Through the Portal
Upon exiting the portal, you are greeted by the woman at your side whom you had expected to see much much sooner, in fact, had prepared yourself to see immediately upon entering the portal. Your Earthly weight comes back to you, hanging onto your bones like an unwelcome burden.
The experiment is apparently, by all means, a success. The time between your entrance and your exit was only ten seconds. You decide to not tell them immediately about the strange journey you had in that alien world. You are still wondering if it was at all real or not, after hearing about the short time that passed between your entrance and exit. If it happens again, you'll be upfront.
You're placed into a light quarantine, in reality an on-site apartment with amenities and a call-button for an emergency team. You are left alone with a few books and a cot. You've been here before, these same rooms are often used for on-call scientists or anyone on a team during crunch time. You've read through these books before, a few romance books and a worn copy of The Two Towers, suspiciously absent from its sequel and predecessor. You decide to crack open The Two Towers to pass the time.
Written by Martin Prance on 09 February 2016