Heather stares in shock at what is inside the archway.

“That,” I say, “Is somewhere else. I don’t know exactly where, but it is truly something amazing.”

“This… this defies everything that we’ve ever been taught! How does this thing even work?”

“It has something to do with the candles, I think. When I blew them out yesterday, the rift closed.”

“I… what… this is unbelievable! Are we the first people to discover teleportation? We’ll be famous!”

I hesitate with her last sentence. Does she really want other people to know? I know that the attention would be good, and I wouldn’t be stepped on anymore but, I feel as if the repercussions would be absurdly high.

“I don’t really want to share this with others. That might lead to some bad stuff.”

“What do you mean? This is great!”

“Think about it, if we tell people they would think of us as absurd. If we show them, then they would try and take credit for helping in the discovery. Even if the attention brings good to us, there would also be people who would hate us on the internet and want for us to die.”

“That makes sense… but this would help millions, maybe billions of lives!”

“I know, I know, but shouldn’t we know what is on the other side and the area around it? Wouldn’t it be better to know that it safe?”

I know that I am deceiving her right now, but at the moment, I’m just trying to keep her from making a terrible decision.

“Fine, fine, we can check out what is on the other side.”

Whew, I helped her dodge the bullet there.

“Then shall we go to the other side?”

Heather sighs and gives a shrug.

“Fine, let’s go then.”

Without hesitation, I go to the other side.

“Wait! What about repercussions?”

I empathize with her hesitation, I was the exact same way yesterday.

“It’s fine! I went through yesterday to check out the immediate surroundings.”

There is a slight breeze like yesterday and there and the circular field is just as clean. I look behind me to see Heather going through the archway.

“See? Nothing bad.”

She looks around the field.

“So… we’re in a forest now? If we are, then we have traveled a fair distance.”

There is no forest in the area where we live. It is filled with fields of crops and farmers trying to make a living.

“See anything else unusual? Like the field or trees for example?”

Looking around she tries to figure out what my hint means. Walking closer to the edge of the field, she finally understands.

“Why do all the trees stop at the same place? It’s like some…”

“Barrier?”

“Yes, barrier! Not even the branches or leaves all going into the field. I wonder what is through the trees.”

“That I can’t answer. This is as far as I got yesterday.”

“Then let’s take some more steps today!”

She seems very ecstatic about exploring. It’s surprising really, the only time she gets this excited is when we are talking about coding or getting out of town.

“Are you sure? We don’t know what will be beyond this clearing.”

“Relax! It’ll be fine, don’t be a scaredy-cat!”

“Fine, just don’t come to me if something happens.”

Suppressing my fear of what could be in the forest, I go to Heather location at the tree line.

“Ready? Let’s go!”

At the same time, we cross the line that is the line between the clearing and the forest. I expect for something loud to happen, but nothing happens. Is that barrier still up and can we get back into the field?

“Hold on Heather, I need to check something really quick.”

“What is it, want to check if you haven’t soiled your pants yet?”

“Ha ha very funny.”

Turning around, I extend my arm across the barrier. Good, we can still go back into the field and head home when we need to.

“Ok, I’m ready to go now.”

“Finally, about time!”