Jenny Everywhere: Morning After, part one
May. 6th, 2022 02:08 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
scott_sanfordIt's fiction on Friday again, folks. So what's Jenny Everywhere up to now?
Normally I eschew any strict chronology for these tales, on the theory that Jenny doesn’t pay a lot of attention to time so there’s no reason for you to either, but in this case it’s useful to know that these events happen right after those of Paying it Forward. It’s okay to check the wiki or re-read the story of that adventure before starting on this one.
Part One:
Haroun the Thrice Cursed
I needed to call my editor.
It shouldn’t be hard. I poked at the phone and waited; finally someone at Stone answered, either a real human or something close enough.
“Hi!”, I said. “This is Jenny Everywhere; can you put me through to Haroun?”
“Who are you trying to reach?”
I felt disconnected and wobbly; I hoped I was still in the right universe.
“I seek Haroun al-Qalam!”, I snapped, “he who is thrice cursed, thine review editor!”
That didn’t come out right.
“Just a moment.” The phone make clicking noises at me, so… good? One nice thing about working in the entertainment industry is that the tolerance for weird people is sky high.
“Hello?”
“Hi, Haroun, it’s Jenny Everywhere! Did you get the Coelacanths and Possums review?”
“Ah, yes, I saw the email but I haven’t read it yet.”
“That’s okay, it’s no problem. I just wanted to call and give you a heads-up, you may not be getting anything else for a few days. I’ll be okay, I’m just – not a hundred percent today.”
“Oh! Okay, I’ll plan around that. Thank you for telling us. It is to be hoped that you feel better soon.” I noticed his accent changing but that was just him; I wasn’t drifting between universes. For the moment...
“No sweat, I just didn’t want you to count on me for anything right now. I’ll be fine soon enough.”
“We will look forward to it. Please give our regards to David al-Hajar.”
“David? Uh, sure, if I see him.”
“Excellent. Rest and become well; we shall be here when you are again ready.”
He hung up and I put down the phone. One of these days I should get one of them to talk about what they did before I met them.
I sighed, hoping for the kind of quiet days I don’t get very often. I love my life but today I just wanted to relax –
– and enjoy some peace and quiet.
It would be a lot quieter if my other lives would leave me alone for a while.
I’d overdone it a few days ago and knew I’d be paying for it later. Well, it was later.
Not that I regretted anything. I’d done a lot of good for a lot of people and I still felt really good about that, even if a lot of the people I helped were me.
The after party had been a lot of fun, too. Mostly; I don’t usually get on my nerves but Jenny Cornelius and Jeanne Partout had spent way too much time being very English and French at each other. That’s a family for you though, right, people who love each other and still get on each other’s nerves sometimes?
Some people would say I’ve got a very, very large family.
I am Jenny Everywhere, the Shifter; I exist in every world and I have the power to shift between them. Which is awfully cool. But like anyone, I can over do it; I’d been jerking the multiverse around a lot and that kind of thing leaves echoes.
You can take aspirin for headaches and I did, but I’d been burning through a lot of shift energy really fast and that has to settle down on its own. Reality was glitching around me and I was remembering a lot. Things that happened in other worlds, to other Jennies.
I sighed and thought about eating something. I didn’t feel up to cooking but I could microwave something. There’s always toast; I could get –
– toast and some beer. I’d better not go out, there was no telling where or when I’d wind up if I let myself wander while distracted, but a quiet day at home sounded good anyway.
But I should probably talk to David anyway. He should know some weird stuff might be going on.
Part Two ->
See Scott Sanford’s Jenny Everywhere stories
The character of Jenny Everywhere is available for use by anyone, with only one condition. This paragraph must be included in any publication involving Jenny Everywhere, in order that others may use this property as they wish. All rights reversed.
