THE MOMENT
"I don't want to go out...," Claudia grumbled to herself as she stared into the refrigerator. She hadn't had time to go grocery shopping all week and her fridge was mostly empty except for a carton with a single egg, some orange juice, and a few beers. She wasn't even fond of drinking. She bought the beers to celebrate being out on her own as an adult finally. She knew it was silly; but, it made her feel mature having alcohol available for any friends that might come over. Not that she had a regular group of friends yet. She wanted to get as far away from home as she could to start her own life and Claudia was new to the city. "...but, some Chinese might hit the spot...," she sighed and closed the fridge with her decision firmly in mind. She hadn't explored much of the city yet and her hunger was as good an excuse as any to start.
She padded through her small apartment to the bedroom to change; but, as she reached for the door a sudden knock came from inside her room. Claudia pulled her hand back and jumped with a yelp of fear. Before she could decide what to do next a young voice came through the door.
"Hello!? I think I'm in the wrong place, did you order from Donna Chang's?"
The voice sounded normal and it was such an unusual question that Claudia's initial fear made way for curiosity. She lived on the 6th floor; but, she'd left the window open while she was home. If it was a burglar or invader, Claudia doubted they would have bothered knocking. And, being new to the city, she reasoned that maybe a delivery place sent their people up the fire escape for some reason; the voice did sound unsure. She hoped for the best and walked forward to push the door to her room open.
"I didn't order any food...," Claudia answered as she opened the door. She found a teenage girl with dark hair wearing a red blazer with a golden nametag. The teen held a bundle of food containers wrapped in a white plastic bag.
"Oh man, I missed," the teen shook her head and a black hole opened in the air next to her. "Sorry," she waved and stepped in the hole; but, Claudia stopped her.
"Wait! Who are you!??" she asked. It was clear that she hadn't come up the fire escape.
"Sorry, no time for questions. But, I'll be right back!" The teen waved; but, then Claudia blinked. When she opened her eyes again, the teen was still there. But, the black hole and the bundle of food were gone.
"Sorry about that," the teen said with a giggle. "Hi, I'm DeLorean," she smiled and pointed at her nametag. "I can answer a couple of questions for you before I have to get back to work," she said.
"What are you doing in my bedroom?" Claudia asked. "What happened to the food you had?"
"Funny story...," DeLorean grinned. "I came to deliver; but, this is the wrong Earth. It turns out I was delivering to another version of you; that's probably how I ended up here by mistake."
"Wrong...Earth?" Claudia shook her head; the words didn't seem to make sense together. "What do you mean another version of me?"
"Oohhh, you don't know about the multiverse, huh?" DeLorean asked. "Well, that's going to leave you with more questions than I can answer right now; but, oh! I have an idea, one second." Claudia blinked again. This time, she opened her eyes and saw a familiar stranger standing next to DeLorean with an open black hole next to them.
"Meet your Zero, this is Claudette," DeLorean said.
"Hi," Claudette smiled.
"What's a Zero..?" Claudia asked. Her mind was failing at keeping up with everything.
"I'm your doppelganger from an alternate universe," Claudette grinned. "I'm your Zero, and you're mine," she tilted her head at the open portal.
"I ordered a lot of food to have some leftovers; but, do you wanna join me and learn about the multiverse?"
"What is it?" Claudia asked. Her mind gave up on the situation and instead, she tried to act normal.
"Chinese," DeLorean answered.
"Donna Chang's is the best in the multiverse," Claudette nodded in agreement.
"I love Chinese," Claudia nodded. "Did you get any sweet & sour?"
"Of course," Claudette nodded. "You're me," she grinned. Claudia looked into the hole and shrugged. Her life either took a very strange turn or maybe she went crazy somewhere along the way. Whatever the case, she was hungry.
"Yeah, I'd like that, thanks," she said. She finally smiled and DeLorean waved at her.
"Great, she'll get you set up, I'm headed back to work," she said as she stepped into a different black portal and disappeared.
"Thank you...," Claudia nodded as she stepped closer to Claudette and the remaining portal. "...I'm actually pretty hungry, and rather confused. Some sweet and sour chicken would be great right now," she said as she braved stepping into the portal.
"Chicken? Gross," Claudette shook her head. "I mean, sorry, it's probably normal on your Earth; but, we can order some if you want," she said.
"Oh," Claudia shook her head. "You don't have to do that for me; sweet & sour pork is fine too," she said.
"You guys eat pigs on this Earth too??" It was the first time Claudia had seen what disgust looked like on her own face.
"Wait... what did you get? Beef?"
"Stop, please," Claudette shook her head. "You're making me lose my appetite," she giggled to let Claudia know she was only mostly kidding. "But, you're in for a real treat," she said as she patted Claudia on the shoulder and they walked into the portal together. "I'm sure you'll love sweet & sour unicorn as much as I do."