MINDSLIP

4 Understanding

'Thank you.'

'I know it sounds silly, but I'm Geoff.'

She laughed and broke down into tearful words, 'What on earth's happened to us? Please keep in touch, won't you?'

'I will. If you need the car. Caroline's keys will be in her purse. It's the red Ford parked outside.'

'Thanks. I won't go anywhere until you or your wife get back.'

I'll call you again when I have anything concrete. We'll speak later.' I hung up on the woman who sounded like the wife I loved but was clearly not her.

I sat beside David who was examining his hands. He'd aged thirty years and I'd gone back twelve. Could I do anything else to find my children? They could be anywhere, in other people's bodies. It was horrific.

All of a sudden, the television flickered into life and a stark message appeared.

PUBLIC EMERGENCY

STAY TUNED

ARMED FORCES, POLICE, POWER, TRANSPORT (train/bus) & EMERGENCY SERVICES PLEASE GO TO YOUR NEAREST PLACE OF WORK

MEDICAL STAFF REPORT URGENTLY TO THE NEAREST HOSPITAL

OTHERS PLEASE REMAIN WHERE YOU ARE OR TRAVEL HOME IF NEARBY

Well, that was pretty clear. We called David's home but there was no answer. All we could do was wait, but at least someone, somewhere was trying to keep order. However, I needed to get home and to find the new Caroline, Wilson and Sandra.

The room light flickered, and the power failed. Spoke too soon, I thought.

During the afternoon, David and I made our way to Notting Hill Gate on the Bayswater Road. The major thoroughfare was in chaos. Numerous pranged cars were blocking the way. There was no way I'd be able to get to Guildford if the roads were all like this. They didn't seem to be serious accidents, but the sort of crash you'd expect if someone had fallen asleep at the wheel. I guessed that if everyone had suffered from the same effect, it would've been very traumatic for drivers.

Fortunately, most of the cars were unlocked with the keys in their ignitions. We helped people drive or push vehicles to the roadside and soon cleared a section. Looking into the distance there were hundreds helping. Many were probably in the same situation as David and me – unable to get home until some organisation was restored.

We were close to the Notting Hill Gate tube entrance, and a hand-written sign was being erected. It'd been carelessly scrawled with a thick felt-tip pen.

HOPEFULLY TRAINS TOMORROW

Obviously, people were beginning to get organised.

Car clearing continued until sunset, or what should've been sunset. The supernova had risen and was almost as bright as the sun. I guessed more than magnitude minus twenty. We returned to Suzie's with hunger and thirst beginning to affect us.

As we entered the flat, power was restored. I remembered what Jane had said about my son dashing out because he was a power engineer – it must be people like him who were getting back to work.

I wondered where my real son, daughter, and wife were.

I raided Suzie's supplies and treated the two of us to fried egg, bacon, and chips in case the power failed later. We ate in front of the television which still showed its bleak message to stay tuned.

All of a sudden, the screen depicted the Thames with the Palace of Westminster, Westminster Bridge, and the London Eye. It was overlaid with a white digital clock counting down from five minutes. Someone somewhere was in control. Everyone we'd spoken to while clearing the cars, said they'd suffered the same fate – switching minds. One woman I'd spoken to had been in Australia. It must be an international problem. If so, there would be billions affected. Did the pilot of the plane suddenly become a ten-year-old? Did a hundred or more people find themselves hurtling to their deaths in an aircraft, with no knowledge of how they'd got there or why? If the original passengers also swapped minds then they'd avoided death, but only by changing identities with the condemned. Surely none of this made any sense. Could the double explosion of Betelgeuse coupled with the sun's coronal mass ejection be the cause? If so, the question which still needed answering was: how?

The clock and view of parliament faded. In an ornate office, an intense young man wearing a smart suit and neat beard, someone I'd never seen before, was looking seriously into the camera.

Who on earth was he?

©2019 Tony Harmsworth