than their bodies would carry them.

It only took a few more strides until I caught up with them and gave them their due punishment.

"Look out, you've awakened the tickle monster," after that statement began their consequences.

"Hehehehe, Uncle-hehe-Topher-hehe-stop-hehe," they both said back to me, but it was too late, they deserved a few more seconds.

"Sigh, alright fine," I said as I stopped with the punishment. Before they could scurry off somewhere I reached down and picked them both up with one in each arm. "Let's go get you two washed up for dinner before your mom starts yelling at me."

Both children looked at each other for a second before the smaller one looked up at me and said "Awe, come on Uncle Topher just a couple more minutes, dinner isn't even ready yet."

"No can do buckaroo, your mother tasked me with getting you two cleaned up while she sets the table. We don't want your mom angry with me now do we," I tried to give them both my best parent glare but it probably came off as more of a curious eyebrow raise based on their snickers.

"Fiiiine," they both huffed in annoyance and settled in for the shoulder ride they were getting to the restroom.

"Uncle Topher are you scared of Mom?" the older one jabbed trying to scheme a few more minutes of playtime out of me.

"Now that's a hefty accusation little Anna. One day you'll learn that discretion is the better part of valor." I replied back, which was definitely not a deflection to the question.

"What does dis-cre-tion mean?" the younger one sounded out.

"It means that he's a scaredy cat," Anna oh so helpfully pointed out. Oh, how I miss when they were younger and got distracted by big words. Thankfully the restroom was in sight by now.

"Oh look, here we are. No more time for questions, so go wash up. And be sure to actually use soap Josh, I'm watching you," I said as I put them both on the ground and not so gently pushed them in the direction of the sink.

That was the end of that line of questioning as they both washed up and we all headed to the dinner table where the sounds of dishes could be heard. It turned out to be a great day for the occasion. The whole family was over at our grandparents' house to celebrate Grandma's birthday, and the weather was perfect. Light clouds in the sky gave the occasional reprieve from the sun, and a slight breeze kept it cool.

Most of the family was here, even though we would all see each other again in a couple of weeks when Easter rolled around, but that was life with the Zalenski's. 'If you haven't seen each other in a few weeks, it's been too long' Granddad always says.

It's nice to be a part of a big family that takes the time to actually get together, but sometimes it can be a little much. I wish I could be like Mom and be at home right now having a quiet weekend before Monday comes, but alas my immune system betrayed me and kept me from catching whatever she has, unlike my brother.

I made my plate and settled in for a nice meal when a tiny elbow pierced my side. Turning to look at the culprit, I saw my eight-year-old niece trying to sit like a grown-up and be all proper. It was completely undermined by her blonde hair going wild in every which way. She even had a napkin in her lap trying to copy me.

"Mom says we have to say grace before you can eat." She nodded her little head while looking at my fork that was making its way to my mouth.

Oh yes, how could I forget? I thought that I could at least get a few bites in before everyone was ready but I guess not with my little watcher next to me. Not wanting to argue with a child over something that's not worth it, I waited for the rest of the chairs to fill up.

When everyone was ready, Granddad did his usual spiel about thanking the Lord for the meal and whatnot while I used this time to be way more productive. I sat and looked around at all the little kids to see if I could catch any of them trying to start eating early. And I took that job very seriously, because if I didn't get to eat early, then neither did they.

It might be petty for a twenty-four-year-old man to police little kids like this, but hey, you have to get your joy from somewhere. Plus, seeing how fast they shut their eyes and bowed their heads when they caught me staring at them always puts a smile on my face.

The meal went by smoothly, we sang Happy Birthday and had some cake. While we were cleaning up the table the little rascals' mother made her way over to me.

"Thanks for playing with them Chris, they really like you." Abigail said.

I looked up from wiping the table and saw her pushing her hair out of her face before she let out an exasperated sigh. She looked exhausted, most likely from all the planning and cooking that this whole day took. Her brown hair was tied up into a bun, but there were some stragglers that had escaped confinement and were hanging down in her face.

"You know this amount of stress will lead to grey hairs." I said back. I had been trying to get her to delegate these tasks to the rest of the family for years but apparently, 'they just don't do it right'.

"Oh thank you for that. Just what I wanted to hear from my sweet and loving little brother after the day I've had." She retorted.

"Some day you'll learn that you can't do it all," I said back. "Or die of a heart attack."

