Measurement № 24 - Александр Александрович Чечитов

rolled in a ball, colliding with an invisible obstacle. Our yellowish bodies ended up at a scattering of low huts standing under the wide canopy of the jungle. Bright, silvery rays of light streamed between the dense, green foliage of the trees, exposing every corner of the neighborhood.

We're here! — my wife said enthusiastically.

"Where exactly?"

In general, it doesn't matter where; it's more important who.

Her voice was playful and velvety, sounding a little thinner than usual.

Should we keep an eye on the people living here? I asked eagerly.

— No. You and I will soon become them.

— Against their will! If my essence is an alien creature, I don't want to take a place inside an innocent person! My inner voice protested. The beloved laughed, bouncing a little and having fun.

We are both extraterrestrial beings and earthlings at the same time, — she joyfully reported, "and your lifeless body is lying up there at the traffic light. But your essence is here. With me. A short girl with a large, round belly, dressed in finely woven robes, came out of the nearest hut. I cringed all over, trying to hide from her gaze.

"She doesn't see us," my wife hastened to reassure me. You are what will be inside her.

And how many, like you and me?

all the living things that exist on the planet, and there are two of us. Half of you; the other half is me.

But! My mind was confused — why is this new to me?

"You forget that every time you're on the other side of me," she giggled again.

What is the name of the place where we are? I asked more calmly now.

"Dimension twenty-four, but it doesn't matter. I've told you this a thousand times already.