4/26/18

Physics Attraction
By Bruce Meyer


Although Cale Vals certainly liked Megan Bardzo’s feathery hair and shapely features, it was her dimpled smile which captivated him. Megan smiled at him like she meant it. At least he wanted it to mean something.

The first time he asked her out, she smiled wonderfully with those dimples, but said she didn’t want to ruin their friendship. The second time she didn’t smile, “No, I don’t think that’s a good idea.” He forgot to watch where he was going and fell off the antigravity walkway.

So this time he would make a big impression. His plan culminated in an auditorium of the college they both attended. There, thousands packed into the lectures of Professor Aidan Scelestus, world famous for his research in extra-dimensional energy. Cale grabbed a seat in the front row of the balcony, spotting Megan’s feathery head halfway towards the front on the main floor.

“There are many higher dimensions to our universe,” Professor Aidan said when he began his lecture, “many beyond our familiar length, width, and height.”

While a hologram projected the visual of a fourth physical dimension overhead, Cale pulled a gaming console out of his pack.

“These dimensions are curled so tightly that they are undetectable,” the professor said. The hologram showed the fourth dimensions collapsing into a tiny dot. “The best research today has not yet verified their existence.”

While the students around Cale worked over their sheets capturing the information for their notes, Cale worked over his gaming console.

“These tightly curled dimensions are felt in our world as the forces of nature, such as gravity, electricity, and magnetism-”

The dot disappeared. In its place were big puffy red letters: “Megan, will you go out with me?” Below the letters billowed Cale’s big smiling face.

The entire class was dead silent for a long moment. Then they broke out into hoots and hollers.

“Say yes!” somebody yelled.

Cale perched on the balcony and waved his arms, smiling for her.

Megan stood and grabbed her pack. When she pushed through the crowded auditorium and slammed the door behind her, it made a great deal of commotion. The class fell dead silent for a few moments before the professor continued his lecture.

Cale didn’t hear anything else for the remainder of the period. People gawked at him and murmured disparaging remarks around him. When they got up to leave, they glared rudely after him. Even after the crowds had shuffled out, he sat and stared ahead into nothing. He had thought she would like his show of bravado. He had thought she would enjoy the publicity. He had thought, he had thought…

“Did you understand what I said about the forces of nature?”

When he looked up, the professor glowered down on him. Cale didn’t care. So what if he had hijacked the professor’s lecture? So what if he got disciplined and kicked out of school. It didn’t matter now..

The professor stooped down to speak with him. “The forces caused by energy in the hidden dimensions.”

“Yeah, sure.”

Cale didn’t care much about physics right now. He kept replaying the scene of Megan walking out of the auditorium in his mind. He kept hearing the disparaging remarks of others.

The professor unwrapped a gauze cloth from an object he held in his hand. “There are other forces besides gravity, electricity, and magnetism.” He unwrapped more gauze from the object. “This is sjette. It’s a rock that has a double set of quarks. That gives it unique properties.”

When the professor removed the last of the gauze, Cale saw wire coiled around a black rock. It seemed to move like a dirty pile of black worms.

“Here, give it a try.”

Later that evening, Cale knocked on the door of Megan’s dormitory room. The professor’s device squirmed as he held it tightly in his right hand. When she opened, she must have just come from a bath, because her lovely face was partially concealed by long wet hair. Still, he could still see her eyes open wide and her cheeks burned red. The sight left him nearly breathless.

“Will you go out with me?” he said.

She smiled prettily for him. “I would love that.”


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Bruce Meyer is the author of two novellas: Trust in Axion and Believe the Tachyons can both be found on Amazon.com as ebook downloads. Bruce is an electrical engineer serving the utility industry in the Northwest of the USA.