What if I was to tell you that the mythical creatures you have heard about since you were a child were real? That centaurs existed? Orcs and fairies? Magic?
Well, it's true. It's all true. There is a world that sometimes collides with ours. Not a physical impact like a meteor strike, but a graceful kiss of their plain and ours. Bridging the worlds and allowing us to travel to each other's world, to step through a rift and be there. It provides magic, a natural thing in their world, to flow through to ours.
Many of the stories you have heard are true, or mostly true, though if you ask the creatures of the other land, they may have a different perspective on who was the hero and who was the monster. Thousands of years ago humans and these Mythfolk were at war; then the rift closed, no one knows why no one knows how. Many Mythfolk were trapped here on earth, and many humans were trapped there. After generations of war, the trapped peoples did not last long, they were slaughtered, and their remains destroyed. And so reality faded into myth.
Some two years ago, a rift opened on the outskirts of a small country town. This town of some five thousand people has since become the hub of transport in the region to and from the other world. The rift exuded no light, and if you weren't careful, you could walk through without even noticing. The faint shimmer of light, as if through the surface of a pool. The hum in the air and the tingling of hairs your only hints you are about to walk into another world.
Days after its discovery the military was there, then the scientists. The first contact was made when an elf came through the rift. It took time, but relations have developed, trade is following, commerce, immigration and indeed emigration as some people leave our world in search of something more, something better.
We searched the stars for other life and found it so close, yet so far, this quint country town is now a landing point for many Mythfolk, bringing new goods, skills and knowledge to our world. Over the past months, there have been issues; some are still being resolved. But they brought with them business, jobs and labour to help grow our economy and that has made them somewhat welcome. Of course, there is racism, there is prejudice, religious and political intolerance, but things are progressing, and the town is flourishing. Their world has not advanced technologically like ours, them having access to magic stifled their technological advancements, but their presence increased trade flow and tourism.
All and all, things had been relatively peaceful. The various species from there world have long since learnt to live and work together, and they brought that desire with them to share with us.
Not that long ago, all John wanted was to get out of town, but in the last little while, things had changed. The town was growing quickly. The opening of the rift had been the tipping point for him. His parents had always loved the little backwater hole, but him not so much. Now the town had an ever-growing number of restaurants, traditional food of the Mythfolk, new stores of wears and crafts and the first-ever real magic school. As opposed to stage magic. Tourists came to town regularly. There were tours out to the rift, it wasn't much to see a shimmering jagged line, but the tourists got a kick out of it. Maybe it was the military boundary they were interested in or the construction going on; John didn't get it. He just got paid to drive people out there and talk about the rift over the PA system.
It was a tedious job, but it paid all right for him to finish college at least. Distance education, of course, there was no college in the area other than the magic school. He was interested in magic, but the school was always overfilled, trying to cash in on real magic and people's fascination.
He stretched in bed and yawned as his thoughts meandered. The plan was that he would be going out with his roomies tonight, but he was tired and not particularly interested. He wanted some excitement in his life, but between college and work, he was exhausted all the time.
He rolled out of bed and rummaged in his floordrobe for something clean before heading out into the living room. His roommates, Ronny and Carlos, were playing a game he didn't recognise on the console. "New game?" John asked.
"Fucking awesome, should give it a go," Carlos exclaimed, jerking the control as the vehicle on-screen slid out of control. "Ronny lifted it today."
John shook his head. Ronny was employed, paid well, and blew his money on drugs and escorts, so he resorted to stealing games and groceries if you would call pop-tarts groceries. "Maybe later," John said, walking towards the kitchen. "When you guys go out."
The game paused, "No, no, no, you are not piking on us tonight. You are coming out. You have no work tomorrow, so we are going to get you trashed, laid or both." Ronny said, getting up and following him. He towered over John, had blond hair, and still had muscle on him even though he sat on the couch playing games more often than not. John didn't know how he did it.
John opened the freezer for a quick frozen meal. "Ronny, Jesus dude." He exclaimed, "Why are your jeans in the freezer?"
Ronny shrugged, "How do you know their mine?" he said, leaning against the wall and raising his eyebrows.
John partially closed the freezer door and looked at him, "You write your name on your underwear, and you left them in the jeans," he closed the freezer, no longer feeling as much like eating.
Ronny shrugged, "Alright, you got me. The jeans are mine. They smelled a bit, and I read this thing online that you can put them in the freezer to kill the things making your junk stink."
John grabbed a beer from the fridge, "Or you could wash them," he said emphatically.
"They fade if you wash them," his roommate countered with a look that John thought he intended to be a 'got ya' look.
"So you stick your stinky ass jeans and underwear in our freezer, where we keep food?" John realised the futility of the conversation. "Never mind," he shook his head as he walked back to the living room, his appetite wholly ruined.
Carlos was hanging up his phone as they entered, "Guys, great news, you know my friend Alicia?" The other two looked at each other, "You know, my friend from primary school I've been kind of banging the last couple of months?" Carlos was a nice guy at heart; get him away from Ronny and he could be great, but Carlos was a different man near each other.
John rolled his eyes as Ronny asked, "Wait, as in you wanted to bang her when she was in primary school cause that's creepy."
"That's creepy?" John asked in exasperation, "Not that his description is the chick I've been banging? Not her hair colour, not her job, not the girl who likes to wear summer dresses? And you wonder why women don't 'hook up' with you."
Carlos laughed, "Yeah, wanting to bang is not a cool thing to say when describing her. But you got her right. I mean she does wear summer dresses a lot," he seemed genuinely proud that John had guessed right.
John shook his head, "And you wonder why I don't want to go out with you guys?"
Carlos and Ronny looked at each other, "No," they said in unison, "You are embarrassed by us and worried we hurt your game," Ronny added.
"It's like I am living with Wayne and Garth," John laminated, "What about Alicia?"
"Oh yeah," Carlos picked up where he left off, "She's bringing her cousin and her cousin's roommate tonight. So, one for each of us."
"Bags the cousin," Ronny jumped in, "We know she's hot."