Normally I eschew any strict chronology for these tales, on the theory that Jenny doesn’t pay a lot of attention to time so there’s no reason for you to either, but in this case it’s useful to know that these events happen right after those of Paying it Forward. It’s okay to check the wiki or re-read the story of that adventure before starting on this one.
Haroun the Thrice Cursed
I needed to call my editor.
It shouldn’t be hard. I poked at the phone and waited; finally someone at Stone answered, either a real human or something close enough.
“Hi!”, I said. “This is Jenny Everywhere; can you put me through to Haroun?”
“Who are you trying to reach?”
I felt disconnected and wobbly; I hoped I was still in the right universe.
“I seek Haroun al-Qalam!”, I snapped, “he who is thrice cursed, thine review editor!”
That didn’t come out right.
“Just a moment.” The phone make clicking noises at me, so… good? One nice thing about working in the entertainment industry is that the tolerance for weird people is sky high.
“Hello?”
“Hi, Haroun, it’s Jenny Everywhere! Did you get the Coelacanths and Possums review?”
“Ah, yes, I saw the email but I haven’t read it yet.”
“That’s okay, it’s no problem. I just wanted to call and give you a heads-up, you may not be getting anything else for a few days. I’ll be okay, I’m just – not a hundred percent today.”
“Oh! Okay, I’ll plan around that. Thank you for telling us. It is to be hoped that you feel better soon.” I noticed his accent changing but that was just him; I wasn’t drifting between universes. For the moment...
“No sweat, I just didn’t want you to count on me for anything right now. I’ll be fine soon enough.”
“We will look forward to it. Please give our regards to David al-Hajar.”
“David? Uh, sure, if I see him.”
“Excellent. Rest and become well; we shall be here when you are again ready.”
He hung up and I put down the phone. One of these days I should get one of them to talk about what they did before I met them.
I sighed, hoping for the kind of quiet days I don’t get very often. I love my life but today I just wanted to relax –
– on the deck of the Cheshire Catamaran, two days out of Byzantium and one more to Constantinople. There are a thousand stars out in night sky and nothing but ocean to the horizon. We’ll make a fortune on the cargo we picked up in Istanbul but this is the real reason to do this, just to be out on the open sea –
– and enjoy some peace and quiet.
It would be a lot quieter if my other lives would leave me alone for a while.
I’d overdone it a few days ago and knew I’d be paying for it later. Well, it was later.
Not that I regretted anything. I’d done a lot of good for a lot of people and I still felt really good about that, even if a lot of the people I helped were me.
The after party had been a lot of fun, too. Mostly; I don’t usually get on my nerves but Jenny Cornelius and Jeanne Partout had spent way too much time being very English and French at each other. That’s a family for you though, right, people who love each other and still get on each other’s nerves sometimes?
Some people would say I’ve got a very, very large family.
I am Jenny Everywhere, the Shifter; I exist in every world and I have the power to shift between them. Which is awfully cool. But like anyone, I can over do it; I’d been jerking the multiverse around a lot and that kind of thing leaves echoes.
You can take aspirin for headaches and I did, but I’d been burning through a lot of shift energy really fast and that has to settle down on its own. Reality was glitching around me and I was remembering a lot. Things that happened in other worlds, to other Jennies.
I sighed and thought about eating something. I didn’t feel up to cooking but I could microwave something. There’s always toast; I could get –
– a grinding wheel six feet across, groaning into motion as the waterwheel finally got moving, all our painfully shaped wooden axles and gears holding this time. We all cried out in joy as the mill came up to speed and the first flour began to dribble out into the trough under the wheel. We would have bread soon! Bread and –
– toast and some beer. I’d better not go out, there was no telling where or when I’d wind up if I let myself wander while distracted, but a quiet day at home sounded good anyway.
But I should probably talk to David anyway. He should know some weird stuff might be going on.
The character of Jenny Everywhere is available for use by anyone, with only one condition. This paragraph must be included in any publication involving Jenny Everywhere, in order that others may use this property as they wish. All rights reversed.
