It was a dark and stormy night or so it seemed to Alice. She was startled, not by its darkness or storminess but rather by its timeliness and placement. She was sure that she had been in the room for only 5 minutes and that it was sunny and midday when she entered.

“What is this?” she said aloud to no one in particular. There was no one around to hear her, she realized looking about. From what she could tell, she was standing in a field, alone, in the rain. Everything reminded her of Kansas. She’d never been, but it seemed as though “Kansas” evoked an appropriate image of the nothingness that lay all around her. Lightning flashed, illuminating the area briefly. She wiped the rain off her face and realized that it looked dark, red or brown in color, she wasn’t sure. It was then she noticed the coppery scent hanging in the air, and heard the howling in the distance.

“Not again” she moaned, turning back towards the door she had just left. She opened it and stepped through to a blazing Arizona afternoon.