MidReal Story
Whispers of Parallel Realms
Scenario: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/bsGE_-5GFiM
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Sarah Carter
Emily's sister and confidante, related to Emily, late 20s, curly red hair, protective and insightful
Mark Jensen
tech genius aiding Emily, friends with Emily, early 30s, short black hair, analytical and loyal
Emily Carter
portal explorer, friends with Mark and related to Sarah, mid20s, long brown hair, curious and brave
Chapter 1
I never thought I’d find a portal in my attic.
But then again, I never thought I’d inherit my grandmother’s house.
The old Victorian had been in the family for generations, but it was always assumed that my older sister Sarah would get it when our grandmother passed away.
After all, she was the firstborn and the favorite.
At least until now.
Sarah was furious when she found out that I got the house instead of her, and she made sure to let me know it.
But I didn’t care.
I loved the old place with its creaky floors and drafty windows, and I knew that my grandmother would have wanted me to have it.
After a lot of yelling and crying, Sarah stormed off and wouldn’t speak to me for several weeks.
But I didn’t let that bother me either; we’d always had a love-hate relationship anyway.
In the end, I decided to sell Sarah my half of the inheritance so she could get the money, which only made her angrier until she realized how much I was offering her for it.
By then, most of the estate had already been settled and all that was left were some old trinkets in the attic that nobody wanted anyway.
So I rolled up my sleeves and started digging through the dust and cobwebs to see what treasures I could find.
It was tedious work, but after a few hours I stumbled across something strange: an entire wall that didn’t seem to belong there.
I frowned and pressed against the plaster with my fingers; sure enough, there was an empty space behind it.
I grabbed a crowbar from one of the nearby crates and began chipping away at the wall, knocking off chunks of plaster as I went.
After several minutes of hard work, I finally hit something solid and pulled back with a gasp as the wall crumbled away to reveal a small wooden door.
I stared at it in wonder, my heart racing with excitement as I reached out to touch it, half-expecting it to disappear in a puff of smoke.
But it didn’t budge; instead, it felt warm to the touch, as though someone had just been on the other side of it.
Taking a deep breath, I turned the dusty brass knob and stepped through into a small room that smelled faintly of mildew.
It was dark inside, but I could make out an old lamp on a table in the corner and a few boxes stacked against one wall.
There were also some faded photographs hanging on the walls, along with a small wooden chest that had been placed beneath them. I went over to investigate, my eyes widening in surprise when I saw what was inside: an old-fashioned device that looked like a telescope, except with dozens of strange symbols etched into its base and what appeared to be a crystal lens on top.
It seemed that my grandmother found this device as well, and she must have spent a lot of time trying to figure out how it worked.
There were also several pages that had been torn out of the journal, which made me wonder if there was something else hidden in this room besides just this machine.
I glanced around, but couldn’t see anything else that looked interesting, so I turned my attention back to the telescope and picked it up carefully.
It was surprisingly heavy for such a small object, and the glass lens on top felt warm beneath my fingers as though it had been sitting in direct sunlight.
But despite its age and delicate appearance, it didn’t seem to be damaged at all; even the symbols etched into its base still seemed sharp and clear.
How could such an amazing device have ended up locked away in my grandmother’s attic?
And what did those symbols mean?
My mind started racing with possibilities as I stared down at it, but then my phone buzzed in my pocket and brought me back to reality.
Sighing, I set the machine carefully back on the table and answered the call.
It was Mark Jensen, a friend of mine who worked as a tech genius for one of the local companies.
We’d gone to high school together and were both obsessed with anything related to science fiction or fantasy, so he was just about the only person I knew who might be able to help me figure this thing out.
"Emily! How are you doing?" he asked cheerfully when I picked up.
"Hi Mark," I replied with a smile.
"I’m good. What’s up?"
For a moment he didn’t say anything, and then his voice dropped a little bit as he spoke again.
"Actually… not much. Just working on some boring project for work."
I laughed softly; Mark wasn’t exactly known for his social skills or his ability to hold down a job for long periods of time.
But he was brilliant when it came to technology and could hack into just about anything with a processor.
"Hey, do you want to come over?" he continued.
"I could use a break from work, and I haven’t seen you in forever."
I hesitated for a moment, glancing down at the machine on the table before replying.
"Sure," I said finally.
"But there’s something I need your help with first."
"What is it?"
Mark asked curiously.
"I found something in my grandmother’s attic and I think you might be able to help me figure out what it is," I explained, purposefully keeping my description vague.
There was a pause on the other end of the line and then Mark replied, "Sure. I’ll be over first thing tomorrow morning."
He sounded intrigued and excited, which didn’t surprise me in the least.
But what did surprise me was how quickly he agreed to come without any information about what I’d found.
Of course, that just made me more curious about it myself, so I made arrangements for Mark to stop by early the next day.
As promised, Mark showed up on my doorstep at 6 AM sharp the next morning, still wearing his pajamas and clutching a cup of coffee in his right hand.
I could tell from the dark circles under his eyes that he hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before, but as soon as I let him inside his eyes lit up when they landed on the mysterious machine sitting on my kitchen table.
"What is it?" he asked eagerly as he set down his coffee cup and moved closer to examine it.
I’d spent most of the previous day researching the symbols etched into the base of the machine, but I still didn’t have any answers to share with Mark.
"I was hoping you could tell me," I said with a shrug.
Mark frowned for a moment as he leaned in for a closer look at it and then straightened up again.
"At first glance, it looks like some kind of extraterrestrial communication device," he mused thoughtfully.
"But I’ve never seen anything quite like it before."
He reached out to run his fingers along one of the strange symbols etched into its surface and I flinched, half expecting to see him get zapped by an electrical shock for touching it.
But nothing happened and Mark’s frown deepened as he examined it more closely.
"Did you try turning it on?"
"I’m not sure how," I admitted.
"I can’t find any kind of power source or switch that would activate it." "Well, the only way we’re going to figure out what this thing is if we take it apart and examine the insides," he said thoughtfully.
I bit my lip nervously as I watched him reach for the machine again and started unscrewing the bolts that fastened it to its stand.
It was an old device and I wasn’t sure how much more abuse it could take before falling apart completely, so I stepped in and helped him remove it from the stand.
The two of us spent most of the day examining every inch of the machine and trying to understand how it worked, but no matter how hard we tried we couldn’t make heads or tails of it.