Nairobi, Kenya - Acknowledging that he was at least lucky enough to have a plastic sheet on the roof of his corrugated metal shack, local slum dweller, Paul Munn, gazed despondently at the stretch of churned mud separating him from the nearby train tracks and speculated that, perhaps, in some parallel universe a version of himself lived in a real house.
“Maybe I’m married to a beautiful scientist, and we live together on a quiet little street with our dog and two cats,” Munn said to himself. “Yeah, that’d be nice,” he added, as he reflected upon the stray dog he had recently befriended and subsequently eaten.
“Maybe I’m married to a beautiful scientist, and we live together on a quiet little street with our dog and two cats,” Munn said to himself. “Yeah, that’d be nice,” he added, as he reflected upon the stray dog he had recently befriended and subsequently eaten.
Residents of neighboring hovels confirmed that this was by no means the first time Munn had pondered an alternate existence where he was rich enough to afford a car or two, and maybe a big, comfy bed, and even a gym membership.
“Hey, just a hot shower and a couple of decent meals would be a step in the right direction,” Munn lamented as he weakly brushed flies away from the sores on his legs.
At press time, in another parallel universe, President Munn signed an executive order to lock up all the scientists. “It’s for your own safety,” he said indignantly. “Come on people - have you never read Anathem?”. “Let’s lock up the atheists as well,” he added, “just in case.”