At that point, my father had walked up to us and heard what I said. "Chris be nice to your sister, she put in a lot of work for today."

The way he said it reminded me of back when we were kids when my younger brother and I would gang up on her when we played. Funnily enough, usually the reason was because she was too controlling. Gabriel and I didn't really want to play by her rules. She would always say since she was the oldest she got to make the rules. We would just say nuh-uh and deliberately ignore her stupid rules.

This would devolve into a screaming match in which our dad would say, 'Boys, be nice to your sister.'

"Yes Dad." I said back in a monotone voice. Just like when we were kids. That earned me an eye roll from Abigail and a chuckle from Dad.

"Oh don't be like that Christopher," He put a hand on my shoulder and gave it a couple of pats before retrieving it. "Anyways, I came to make sure that you were coming to Easter in two weeks."

"I wouldn't miss it for the world!" I said back cheerfully and not at all sarcastic. He just gave me a withering glare. Now that he couldn't look down on me with that face, it had lost some of its effect. Being the same height had its advantages, but the meaning was clear.

"Son these things won't last forever, and you might come to miss the family get-togethers when they don't happen anymore. By then you should have a family of your own. Speaking of, I noticed that Megan couldn't make it, is she alright?" He said that last part like that wasn't his main reason for coming over here.

I groaned, "Dad don't even start with that. Just because Mom isn't here to butt into my love life doesn't mean that you have to fill that spot."

"Oh, I noticed that too. Everything ok there?" Abigail not so helpfully joined in.

"Not you too." I said pointing at her while sneakily starting to back away. "Oh, would you look at the time. I think I hear Anna calling for her favorite uncle."

I turned and started to briskly walk away while ignoring the peanut gallery behind me. Usually, it was my Mother that always brought up my love life, but with her home sick it looked like my dad would be taking up the mantle. Before that conversation got started, I made a quick exit. A quite well-executed exit stage left if I do say so myself. Avoiding the questions before they even started.

There were only so many questions about my missing girlfriend that I could take and that quota had been met... within minutes of arriving without her.

I wasn't actually going towards Anna, but I ended up finding her anyway with another girl her age, one of my cousin's kids, trying to steal more cookies from the dessert table.

Embracing my inner child, I snuck up behind them and employed my deepest and authoritative voice, "What do you think you're doing!"

They nearly jumped out of their shoes from the unexpected voice behind them. I laughed so hard I had tears coming out of my eyes. When they turned around and found that it was not one of their parents or grandparents, but me laughing my ass off, they started berating me while pushing me away.

"That's not funny Uncle Topher," They both said. Sporting exaggerated hurt expressions. They quickly adjusted their strategy though, "I think that you should owe both of us a cookie."

"You think you're slick? I see what you did there and I'm not falling for it." I liked their quick thinking of trying to get me to give them a cookie but I wasn't gonna give in that easily. They would have to try harder than that.

Before they could go into detail about why they did indeed deserve a cookie a low rumbling made them stop. The ground started to shake and I could hear the wind chimes in the yard start to get louder and louder.

Both Anna and Lily, my cousin's daughter, started looking around frantically, wondering what was going on. The whole time, the shaking and rumbling was getting louder and louder. The only thing I could think of was an earthquake, but we didn't get earthquakes in Ohio. Tornadoes occasionally, but not earthquakes.

A bright flash lit up the sky. I had to shield my eyes it was so bright and a few people let out shouts of exclamation that I could hear.

...Initializing...
...
...
Initialization complete.

Welcome to the multiverse.
Prepare to be relocated into a designated tutorial zone.

I could hear a robotic voice in my head and saw the matching words floating in the air in front of me. At first, I thought I had hit my head during the earthquake or something fell and hit my head but I could see other people swiping in front of them right where I saw the words appear. On a whim, I asked the two girls if they saw it too.

"Anna, did you hear a voice in your head and see words floating in front of you?" I asked.

"Yeah, it's so cool! My hand goes right through them like they're not even there. AND they move with my head." She said enthusiastically while shaking her head back and forth and swiping her hands in front of her face. Lily started doing the same thing as Anna and soon both girls looked like they were trying to find their way down a hallway in the dark.

I had no idea what to do. I didn't think that I hit my head and it didn't seem like a hallucination if the girls could see it too. At least someone is having fun with it, I thought to myself while looking at the girls.

That was my last thought before everything went black.