“CHAPTER ONE
THE SLIPSTREAM WAS OPEN

It was a well-known fact that keeping track of time was not Parry Pretty’s forte. She would frequently sit in the backyard, near the shade of the prominent Pretty gardens, and bury her nose in a book only to look up a moment later and find that, in fact, three hours had gone by. If time were Parry’s pet, it would have died tied to a tree somewhere out back long ago. However, as Parry opened her curious hazel eyes and saw that the day had somehow jumped to night; even Parry knew something was wrong. Though her curiosity easily distracted her on a regular basis (which drove her mother mad) even on the worst of days Parry could not let an entire day escape her without notice. Still, she woke up on the cold, dark earth in the middle of the night without knowing where she was or how she got there.

The small girl lay still for a moment staring at the night sky overhead, which was seen only through a large opening in the dirt ceiling above. Oversized copper colored flowers, laced with ice from a wintry day, clustered around the edge of the opening. “How’d I get underground?” Parry pondered, as she sat up. However, her thoughts lingered only seconds, for a wave of stabbing pain pierced her sides and clouded any chance of a memory. She clutched her ribs, which felt bruised and battered as if she had been bucked from a bull, and drew in a heavy breath through clinched teeth as she lay back down.

“This doesn’t make logical sense. I must be…I must be dreaming,” the rational girl surmised, announcing her decision to no one in particular. Given the circumstances it was the most logical conclusion and therefore was the correct answer, according to Parry. Logic was everything to Parry, and to Parry everything was logic. Everything else outside the bounds of logic simply didn’t make sense to the girl, and, therefore, couldn’t possibly be real, let alone correct. “Yes, that’s it! I’m dreaming, and I have all the data I need to prove it. Stars certainly don’t move around like that,” she said matter-of-factly, pointing overhead.

Above in the night sky Parry watched with great curiosity as a speck of light, which at first glance appeared to be a single star, shook back and forth as lightly as a tinkling bell. Parry knew from her science books that it took billions of years for a star to burn out, and even when they shot through the sky, they didn’t move around like that. Within a matter of moments, the star changed from a slight twitching to a violent quake. Then, a large—crack!—was heard, and Parry realized that the star (that logically should have been hanging in the sky) had broken away from a high branch in a tall tree and began to fall fast. It fell so quickly that within seconds the big ball of white turned red. The light was growing even brighter as it headed straight towards Parry.

With eyes wide as saucers, Parry managed to dart out of the blazing path of the bright light as it hurtled through the hole. There was a loud crashing sound, a huge gust of wind, and then all grew quiet once more. After a moment of still silence, Parry lifted her head and was greeted by the calm of soothing firelight. She groaned as she pulled herself to her feet, her eyes shut tightly due to the pain in her side. When she managed to open her eyes again the girl was surprised to see that the hole in the ground, that she had somehow found herself in, was actually a room made of earth.”
― SJ Musgraves, Caught in the Slipstream of Time

“CHAPTER ONE
THE SLIPSTREAM WAS OPEN

It was a well-known fact that keeping track of time was not Parry Pretty’s forte. She would frequently sit in the backyard, near the shade of the prominent Pretty gardens, and bury her nose in a book only to look up a moment later and find that, in fact, three hours had gone by. If time were Parry’s pet, it would have died tied to a tree somewhere out back long ago. However, as Parry opened her curious hazel eyes and saw that the day had somehow jumped to night; even Parry knew something was wrong. Though her curiosity easily distracted her on a regular basis (which drove her mother mad) even on the worst of days Parry could not let an entire day escape her without notice. Still, she woke up on the cold, dark earth in the middle of the night without knowing where she was or how she got there.

The small girl lay still for a moment staring at the night sky overhead, which was seen only through a large opening in the dirt ceiling above. Oversized copper colored flowers, laced with ice from a wintry day, clustered around the edge of the opening. “How’d I get underground?” Parry pondered, as she sat up. However, her thoughts lingered only seconds, for a wave of stabbing pain pierced her sides and clouded any chance of a memory. She clutched her ribs, which felt bruised and battered as if she had been bucked from a bull, and drew in a heavy breath through clinched teeth as she lay back down.

“This doesn’t make logical sense. I must be…I must be dreaming,” the rational girl surmised, announcing her decision to no one in particular. Given the circumstances it was the most logical conclusion and therefore was the correct answer, according to Parry. Logic was everything to Parry, and to Parry everything was logic. Everything else outside the bounds of logic simply didn’t make sense to the girl, and, therefore, couldn’t possibly be real, let alone correct. “Yes, that’s it! I’m dreaming, and I have all the data I need to prove it. Stars certainly don’t move around like that,” she said matter-of-factly, pointing overhead.

Above in the night sky Parry watched with great curiosity as a speck of light, which at first glance appeared to be a single star, shook back and forth as lightly as a tinkling bell. Parry knew from her science books that it took billions of years for a star to burn out, and even when they shot through the sky, they didn’t move around like that. Within a matter of moments, the star changed from a slight twitching to a violent quake. Then, a large—crack!—was heard, and Parry realized that the star (that logically should have been hanging in the sky) had broken away from a high branch in a tall tree and began to fall fast. It fell so quickly that within seconds the big ball of white turned red. The light was growing even brighter as it headed straight towards Parry.

With eyes wide as saucers, Parry managed to dart out of the blazing path of the bright light as it hurtled through the hole. There was a loud crashing sound, a huge gust of wind, and then all grew quiet once more. After a moment of still silence, Parry lifted her head and was greeted by the calm of soothing firelight. She groaned as she pulled herself to her feet, her eyes shut tightly due to the pain in her side. When she managed to open her eyes again the girl was surprised to see that the hole in the ground, that she had somehow found herself in, was actually a room made of earth.”
― SJ Musgraves, Caught in the Slipstream of Time