Macy Gray. Theoretical Physicist. Unconventional. Weird. Strange. Oddball. Off the wall. These terms described me to a T. I spent my days and part of my nights in my lab trying to prove an imaginary realm called Alluvia truly existed. I used to dream about going there as a kid. If anyone knew what I was doing, they would put me in the category of insane. What theoretical physicist dared to look for mythological worlds that existed in a realm coinciding along with this one? Me. Macy Gray. Fanatic. Freaky.

Alluvia was alien in concept, filled with fantastical creatures that were as big as mountains but flew as light as butterflies. The people of Alluvia lived in small villages surrounded by nature. I'd visit Grendel and Jilla in their hut. They would feed me Juntan stew and tell me stories of days long gone. After supper, they would teach me how to use magic but just when I got the hang of it, I would wake up. Every time.

So, I thought, if there were theories about multiverses out there, who's to say there weren't magical realms that one could access if one knew the way in? I also thought it best to keep it a secret. That line of thinking could cost me my job and I was very fond of my job.

After a long night of equations, ten cups of coffee, I shut down my computer ready to call it a night. On the drive home, my mind was full of the other world I'd dreamed of just the other night. I had been close to figuring out how to enter the realm. Something simple eluded me and I pondered it during a late night shower, relishing the hot water working out the kinks in my muscles. I dried off, wrapping the towel around my body. The steam on the mirror made me think of a blank white board. I reached out to write out the latest equations jumbling around in my brain when the mirror rippled like water.

Talk about setting the laws of physics on its ear. Mirrors didn't ripple. They were solid, smooth and cool to the touch. But as any scientist would do, I postulated a hypothesis, performed an experiment and compared the results. To be clear, I touched the mirror again. The waves undulated without any spilling over the frame of the mirror. 

Not like water then. Not hot either. Felt cool as a mirror should. I should be freaking out but as I said, I believed in the realms of magic. This had a magical component attached to it. An invitation? Perhaps. 

I tore off the towel, got dressed, shoes and all. I took photos of the ripples and saved them. I recorded the results in my data planner stored in my mini backpack purse for times like this and placed the straps over my shoulders. Now I was ready to try a more daring experiment. 

I placed my whole arm in. The effect was akin to plunging it in an ice bath without the numbing effect. I pulled my arm out. My sweater wasn't wet, nor my arm. Not quite like water. I shot a video with my arm submerged and retracted. 

"Experiment number three. Thus far, I've touched the mirror with my finger, and placed my arm inside up to my elbow. The effect is exactly what a liquified mirror should feel, if it were liquified. Cool like ice, yet not wet. While the mirror feels cold to the touch the cold has no effect on my body. It is clearly not water, despite its appearance to the contrary. Nor is it ice in the traditional sense. The next part of the experiment entails putting my whole head in. I won't be able to film this part but will record a detailed account after."

I shoved my phone into my backpack and took a deep breath. I was about to prove my theory. Excitement entangled with a great deal of nervousness rippled through me. There was no experiment on Earth that didn't come with danger attached. Ben Franklin with his kite. Marie Curie with Radium. And others. No great gains in theoretical physics without great cost.

I closed my eyes and plunged my head in. I kept them closed focusing solely on my other senses. For one thing, I couldn't hear, nor could I smell anything. A sure bet that I wouldn't be able to see anything either. I bravely opened my eyes. Yep. Darkness. But wait, a flicker in the distance. I concentrated on it. Like a candle flame beckoning to me.

I was on to something. Could this be my way in? I removed my head and studied my reflection in the mirror. Left untouched, it appeared to be an ordinary, solid mirror. I looked no different than I always did. Hair cut just below my ears. Shades of my Asian father present in my eyes. My glasses perched on the edge of my nose no matter how many times I pushed them back up. But there was a curious light in my brown eyes that had never been present before. More than just excitement, it was the sheer joy of discovering another world co-existing with this one. There were no words necessary. I knew this was it. This was my way in. I stepped back all the way to the shower doors, ran toward the sink, jumped and dove right in.

The mirror swallowed me whole. Enveloped in darkness I concentrated on getting to the light. Not akin to theorists postulating about the light at the end of the tunnel. The flickering grew as I swam toward it. I'd been an avid swimmer all my life; my father had insisted I get a well rounded education which included extra curricular activities such as joining the high school swim team. Important when desiring to get into the best universities. 

Suddenly, it was there. The light. But it wasn't a candle. I landed softly on wooden floorboards before a roaring fire that kept out the chill of the winter storm outside. "I did it," I shouted. "I'm here."

"Child, what do you mean by shouting like a banshee?" said a voice, rumbling and deep. I knew that voice. 

"Grendel?" I turned around and faced him. His beard had grown to his feet, white tufts curling at the ends. His eyes, the color of liquid amber, blinked at me sleepily. I'd woken him from a mid-afternoon nap. "Is that you?"

"Who else would it be?" he grumbled.

I hugged him. "You're real."

