a study in alternate timelines

“So what you’re saying is, there’s alternate universes where I’m a dude?”

The ginger vixen sat sipping her milkshake, legs crossed as she faced the literal goddess in front of her. Said deity seemed more concerned with whether or not to turn the nearby lamp into a kitten than anything else besides the discussion at that moment.

“There absolutely are. There’s all kinds of alternate universes to this one, all stacked on top of each other, with all kinds of situations. Sometimes it’s fun to sit in front of our mirror and watch a few for a while.”

“Do they all come with alternate versions of you guys?”

“They sure do. One of me is probably watching us right now. This here though? This is the alpha universe.”

“Uh… huh. So like, does that mean there’s an alternate universe for every like… TV show, that’s been created?”

“Nononono, that’s different, totally different. That’s getting into really spacey wacey multiverse stuff. No, alternate universes are more timey wimey, they have more to do with the different outcomes to every possibility. Ah… here. Let me show you the one I’ve been watching lately.” From seemingly out of thin air, the goddess pulled a handheld mirror. “Try not to get lost in there.”

The fox-like redhead gazed into the mirror and immediately was swallowed by a vision. A dark, rainy day. A dark face looking down at a small cell phone. The screen lit up, and she saw her own eyes. They had a jealous haze underneath their green color. It scared her to see it. The woman on the other side of the mirror dialed a number, with a grave face the whole while.

“It’s time.”

A faint voice could be heard coming from the phone, ostensibly the person being called. “Have you slipped it in?”

“Yes. Yes, he’ll be dead by morning.”

“Be ready to call the coroner. And you’ve gotten rid of the evidence?”

“They’ll never find it.”

“Excellent. I look forward to seeing you at the funeral.”

A door could be heard opening in the near distance. A familiar voice called out. “Darling, I’m home!”

“Dinner’s on the table, dear!” A grim smile crossed the woman’s features. “I think you’ll find it just to die for… heh heh.”

The room began to swirl around, and eventually dissipate, something that could certainly cause illness in more weak-stomached viewers. Now our hero of sorts stood in the grass outside of a funeral home as two black vehicles arrived. Out of the backs of both, came two women.

One was the taller of the two, and although she couldn’t see her face, the red hair coming out from under the veil clued her in - this was her alternate self.

The other was slightly shorter, with messy black hair spilling out, and tanner skin. She recognized this as one of her enemies-turned-friends. As they seemed to spot each other, they flashed wicked grins as they walked into the home. Quickly, she followed, not wanting to get caught up in that sickening swirl again. She trailed them into the room that the event would presumably be held in, and observed most of her friends sitting in the rows. Her stomach dropped and she approached the casket to look inside, as presumably no one could see or hear her.

She jumped backward upon seeing the still body of her lover on the inside, eyes closed peacefully, raven black hair combed for once.

“No…”

One of her other friends approached her and the podium and began to make a speech, saying how he was a good man and how much he’d be missed. She listed off all the good things he’d done in life, and invited the older of his brothers up to the podium. He, face soaked in tears, made his own speech about how good a friend he was.

The ginger noted that the two women in veils in the back ow were the only two who didn’t bother to cry.

They would go up to lay roses in the casket, one after the other, and still no tears. In fact, she could swear she saw them exchange smirks of victory.

Another swirl, one that very nearly got her dry heaving, landed her standing outside a hole in the ground at the cemetery nearby, the same casket as before being lowered into the ground. The women each threw a handful of dirt into the hole when the coffin was lowered, and pretended to offer their respects when everyone else did. When the hole was filled in, one by one everyone left… except them. They stood over the grave, glaring down at it.

“And good riddance.”

They lifted their veils, finally, and exchanged a kiss over the fresh earth of the grave.

Then again, everything went black, rather abruptly this time.

---

Not a few seconds later, she returned to reality, looking around and shivering. “What in the ever-loving hell was that?!”

“An alternate timeline.” The goddess calmly explained. “One where your beau gave into his temptations and didn’t tell either of you. You can see just about how well that one ended for him.”

“That… was not a thing I expected.”

“As I expect from a mortal.” she patted her head. “Well I must take my leave, my wife and I have a few natural disasters to intervene in, dictators to troll… you know. The usual. Ta!”

As the deity warped away, the redhead was left to stare at the wall and shudder.