Field Notes

Phoebe shivered in the cold air as she walked down the sidewalk, clutching her smartphone to her chest. Black clouds with bluish streaks around the edges crowded the sky. GROCERMART glowed in blue letters above the grocery store's entrance.

A dozen cars sat in the parking lot, faintly outlined in the dim light. Acrid smoke trailed from the exhaust pipe as a vehicle backed out of the lot. Phoebe studied the road for a few moments. She shut her eyes and took a deep breath, then straightened her shoulders and walked inside.

Weak lights glowed overhead, shrouding the walls in darkness. Rows of freezers stretched in front of the entrance. To the left, employees organized boxes on a set of steel shelves. A woman with a dark brown ponytail held a freezer door open with her elbow as she tossed white packages in her cart. Frost clung to the plastic.

Phoebe raised her phone and snapped pictures of the freezers. The woman glanced at Phoebe, then turned and pushed her cart down the aisle. Something about the eye contact gave Phoebe a strange chill, as if she'd spotted an extinct animal.

Don't say anything unless you have to, Dr. Gale's words echoed in her head. Don't draw attention to yourself. Just be small and silent.

The freezer doors reflected a ghostly image of Phoebe's red hair. Black lettering stood out on the packages in the freezer: OSHJAY BEEF. YELLOWDEER. GROUND SWALLOWTAIL. She opened the door and snapped a few pictures, then turned and walked down the aisle.

The store was silent except for the sound of footsteps and the occasional murmur. Phoebe kept her head down, her heart racing with excitement. When she reached the back wall, she stopped a few feet away, her lips parting in surprise.

The wall displayed a mural with a woman in the center, striding forward with a smile. A child clung to each hand. Several people surrounded the woman and gazed in awe. A flag with gold trim and blue-and-white stripes hung over the scene.

Their culture is going to be different. Their entire history is different. We don't know what they might do or what they're capable of.

Phoebe took several photos. Excitement welled inside her chest. She wore a faint half-smile as she walked to the front, where cashiers silently rang up the purchases.

She was thinking about leaving when she spotted a giant screen on the wall behind the cashiers. The screen displayed several columns with long digits next to pictures of flags. The flag from the mural stood on top of the list.

Suddenly, the digit beside the second flag ticked upward. The first two flags switched places on the list. Several people murmured as the cashiers increased their pace. Phoebe looked around, her throat tightening. She quickly photographed the screen as customers grabbed their bags and hurried out.

If anything makes you uncomfortable, leave immediately. Don't worry about the project. The project will be fine. You're more important.

Dead leaves skittered across the lot when she stepped outside. A white vehicle with an official-looking logo on the door rumbled down the road. Phoebe was reaching inside her pocket when a light caught her eye. She glanced up, then froze.

Another woman stood on the other side of the street. The woman flashed the light again. Phoebe looked around, then swallowed and cautiously raised a hand.

"Hello," she said.

The woman stared at her, then flashed the light once more. Phoebe tightened her collar around her neck.

"What is it?" Phoebe said. "Can I help you?"

The woman slipped the light in her pocket, then burst into a sprint. Phoebe turned and darted back to the store. Her hands shook as she frantically searched inside her pocket. When her hand closed on a small device, she pressed the button and sucked in her breath.

Phoebe yelped. The world shrunk to a tube. She gasped for air as she hurtled through the tight space, then collapsed on the tiled floor. Bright lights shined overhead.

Trina and Dr. Gale hurried forward. "Phoebe!" Trina said frantically. "Are you okay? What happened?

Phoebe raised her head and grinned. "Yes! I'm fantastic!"

"What? What happened?

"It was incredible! I went inside, and I saw food in the freezers, and this wonderful mural, and some kind of bizarre screen with flags on it, and I saw a woman across the street, and--"

"You saw a woman? What did she do?"

Phoebe told them what had happened, showing them pictures from her smartphone. Trina and Dr. Gale listened intently. The images were faintly blurred and muted as if someone had applied a filter. A white light appeared in a few pictures of the store, but Phoebe didn't remember seeing anyone with a flashlight.

After the interview, Phoebe uploaded the pictures to a secure university server and deleted them from her phone. Dr. Gale saved the recordings of their interview. Phoebe was typing a document in Dr. Gale's office when Trina appeared in the doorway.

"Hey!" Trina said. "I'm off to lunch. Do you want me to bring you anything?"

"No, thank you."

"Okay! See you in an hour."

Phoebe nodded, then returned to the screen. Dr. Gale's degrees hung in frames on the wall. The glass reflected the laptop's bluish glow.

LAB REPORT

PHOEBE MEYER

380.09.A "GROCERMART DIMENSION"

The sky was dark when I arrived at the parking lot. It was unclear if it were nighttime or if the location had excessive cloud coverage, perhaps from thunderstorms or extreme atmospheric conditions. There was a large grocery store called "GROCERMART" as evidenced by the sign above the door. I walked inside and was greeted with several large freezers that held food not found in our dimension, which will henceforth be called "Dimension Prime"...