"Of course I am real," he grumbled. 

"I just thought you were a dream, that's all."

"I am as real as you are. Come, eat."

I joined Grendel at the rickety wooden table. It always had one leg short than the others. "Smells good." My stomach rumbled from the scent of herbs and spices mingled with something meaty.

"Juntan stew." He dished out a portion for me in a carved wooden bowl.

I fingered the bowl, rubbed smooth by hands which have handled it for eons. "I can't believe I'm really here."

"I thought you would never get here. I have been sending Portals to you for months now."

"You did? I never noticed them."

"That much is clear."

"How did you think of putting a Portal in my bathroom mirror?"

"A desperate act from a desperate old man. I was beginning to think you would never figure it out."

"I did. Eventually. I just had to record my findings like any good scientist." I showed him my phone. 

He snatched it from my hands, turning it over carefully then dropped it on the table. "Bah. You wasted valuable time. Eat up. We have much to do."

"Shouldn't we wait for Jilla?"

"She is currently making her rounds with the village folk."

"In this weather?"

"Aye. You know any other way?"

"Of course," I murmured. Nothing stopped Jilla, the village healer, from seeing her patients. A Tsunami could hit and she'd be making her rounds. Or in this case, a blizzard. I finished my stew and set the bowl aside. "Delicious as always Grendel. Nothing comes close in my world."

He grunted. "Your mother should have stayed here. You would be a Master Magician by now."

I frowned a little. "I was told by my Dad that my mother died when I was a baby." 

"Not true. Your mother is here."

"What? When were you going to tell me?"

"I just did."

"I don't understand. How is she here? Dad said she died coming home from work. She was in a horrible accident."

"She came back home to keep you safe. If Mordok were to find out you're here--"

I interrupted him. "Mordok?"

"A powerful Magician who would sooner kill you should he find out you're here."

I jumped out of my chair. "If you knew that my life was in danger, why did you send for me?"

"It is time you learned how to use your magic. The sooner the better. There is no time to lose."

He flipped the woven rug off the floor and discarded it haphazardly in a lump near the rocking chair. A metal ring was attached to the wooden floor boards. He hooked his finger into it and pulled. When the dust cleared, a stairway was revealed. Grendel took up a lantern. "Come, we must hurry."

I stood there speechless for a second. I'd planned on just coming for a visit, not learning to use magic I didn't know I had.

"Child, we must hurry," Grendel called, his voice sounding far away.

I raced down the steps and ran toward him, mind whirling. Me, a magician. This was more than what I could have hoped for. Regardless, my analytical mind screamed at me that there was no such thing as magic. Yes, I believed I could access this world. I wanted to prove to my world that Alluvia existed. "Was my mother really born here?"

"Yes. She was on her way to becoming a powerful magician. In fact, you come from a long line of magicians that go back to when our two worlds were one."

"Why did she leave?"

"She could never shake the thought that the human realm existed. Her insatiable curiosity led her to seek it out."

"Sounds like me."

Grendel emitted a grunt. "We are here." He paused before an enormous circular stone, the size of which fit five of me. Grendel tugged a small bag from his belt and loosened the leather string. With a handful of fine dust, he tossed it at the stone, uttered a few phrases and the stone rolled away. I looked at the stone, then at him and chuckled.

"Something amuses you?"

"No. Nothing. Never mind."

"A mind is never thinking about nothing. There is always something to occupy it eh?" He winked as he said it. "Shall we?"

The cavernous room dwarfed us with its never ending ceiling, the height of which couldn't be measured with the eye. "We will start small." Grendel demonstrated the formation of a ball of energy in his hands. The light, purple in hue. His fingers crackled with energy, sparks flew from them but he contained the energy, focused it inward and it became a sphere. "Like so. Now you try."

Something crackled in my hands when I concentrated on them but I saw no ball, no light. I felt the magic build the ball in my hands shaping it into what I felt to be the size of a softball but I couldn't see it. "Is it supposed to be invisible?"

"It can be after years of training. Astonishing that you are implementing the ability now."

"Huh. Imagine that. Let me try again." The ball of light transformed into a gray sphere with flashes of purple along its circumference. I lifted my hands higher and released it. The slightly invisible ball careened out of my hands and up to the furthest reaches of the ceiling.

Rocks clattered and dust rained down upon us. I ducked, holding my hands up, surprised by the power of the invisible ball. "Whoops. Sorry."

"No matter. The caverns are eons old. Try again."

I closed my eyes, picturing a similar ball of energy forming in my hands. I felt it. My fingers tingled, and came alive. I could feel the sparks and hear the crackling. I molded my hands together as if I were forming a snowball and threw it with all my strength. The caverns rattled, shook and exploded.

I opened my eyes, startled to see so much debris fill up such a large space. My jaw dropped, I froze in place. "Did I do that?"

Grendel took hold of my arm, propelled me toward the entrance with a speed, I didn't expect from such an old man. "Run, Macy!"