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Pat’s up on a ladder, hammering a nail to secure a gutter to the new schoolhouse’s roof. Sally’s little girl, now five, is about to start school, and their three-year-old boy’s not far behind, though he’s got a couple years before he’s ready.
John’s at the base, steadying the ladder so Pat doesn’t take a tumble. Both of them have taken to farming, tending acres of crops around Penny Lake. Michael’s pitched in with some horses to make plowing and tilling easier. On top of that, John’s been teaching Pat the ins and outs of lumbering, and they’ve been felling trees along the lake to supply wood for building.
Ben’s set up a small mill to process the lumber, and when he’s not crafting fine furniture, he’s building cottages for the new folks moving in. Penny Lake’s become a hot spot for young couples lately, and the place is buzzing with new faces.
John and Pat are milling their own lumber for the schoolhouse as a gift to Sally and the other young moms in the community. Sally had her heart set on being the schoolteacher, but Penny wasn’t having it—that’s *her* gig, and she’s not budging.
So, Sally’s sticking to full-time mom duties. With grandparents constantly popping by to help, she barely gets a moment to cuddle her own kids. She’s come to terms with it, though, and sometimes she catches herself daydreaming about the day she’ll have grandkids of her own.
With all the new people, plants, and animals at Penny Lake, the population’s exploded, and feeding everyone’s become a real challenge. The farmers, including Pat and John, are working overtime to keep up.
Even with all the hustle, Sally and Pat carve out at least one day a week for fun. Their go-to spot is Powder Junction, where they hang out with friends, play cards, catch a show at the playhouse, or go horseback riding. There’s no shortage of things to do, but for Sally, the real treat is hitting up the restaurants—she’s a foodie at heart.
Between the growing community, all that delicious food, and raising two kids, Sally’s noticed she’s put on a few pounds. She’s still stunning, and everyone around her adores her, but she’s determined to get back to the slim figure she had at 15 when she first showed up at the lake. Some struggles, it seems, never go out of style.
Sally, Penny, and a few other women in the neighborhood have a daily exercise routine, and they’re all in great shape—but there’s always room to push a little harder. Working on the farm and lending a hand with construction keeps them active too.
“Pat! John! Get down here!” Sally shouts from across the broccoli patch. “We’ve got a meeting at Ben’s place. Penny got a letter, and she says we need to see it.”
“Alright, Sweetie, we’re coming!” John calls back, already climbing down.
The three of them pile into the wagon with the kids, and John takes the reins, guiding the horses toward Ben and Penny’s. Millie, their dog, bounds alongside, barking at imaginary critters like she always does when they head out.
“Hey, thanks for dropping everything to come over,” Penny says, her face unusually serious. “I asked Michael to join us too. We’ve got a situation. I got a letter from my mom—she lives way out there, in a parallel universe, actually. We don’t talk much, but she’s a big deal in her world’s politics. Back when she was on Earth, she was a wanderer, one of those souls who visit from other levels. She says her whole reason for being here was to make sure Ben and I got together, because it’d matter for her people someday. I never understood why until now. Her letter says their planetary system’s in deep trouble—something about a temporal causality experiment that went totally sideways. And get this: they think the four of you might be the only ones who can untangle it.”
Sally’s eyebrows shoot up, and she crosses her arms. “Hold up, Penny. You can’t just go around calling us the Magnificent Four and expect us to zip across the multiverse fixing everyone’s messes. I’m a mom now—I can’t just take off like that.”
Penny shakes her head, a small smile breaking through. “Oh, honey, I didn’t put you guys out there like that. I brag about you all the time, but I haven’t talked to my mom in years, long before you became the ‘Magnificent Four,’ heh. She must’ve heard about you on her own—or maybe she always knew. Point is, the request is out there, and we need to figure out what to do.”
Sally’s not letting it go. “If John and Mike want to go, fine, but I need Pat here with the kids. I can’t just leave them.”
Penny gives her a motherly smile. “Sally, the kids are practically living at my house half the time anyway—I’d be happy to watch them. Ben’s got the schoolhouse under control, and there are plenty of young farmers around to handle your fields. You and Pat can both go. Don’t use the kids as an excuse to miss out on a wild adventure.”
“Penny, you know I’d be lost without my kids, even for a few days,” Sally argues. “I’d go stir-crazy. And how would we even get there? That’s way beyond the edge of this domain—can Ben even send us that far?” Sally and Penny go back and forth, while the guys wisely stay out of it, knowing better than to jump into a debate between these two.
“It’s not a problem,” Penny says. “They’ve got multi-dimensional vehicles they can project into our reality. They’ll literally land on your front lawn to pick you up. Plus, you get to wear cool space suits and fly around different galaxies, seeing all kinds of amazing stuff. You really shouldn’t pass this up.”
Sally sighs. “Okay, let’s say Pat and I go. We can’t morph anymore—our Level 10 experience is gone, and I don’t think it’s coming back for thousands of years. We’re just regular Level 5 folks now, no special powers. They’re gonna be disappointed when they see what we’ve got to offer.”
The debate drags on for over an hour, with the guys staying quiet until the women are ready to lay out their plan.
“Alright, John, Pat, Mike,” Penny says, glancing at Sally. “Here’s what we think. Their expectations might be way off, and you may not have any answers for them. But it wouldn’t hurt to go check it out, get a feel for the place. They’ve mixed their Level 5 and Level 3 existence into some kind of dual-level setup, and that’s part of what’s causing their problems. Even if you can’t help, you might learn something useful for Earth. If there’s nothing you can do, you’ll be back in a day or two, and we’ll get on with things here. If you can help, it’ll be an incredible adventure, and you might be gone a few weeks.”
Michael nods. “Sounds doable. I’ve got a maintenance crew for Powder Junction, but I’d need Ben to swing by now and then to fix anything that breaks. Other than that, it could be kind of fun.”
John grins at Sally, his eyes twinkling like he’s saying, *Here we go again.* “I’ll keep an eye on Sally and Pat—make sure they stay out of trouble. But yeah, it sounds like a blast. Let’s do it.”
And… so it begins.