money to run the council that way?’ he’d asked.
‘That’s a good idea,’ Fifi answered. ‘If we can sell ten thousand of them for one hundred dollars each it should get us through the next month.’
‘How did Mrs Trifle ever do this job?’ he asked.
‘I beg your pardon?’
‘Never mind.’
Selby came home that day with folders of papers to read and things to sign under his arms. And when he went into the lounge room to watch TV, he found the letters he’d openedthe day before spread all around the floor and thoroughly chewed.
‘Oh, Dr and Mrs Trifle,’ he sighed, as the two people lay on the carpet looking up at him. ‘I do love you. I know you love me too. So why did you have to do this to me?’
Selby started gathering up the bits and pieces of paper.
‘Bills, bills, bills,’ he said. ‘I guess I’ve got to pay them or something. Where’s that chequebook the Trifles used to use? Now where is it? I wonder how it works.’
Day after day, Selby went to the council and came back exhausted, only to have to pay bills and write letters and answer the telephone. And when he wasn’t doing that he was mowing the lawn or getting the car fixed or painting the house or cleaning the leaves out of the swimming pool.
One evening he was blobbing in front of the TV again. He’d watched
Roxanna
but at the end he couldn’t remember what it had been about. He looked over at the Trifles, lying next to one another by the heater.
‘I don’t want to be the boss anymore,’ hesaid. ‘You guys have it so good when all I do is work, work, work. Why can’t I be a pet again?’
Selby was about to turn off the TV and go to bed when suddenly he saw that face — the face of the dog-genius.
‘In tonight’s program,’ the announcer said, ‘we will be speaking to Professor Barking about parallel universes. Tell us, Professor, what is a parallel universe?’
Selby took his paw off the TV controls.
‘It’s a whole other universe,’ the dog-genius said, ‘with space and time and maybe even worlds filled with green slime and two-headed monsters.’
‘Does such a thing really exist?’
‘Yes, I think so. I believe there are lots and lots of parallel universes and that some of them are right here around us but we can’t get to them or even see into them. And they can’t see into our universe. There might even be one that’s exactly like ours. Two dogs might be sitting here having this exact same discussion.’
‘Is this possible?’
‘Absolutely,’ the wise dog said. ‘Think of our universe as being just one bubble on aninfinitely long string with lots of bubbles on it. All these bubbles — these universes — wobble through the eleventh dimension fluctuating in a sea of nothing.’
‘A sea of nothing,’ Selby thought. ‘Bubbles on strings. I love to listen to this stuff. I can’t understand a word of it but I just love to let the words pour over me. It’s like listening to a beautiful poem.’
‘The things that interest me,’ the professor said, ‘is that there may be a parallel universe just like ours — only slightly different.’
‘Slightly different? In what way?’
‘Well, the beings having our conversation might not be dogs. They might be human beings, for example.’
>‘Humans actually talking?!’ the announcer laughed. ‘That’s amazing!’
As the wise dog talked, Selby’s jaw dropped.
‘That’s it!’ Selby cried, waking up the Trifles. ‘I’m in a parallel universe! This isn’t the universe I used to be in at all! But how did I get here?’
Selby thought as hard as he’d ever thought before. He thought back to being in theworkroom. Dr Trifle was out and Selby had hopped up on the workbench to look at the Potato Peel Replacer.
‘Hmmm,’ he remembered hmmming, ‘I wonder if it’s ready to work now?’
Selby had picked up a peeled potato and put it into the PPR. Then, before he could pull his hand out, he’d accidentally hit the ON switch.
‘Yowch!’ he
‘That’s a good idea,’ Fifi answered. ‘If we can sell ten thousand of them for one hundred dollars each it should get us through the next month.’
‘How did Mrs Trifle ever do this job?’ he asked.
‘I beg your pardon?’
‘Never mind.’
Selby came home that day with folders of papers to read and things to sign under his arms. And when he went into the lounge room to watch TV, he found the letters he’d openedthe day before spread all around the floor and thoroughly chewed.
‘Oh, Dr and Mrs Trifle,’ he sighed, as the two people lay on the carpet looking up at him. ‘I do love you. I know you love me too. So why did you have to do this to me?’
Selby started gathering up the bits and pieces of paper.
‘Bills, bills, bills,’ he said. ‘I guess I’ve got to pay them or something. Where’s that chequebook the Trifles used to use? Now where is it? I wonder how it works.’
Day after day, Selby went to the council and came back exhausted, only to have to pay bills and write letters and answer the telephone. And when he wasn’t doing that he was mowing the lawn or getting the car fixed or painting the house or cleaning the leaves out of the swimming pool.
One evening he was blobbing in front of the TV again. He’d watched
Roxanna
but at the end he couldn’t remember what it had been about. He looked over at the Trifles, lying next to one another by the heater.
‘I don’t want to be the boss anymore,’ hesaid. ‘You guys have it so good when all I do is work, work, work. Why can’t I be a pet again?’
Selby was about to turn off the TV and go to bed when suddenly he saw that face — the face of the dog-genius.
‘In tonight’s program,’ the announcer said, ‘we will be speaking to Professor Barking about parallel universes. Tell us, Professor, what is a parallel universe?’
Selby took his paw off the TV controls.
‘It’s a whole other universe,’ the dog-genius said, ‘with space and time and maybe even worlds filled with green slime and two-headed monsters.’
‘Does such a thing really exist?’
‘Yes, I think so. I believe there are lots and lots of parallel universes and that some of them are right here around us but we can’t get to them or even see into them. And they can’t see into our universe. There might even be one that’s exactly like ours. Two dogs might be sitting here having this exact same discussion.’
‘Is this possible?’
‘Absolutely,’ the wise dog said. ‘Think of our universe as being just one bubble on aninfinitely long string with lots of bubbles on it. All these bubbles — these universes — wobble through the eleventh dimension fluctuating in a sea of nothing.’
‘A sea of nothing,’ Selby thought. ‘Bubbles on strings. I love to listen to this stuff. I can’t understand a word of it but I just love to let the words pour over me. It’s like listening to a beautiful poem.’
‘The things that interest me,’ the professor said, ‘is that there may be a parallel universe just like ours — only slightly different.’
‘Slightly different? In what way?’
‘Well, the beings having our conversation might not be dogs. They might be human beings, for example.’
>‘Humans actually talking?!’ the announcer laughed. ‘That’s amazing!’
As the wise dog talked, Selby’s jaw dropped.
‘That’s it!’ Selby cried, waking up the Trifles. ‘I’m in a parallel universe! This isn’t the universe I used to be in at all! But how did I get here?’
Selby thought as hard as he’d ever thought before. He thought back to being in theworkroom. Dr Trifle was out and Selby had hopped up on the workbench to look at the Potato Peel Replacer.
‘Hmmm,’ he remembered hmmming, ‘I wonder if it’s ready to work now?’
Selby had picked up a peeled potato and put it into the PPR. Then, before he could pull his hand out, he’d accidentally hit the ON switch.
‘Yowch!’ he
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