Riddhi, a lone soul in the second year of her Bachelors in Astrophysics, entered the campus with quiet and calculative steps. She was dressed up like a typical nerd- round glasses, untidy hair, mismatched clothes, and her face hidden under a worn-out cap. This nature of hers cost her her social life. Being the target of bullying ever since she joined made her learn the tricks of camouflaging to escape the torture even if it was for a while. She looked around cautiously for any potential danger but once she was sure there were none she sped up to her favourite place in the whole wide world, the library. One would wonder if there was something wrong with her but only she knew the reasons that governed her actions.
Once she reached her destination, a huge two-storeyed room full of books belonging to various genres and that smelled like a breath of fresh of air, she hopped to her secret stack, one that nobody goes near. Towards the very end of the library, there was a special section that contained books on theories that are not bagged by any evidence. And this is what piqued her interest in the very first year. So, she made it her goal to do a thorough research about them. She knew that she didn’t possess the ability to uncover the truths behind unsolved mysteries, but she still wanted to try with all her might. One such topic that sounded very intriguing to her was the concept of the multiverse. Even though she could be called crazy for believing something such as the existence of multiple parallel universes but somewhere deep down she always felt that there might a universe where she would have a happy family, tons of friends, impeccable beauty, and an adorable smile etched on her face that makes her stand out. Alas, she didn’t know if she could ever discover it’s existence, even if she would, would that change the course of events?
With such bizarre thoughts, she was done with the day, being completely exhausted physically and mentally. She got on the evening bus back to her one-bedroom house where she lived all alone. For as long as she remembered she was in an orphanage and soon moved out at 18 to have her own place. It wasn’t anything fancy just a small cozy place all for herself.
Like every other day, before going to bed, Riddhi hoped that her life would change at least for a day. With this thought, she slipped into her land of fantasies. What she didn’t know was that the next sunrise was going to change everything in her life.
As soon as the alarm struck 6 Riddhi woke up and stretched herself and continued on with her routine. But unlike all other days, it felt different that day. The unfamiliarity in the air was eating her up but pushing all those thoughts aside she went to college as usual. As soon as she stepped in she could feel a shift in the air but couldn’t really pinpoint what the feeling was. After thoroughly examining her surrounding and making sure nobody recognized her she started walking to the library. But the sudden commotion at the fountain in the front perked up her curiosity. What she saw there shocked her to the core. She saw the version of herself that she never could have become. But what shocked her more was the people around her were weird. It felt like she didn’t even know them, not that she interacted in the first place. She had no clue what was happening. So she ran to the only place that gave her solace, the library.
To her utter surprise, it was designed completely different than the one she always went to for the past one and a half years. But to her luck the last section was the same. In haste, she opened multiple books and was trying to understand what was happening when the possibility of her being in an alternate universe struck her. She had learnt something very crucial about it in her research, that if same people from two universes ever come across each other then things might change for both universes, either for the good or bad. So she rushed out of that place in a hurry. But on the way out she unknowingly bumped into someone, who was none other than Riddhi from that universe. As soon as they both had an eye-contact, BOOM!
Riddhi woke up with a jerk and looked around in a panic. Looking at the unfamiliar room she screamed her heart out. Multiple people came running into her room bombarding her with questions as to what happened. But she just sat there staring at them because they were her family that had died years ago.
“What’s wrong little one?” asked her dad.
That’s when she understood that the events that took place altered her existence in her universe which resulted in a whole new life for her. But who is she to complain when this was what she wanted all along?