The Mandela Effect

Ch. 20

 Jon couldn't sleep on the flight from New York back to Chicago. He couldn't explain to Mark why he had been crying or why he was still upset. As the plane landed at O'Hare, Jon was relieved to be able to get home as soon as possible.

Jon rushed Mark off the plane and through the airport. They pushed through the crowd to baggage claim. Jon stood impatiently waiting for the carousel to start.

"Hey," he finally said to Mark, his first words since they disembarked, "can you watch this for a second."

Mark nods and Jon turns towards the outer doors of the airport. He walks quickly in that direction.

As he steps out of the terminal, the bright light hits him in the face again, as well as the smothering cold of the Chicago winter. Jon braces himself against the wind and looks up and down the sidewalk for the vehicle from his dream.

He feels crazy. He probably looks crazy. He turns to go back into the terminal, but stops. Turning back to the street he shouts, "Lucy? Luc?"

Several people turn towards him, but none of them are Lucy. One last look, but the car is not there either. Jon turns and heads back into the florescent brightness of the terminal.

Jon finds Mark with the bags in tow.

"Everything ok?" Mark asks, "you seem weird."

"I just had a crazy dream on the New York flight," Jon says, "a nightmare really. But it was so vivid."

"What was it," Mark asks.

"Oh," Jon answers, "nothing important."

Jon forces a smile as he takes his bags from Mark.

"Well," Mark says, "we'll be home soon enough. Let's find the shuttle to long-term and get the hell out of here."

"Yea," Jon said, "I'm following you."

About an hour later, Mark dropped Jon off at the curb in front of his apartment building downtown. Jon takes a moment, maybe for the first time, to look up at the front of the massive high rise.

"You sure you're ok?" Mark asks from the car.

"Yea," Jon says, turning back to the window, "I'm good. I'll see you on Monday."