Gary Brandt delivers his most prophetically genius and emotionally fulfilling chapter yet in this episode from The Dimension Of Mind Dot Com when Ella's creative writing assignment becomes a stunning glimpse into a possible future where past and present beautifully converge through love, loss, and second chances.
The brilliant storytelling device unfolds as fifty-seven-year-old Ella looks back on the night baby Chessa—now grown into a rebellious thirty-year-old who still looks like a teenager—crashes her stolen hover craft while sneaking out to see her topside boyfriend, creating a diplomatic crisis between the underground colonies and surface governments.
What makes the chapter so emotionally satisfying is watching the reunion between Ella and the little girl she helped raise decades ago, now a 'total brat' who's inherited her mother Asherina's tendency to 'do whatever she wanted regardless of consequences.' The story's genius lies in how it transforms a simple crash landing into a meditation on family bonds that transcend biology when Chessa throws herself into Ella's arms crying 'I used to change your diapers.
You were my little girl' while Patricia remembers her attitude and Ella's mother nearly faints with joy at seeing her beloved surrogate granddaughter again.
But the real emotional power emerges through the story's bittersweet resolution when Mr.
Roberts arrives to explain that Chessa has been permanently banished from the colony, along with her boyfriend who caused such a disturbance over her exile that he got himself banned too—forcing these young lovers into a topside life they never planned while Ella becomes their surrogate parent and guide.
The chapter's profound wisdom unfolds through the recognition that sometimes the worst mistakes lead to the most beautiful outcomes when Chessa's reckless teenage rebellion transforms into a loving marriage with 'several daughters' she calls her 'little hybrids,' creating a bridge between worlds that couldn't exist any other way.
Brandt brilliantly balances science fiction world-building with intimate family dynamics when Asherina reads the story and laughingly admits 'she's absolutely my daughter, so being a brat is completely expected' while taking notes about keeping hover craft keys 'in a very safe place.' The chapter ends with perfect meta-fictional resonance as Asherina praises the story but warns Ella she might have 'revealed slightly too much'—a haunting reminder that the most powerful fiction often contains more truth than we dare to admit, and that sometimes the future we write becomes the destiny we're unconsciously choosing to create.