5. Uzuki, 202X, Singapore
No sooner had Uzuki returned home than she opened her laptop computer to access the Google map.
"Is Singapore really that close to Australia as Mrs. Chang said? Being right above the equator, Singapore is surely closer to the southern hemisphere than Japan. But, Australia is much far away, sitting in the isolated, middle of the Southern Pacific Ocean. So, getting there is no difference from Japan or Singapore. What I heard from Mrs. Chang sounds a bit exaggerated."
Uzuki thought, but she could not help checking the map. She had realized that Mrs. Chang was a smart, well-educated person.
Uzuki was usually respectful to Mrs. Chan, a trait common among wealthy Chinese in Singapore. According to Uzuki's experiences, almost everything Mrs. Chang said was reliable.
"What?"
Uzuki squinted her eyes without even realizing it. And then, she tried to focus them on the subject of concern again. The concerned matter, the Australian Continent, was not where it should have been, instead, it was placed in the spot she had never expected. Indeed, it was surely close to Singapore as Mrs. Chang mentioned.
Just in case, Uzuki tapped the laptop's touchpad to reload the browser screen, expecting some mechanical mistakes to happen, but nothing changed in the browser. Australia was now located just beneath Indonesia.
"What is going on? I can't believe this! In my memory, Australia is not placed in such an area, it must be something mistaken."
Uzuki got into a panic a little, and started googling many things related to the place of Australia as much as possible she came up with one after
another. No matter how many pictures or illustrations she found, Australia was always fixed in the place: just near Singapore, not the area she had remembered.
As Uzuki searched for many things online, she came across a word that struck her: "Mandela Effect," the only term that Uzuki felt could explain the situation for now. According to some articles online, strange as it may seem, there was a phenomenon called "Mandela Effect", where a certain number of people had memories that differed from what was supposedly true. The name came from a widely discussed topic on the internet, where many people recalled a different fate for Nelson Mandela, the South African leader, from what actually happened.
Uzuki read: It was in the late 2000s. One day, a woman discovered that she had a vivid memory of Nelson Mandela having died in jail in the 1980s though he lived on to serve as the President of South Africa. Still, she never reconciled the discrepancy and shared her own experience online. Surprisingly, many other people came forward, claiming they had the same memory. This phenomenon, where a large group of unrelated people had different memories from reality, eventually came to be known by the name, Mandela Effect. Most explanations Uzuki saw online labeled it as a paranormal event or just an urban legend, but she couldn't dismiss it as mere occultism or conspiracy theory as she believed that she had experienced a similar thing.
Uzuki felt slightly relieved after checking several articles, leading her to realize that she wasn't the only person in the world, being involved in such a weird situation.
Still, the problem was a problem: Such an unbelievable phenomenon must have been impossible. Maybe it had something like tricks beneath the superficial we could see easily.
"Wait, maybe Australia in the map on the old globe in my parents' house might have the same location I have remembered!"
This new idea encouraged Uzuki. She reached for her phone and called her mother living unchanged in her hometown in Japan. Uzuki's mother answered on the fifth ring, her voice seemed slightly worried about the call itself because Uzuki was not the type who made a call to anyone so frequently.
"Uzuki? How are you? What's happened?"
The time difference between Singapore and Japan was only an hour, so it was still late afternoon in Japan.
Uzuki's mother was supposed to be at home, as she had already retired from work and had plenty of time on her hands.
"I'm good, Mom, but I have a little thing to ask you."
"Hum, what? Tell me what."
Uzuki's mother's voice was flat and devoid of any emotion.
"There is an old globe in your drawing room, isn't there?"
"Yes, I didn't move it and it must be there still now."
Her mother replied.
"So, please show me now. I will make a call to you again, using a phone camera."
"OK, wait a moment. I'll bring it here, but why are you interested in such a thing?"
It was an adequate question, Uzuki felt, but she could not help but say, "Oh, it's a long story and a trifle thing for you. I just want to see it quickly."
"Well, okay," said the mother, once she had hung up.
Only a minute later, Uzuki received a call from her mother.
Uzuki realized herself a bit nervous. If the globe my mom would show me from now on is also the same..., no, it must not have changed because I remember that Australia was in the area that I have remembered in the globe. I certainly saw that in my childhood. The image of her parent's home she had grown up in emerged from the dim bottom of her memory. The drawing room had an upright piano and the globe she used to look at or touch, sometimes rotating was on the top of the piano. The room was always dark and cold with no presence of family members. Uzuki sat on the chair in front of the piano to practice it, but when getting bored, she used to look at the globe.
