“So how are you feeling today?”, Jim asked as he sat down on the chesterfield.
     Owen stretched in his chair as he answered, “Not too bad.  I was lucky that all I had was some bruising.”.
     “So what happened with your date with Beth?  That was supposed to be tonight, wasn’t it?”.
     “After she heard about me getting attacked, we decided to put it off for a few more days.  It’s probably for the best.  I don’t want to be sitting somewhere thinking ‘wow, I’m in pain’ when I’m with the girl of my dreams.”.
     “Good thinking.”.
     “I thought so.”.
     “And where’s Kenrick?  I think I’ve seen him once this last week.”.
     Owen shrugged his shoulders, “Even since he’s gotten that floor plan, he’s been studying it night and day.  He comes out about twice a day to fill a jug of water, and then he leaves again for the closet.  The quiet has almost been unnerving.  You never know when he’s going to pop out of the closet and say something like…”.
     “Are there any local laws forbiding the use of magic in a residential area?”, Kenrick poked his head into the room, startling Owen and Jim.
     Owen turned his head, and replied, “No, as far as I know magic is perfectly legal in Canada, as long as you aren’t torturing animals or killing anyone.”.
     “No, I won’t be doing anything like that.  I’ll let you know how it goes.  If I’m not out of the closet in the next three hours, assume I’ve died horribly in some magical backlash.  I don’t think that will happen through.”.
     Kenrick left the room as suddenly as he had appeared, and Owen and Jim stared at each other silently until they heard the closet door close.
     “Have you eaten yet?”, Jim asked.
     Owen shook his head.
     “I feel like going out somewhere suddenly.  How about you?”, Jim continued.
     “That sounds like a good idea.”, Owen answered.
     “Tandoori?”.
     “Naturally.”.

     Owen returned alone two hours later.  Kenrick was nowhere to be seen, but the apartment was as he’d left it, which was a good sign, at least.  He slipped off his shoes and jacket, putting them away in the closet.  He made his way into the A/V, put some CDs into his stereo and set it on random.  The first song to come up was Magic Carpet Ride, causing a brief chuckle over the irony.  Owen settled into his chair and closed his eyes, nodding his head in time with the music.   He lost track of time as one song ended and another began.  He sat in his chair, absently watching the oscilliscope wavering to each note and beat.
     A sudden flash of light brought him out of his reverie, especially as it was followed by a familiar voice.
     “This…”, the voice said, “this is Hillview!  I’m home!”.
     Owen ran into the living room to find himself face to face with either himself or an exact double.  It was hard to tell, because the other man was wearing a long forest green cloak, and armoured in a hardened leather cuirass and thick leather gauntlets.  He also had a full growth beard and hair down to his shoulders
     “I finally made it!  I’m home!  I’m home and…”, he stopped when he saw Owen, then continued disappointedly, “and I remember this.  Well, I have about a minute or two.  You can phone Jim and tell him that you won the bet about whether the universe would disappear if someone meets their past self.  I’m just going to help myself to a glass of lemonade.”.
     The man walked over to the fridge and grabbed the pitcher of lemonade, and put it on the counter while he helped himself to a large glass.  He drank it down quickly, and put the empty glass in the sink.
     “That was good, I’ve missed the taste of refined sugar.”, he wiped his lips on the back of his guantlet, the walked back to the exact spot he’d appeared in.
     Owen stood silently watching him as the man straighted out his clothing.
     “While I really wish I could stay and see Beth, I’m going to disappear in a few seconds.  I suppose it’s for the best, I need to get back before the enemy crosses the Ironridge Mountains, they’re counting on Baldwin and I to lend our support.”.  At the name Baldwin, he patted the broadsword at his side, identical in every respect to the one Owen had found in the cupboard when he’d first moved in.
     “Goodbye, then!  I’d wish you good luck, but since I know the outcome of the next few months, there’s no sense in it.”.
     The figure began to fade, until another flash of light filled the room and he was gone entirely.  Owen walked over to the kitchen, and found the pitcher left out, and an empty glass in the sink.
     Kenrick came bounding out of Owen’s bedroom, rounding the corner with a smile on his scaly face.
     “I did it!  I managed to find out when the next portal will open, and without any backlash!”, Kenrick said excitedly, and then paused, “Is something wrong, you look like you’ve seen a ghost?”.
     “I just had the strangest experience of my life, and I wouldn’t even know where to begin describing it.”, Owen explained as he walked over to the telephone and dialed Jim’s number.
     Jim answered, “Hello?”.
     “Hi.  Jim,”, Owen replied, “do you remember that debate we had about what would happen if someone met themselves in the past.”.
