STUCK: IT'S ABOUT TO GET VERY WEIRD

This nightmare just got worse.

This means that my sister is in big trouble. My mind races, and I want to run, but I can't.

She looks exactly like my sister, but not quite.

The little girl in the closet is sitting with her back against the wall of the closet under the hanging clothes, with her arms wrapped around her knees. She looks as scared as I feel and I can see that she has been crying. It's obvious she has been in hiding for a while. There are crumpled bags of crackers around her on the floor, cereal bowls, and empty juice boxes. She has made a kind of fort in the closet with blankets and boxes. She stares back at me with her big green eyes, tears slipping down her cheeks, and she is waiting for me to say something.

She is Stuck.

This is my sister's twin. Like me and my sister, she must be confused, terrified, and lonely. I crouch down on one knee and reach out to her but she flinches. I see that I'll have to calm her down. I have to tell her what Sam would want to hear. I pull my hands back and restart.

"My name is Sierra. I'm a friend of Tiarra's. I know this must be really weird and scary for you, but you can trust me."

She blinks and lets out a whisper: "Wh-where is Tiarra? Where's my mom?"

"I had the same questions. Listen, they are both okay. I am trying to sort out this problem too."

"Who are you?" She asks. "Why do you look so much like Tiarra?"

I think about how to explain this in a way that she will understand, and believe. I decide that I'll tell her the way I would tell my sister. She's Sam's twin, so it's about as close as I could get.

Sam.

I don't have time to go through this whole thing, I have to get back. I realize I have no idea how long I've been here, or if it's been too long. If I stay too long and Tom can't get me back, my sister will trapped forever. I think of her, scared and confused in hiding somewhere in that other world, completely alone in that dimension. I don't even have a way to tell Tom to look after her. It makes me sick just thinking about it. I would rather be trapped there than let my sister go through it. I have to help this girl and get moving fast.

"Listen, it's kind of hard to explain. What is your name?"

She looks at me a bit like she trying to decide whether to trust me, and then she says "Tabatha, but my sister calls me Tabby."

"Okay Tabatha, I need you to trust me, to believe me. I'm in the same boat as you are. I'm from far away, and somehow Tiarra and I got switched, and now so did you and my sister Sam."

Tabatha leans forward and her eyes brighten. "Tiarra disappeared today...there was a bright light."

This must have been when I got here. It didn't occur to me that my twin would be yanked away from wherever she was when I jumped using the machine.

"I know. I saw the same thing. I am going to try to get you and Tiarra home, and I need you to just carry on like everything is normal."

"My parents..." Tabatha says.

"Just trust me, my dad is awesome. Just act as normal as possible."

Tabatha looks at me warily, and nods slowly.

"How long is this going to take?"

"I don't know, I'm sorry. But just stick with Tiarra. She'll will be back in a few minutes, and I think she might understand now."