No sooner had Uzuki returned home than she opened her laptop computer to access the Google map.
"Is Singapore really that close to Australia as Mrs. Chang said? Being right above the equator, Singapore is surely closer to the southern hemisphere than Japan. But, Australia is much far away, sitting in the isolated, middle of the Southern Pacific Ocean. So, getting there is no difference from Japan or Singapore. What I heard from Mrs. Chang sounds a bit exaggerated."
Uzuki thought, but she could not help checking the map. She had realized that Mrs. Chang was a smart, well-educated person.
Uzuki was usually respectful to Mrs. Chan, a trait common among wealthy Chinese in Singapore. According to Uzuki's experiences, almost everything Mrs. Chang said was reliable.
"What?"
Uzuki squinted her eyes without even realizing it. And then, she tried to focus them on the subject of concern again. The concerned matter, the Australian Continent, was not where it should have been, instead, it was placed in the spot she had never expected. Indeed, it was surely close to Singapore as Mrs. Chang mentioned.
Just in case, Uzuki tapped the laptop's touchpad to reload the browser screen, expecting some mechanical mistakes to happen, but nothing changed in the browser. Australia was now located just beneath Indonesia.
"What is going on? I can't believe this! In my memory, Australia is not placed in such an area, it must be something mistaken."
Uzuki got into a panic a little, and started googling many things related to the place of Australia as much as possible she came up with one after
another. No matter how many pictures or illustrations she found, Australia was always fixed in the place: just near Singapore, not the area she had remembered.
As Uzuki searched for many things online, she came across a word that struck her: "Mandela Effect," the only term that Uzuki felt could explain the situation for now. According to some articles online, strange as it may seem, there was a phenomenon called "Mandela Effect", where a certain number of people had memories that differed from what was supposedly true. The name came from a widely discussed topic on the internet, where many people recalled a different fate for Nelson Mandela, the South African leader, from what actually happened.
Uzuki read: It was in the late 2000s. One day, a woman discovered that she had a vivid memory of Nelson Mandela having died in jail in the 1980s though he lived on to serve as the President of South Africa. Still, she never reconciled the discrepancy and shared her own experience online. Surprisingly, many other people came forward, claiming they had the same memory. This phenomenon, where a large group of unrelated people had different memories from reality, eventually came to be known by the name, Mandela Effect. Most explanations Uzuki saw online labeled it as a paranormal event or just an urban legend, but she couldn't dismiss it as mere occultism or conspiracy theory as she believed that she had experienced a similar thing.
Uzuki felt slightly relieved after checking several articles, leading her to realize that she wasn't the only person in the world, being involved in such a weird situation.
Still, the problem was a problem: Such an unbelievable phenomenon must have been impossible. Maybe it had something like tricks beneath the superficial we could see easily.
"Wait, maybe Australia in the map on the old globe in my parents' house might have the same location I have remembered!"
This new idea encouraged Uzuki. She reached for her phone and called her mother living unchanged in her hometown in Japan. Uzuki's mother answered on the fifth ring, her voice seemed slightly worried about the call itself because Uzuki was not the type who made a call to anyone so frequently.
"Uzuki? How are you? What's happened?"
The time difference between Singapore and Japan was only an hour, so it was still late afternoon in Japan.
Uzuki's mother was supposed to be at home, as she had already retired from work and had plenty of time on her hands.
"I'm good, Mom, but I have a little thing to ask you."
"Hum, what? Tell me what."
Uzuki's mother's voice was flat and devoid of any emotion.
"There is an old globe in your drawing room, isn't there?"
"Yes, I didn't move it and it must be there still now."
Her mother replied.
"So, please show me now. I will make a call to you again, using a phone camera."
"OK, wait a moment. I'll bring it here, but why are you interested in such a thing?"
It was an adequate question, Uzuki felt, but she could not help but say, "Oh, it's a long story and a trifle thing for you. I just want to see it quickly."
"Well, okay," said the mother, once she had hung up.
Only a minute later, Uzuki received a call from her mother.
Uzuki realized herself a bit nervous. If the globe my mom would show me from now on is also the same..., no, it must not have changed because I remember that Australia was in the area that I have remembered in the globe. I certainly saw that in my childhood. The image of her parent's home she had grown up in emerged from the dim bottom of her memory. The drawing room had an upright piano and the globe she used to look at or touch, sometimes rotating was on the top of the piano. The room was always dark and cold with no presence of family members. Uzuki sat on the chair in front of the piano to practice it, but when getting bored, she used to look at the globe.
Support makeanovel