     “Sure, I think so.  Didn’t we make a bet on it at the time?”.
     “Yeah.  How do I put this?  You owe me five bucks.”.
     “Uh, okay.  Mind if I ask what happened?”.
     “I’m not really sure myself, but a future me just showed up dressed like a character from The Lord of the Rings and told me to phone you and tell you that.”.
     Jim paused briefly, “If it wasn’t for the low rent, I’d say you really need to move away from that apartment.”.
     “That’s what I keep telling myself.  I talk to you later.”.
     “Sure, tomorrow.  Bye.”.
     “Bye.”.
     Owen hung up the phone and walked back to the kitchen to a confused Kenrick.
     “I suppose you heard what just happened.  Would you care to explain why I just met my future self, and if possible why I was dressed like that?”.
     Kenrick scratched his chin as he spoke, “Umm, I was trying to find out where the fractures in the wall between the dimensions are, and I must have caused a future you to cross over momentarily from another dimension.  It’s been known to happen to amateur wizards.”.
     “And why am I going to end up in another dimension in the future?”.
     Kenrick shrugged his shoulders, “Maybe you’re on vacation?”.
     “I was dressed in armour and talking about the enemy crossing the mountains.”.
     “Umm, maybe you have a future as an inter-dimensional mercenary.  They can command quite a high salary, if they’re good.”, Kenrick said with a smile, “I hope you didn’t tell yourself anything, that can cause problems if you try and change your own past.”.
     “I didn’t, probably because you just told me not to.  You know, before I moved here I was quite happy to not live with demons and meeting future selves.”.
     “You also didn’t know Beth.”, Kenrick pointed out.
     Owen paused, and as the statement sunk in, he apologised, “You’re right.  This day has just been too weird, even for me.”.
     “Then this wouldn’t be a good time to ask if you’d like to meet my pet?”, Kenrick asked.
     “You have a pet?  What kind of pet?  Something like a dog or a cat?”.
     Kenrick shook his head, “No, it looks more like a wombat.”.
     “You have a pet wombat?”.
     “It’s not really a wombat, it just looks like a wombat.  She’s really friendly, though, just don’t put your fingers near her mouth, she nips.”.
     “I thought wombats were herbivores?”.
     “Not in Belfar.  Her name is Reet, would you like to meet her?”.
     “This really has been an odd day.”, Owen sighed, “Why not make it stranger?  Sure, I’d love to meet your wombat.  A year ago I couldn’t have imagined a set of circumstances that would lead me to saying that.”.
     “I’ll go get her!  Wait here, I’ll be right back!”, Kenrick ran off into the bedroom.
     Owen put the lemonade back in the fridge, then leaned against the counter as he waited for his roommate to return.  Kenrick rounded the corner with what Owen thought was a large dark furred wombat in his arms.  She looked up affectionately at Kenrick as he stroked her fur.
     “Reet,”, he said to her, drawing her attention to Owen with a gentle nudge, “this is Owen.  He’s not food, he’s a friend, okay.”.
     Reet looked up a Kenrick lazily, who looked her in the eyes to reinforce his decree.    She twisted sudenly in Kenrick’s arms, and he let her down on the floor.  She strode over to Owen, stopping a few of her small paces in front of him, and looked up with an appraising eye.
     “Your wombat is staring at me, Kenrick.”.
     “She likes you!  Or she thinks you’d taste good.”.
     Owen knelt down and put placed his hand on the top of Reet’s head.  She tilted her head back slightly as Owen scratched her neck.  He breathed a sigh of relief that Reet wasn’t thinking of making a snack out of him, and stood back up.
     “See,”, Kenrick reiterated, “I told you she likes you!”.
     Owen asked suddenly, “Have you ever had one of those days when every time you think ‘this can’t get any stranger’ you’re proven wrong?”.
     “Umm, yes…”, Kenrick responded.
     Owen looked down at Reet before continuing, “I’ve learned today to never think that again.”.
     He leaned down and started petting Reet, who seemed to like the attention.  Suddenly he smiled at her and started to laugh.  Kenrick narrowed his eyes questioningly, watching Owen as if worried that he’d lost his sanity.
     “Umm, are you okay, Owen?”.
     “Yeah,”, Owen said, taking his eyes off the wombat to look at Kenrick, “it’s just that I had the strange notion that after befriending a demon, getting caught up in an interdimensional war, and meeting my future self, I’m here petting a demon wombat and my life is making more sense than it ever has before.”.
     “You’re a strange man at times, Owen.”.
     “And right now I owe it all to you.  Thanks.”.

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