The app for independent voices
Another "man who found out"
On "UR" (2009) by Stephen King
In "UR" 20th Century US Literature professor Wesley Smith finds how how the cosmos works when an error occurs in its machinery.
Kindle of the gods
Alternative earth
Wrong fiction
Appointment in Samara
Learns better
Hemingway's killers, but in yellow coats
Now try and change the future
Wesley drummed his fingers on Don’s Mighty Mouse mousepad as the office’s outdated PC cogitated. Then he sat up straight and began to read.
“Well?” Don asked. “Share.”
“According to this,” Wesley said, “my latest MasterCard purchase was a blazer from Men’s Warehouse. A week ago. No downloaded books.”
“Not even the ones you ordered the normal way? The Old Man and the Sea and
Revolutionary Road?”
“Nope.”
Robbie asked, “What about the Kindle itself?”
Wesley scrolled back. “Nothing…nothing…noth…wait, here it—” He leaned forward until his nose was almost touching the screen. “I’ll be damned.”
“What?” Don and Robbie said it together.
“According to this, my purchase was denied. It says, ‘wrong credit-card number.’” He considered. “That could be. I’m always reversing two of the digits, sometimes even when I have the damn card right beside the keyboard. I’m a little dyslexic.”
“But the order went through, anyway,” Don said thoughtfully. “Somehow…to someone. Somewhere. What Ur does the Kindle say we’re in? Refresh me on that.”
Wesley went back to the relevant screen. “117,586. Only to enter that as a choice, you omit the comma.”
Don said, “That might not be the Ur we’re living in, but I bet it was the Ur this Kindle came from. In that Ur, the MasterCard number you gave is the right one for the Wesley Smith that exists there.”
“What are the odds of something like that happening?” Robbie asked.
“I don’t know,” Don said, “but probably a lot steeper than 10.4 million to one.”
Wesley opened his mouth to say something, and was interrupted by a fusillade of knocks on the door. They all jumped. Don Allman actually uttered a little scream.
“Who is it?” Wesley asked, grabbing the Kindle and holding it protectively to his chest.
“Janitor,” the voice on the other side of the door said. “You folks ever going home? It’s almost seven o’clock, and I need to lock up the building.”
***
Cf. "The Man Who Found Out" (1912) by Algernon Blackwood
"UR"
"Appointment in Samara"
Jay
27 May 2025
