Dr Bards infamous trip to nowhere

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- a foolish, foolish man
- into your own mind you did send.
- a foolish, foolish man
- now death is your only friend.

Translated, yet unheeded by Dr. Bard from ancient Tupooli-Mooli
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Dr. Bard's notes shortly before his trip to nowhere:

"What is the nature and limits of the door? I have moved forwards and backwards in time. I have traveled distances unimaginable by merely wishing myself there. I have seen otherworlds, and have witnessed our own world altered through chances of fate and manipulation. A few of these changes I have effected; others I do not understand.

"I now ask, what if I chose to travel to a place that does not physically exist? Or travel before time itself? Is the door powerful enough to cause reality itself to spring into existence? Could I go so far as to alter the fabric of the universe? These thoughts may seem grandiose; the ravings of a madman. I am not, however, referring to my own power to inflict such changes, but questioning whether my mind might serve as a rudder, leading the door into chaos, with reality itself in tow.

"How could I set up an experiment to measure the doors ability to generate reality, without distorting the reality that we know and live in? Perhaps a journey into ones own mind would show the boundaries of the door. I have learned that by concentrating on a given time and place, at precisely the moment of opening the door, I can often control the otherwise random point and time to which the door opens. I question whether, if I concentrated on a place within my own mind, a dream perhaps, would I be transported into that dream world?"

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Not long after penning these notes, Dr. Bard decides to put the door's limits to a test. Past experience has taught him to prepare a 'survival kit' for a journey beyond the door, since he cannot be sure of what conditions might lie beyond the door. A few days food and water can allow one to explore a time or place where such necessities are not readily available. Due to the peculiar circumstances of this experiment, he opts to forgo these normal preparations.

It is a short distance to the door structure from Dr. Bard's makeshift laboratory on the tropical isle of Tu-pooli. When Dr Bard arrives at the ancient door structure, a light rain is dripping from the tree canopy above. He stands apprehensively in front of the door, for this experiment is unlike any other that he has attempted. After a moment's pause, he grabs the decrepit door handle, and clears his mind of all else but the time and location that he wishes to visit. In this instance, he does not focus on a real place and time, but to a pleasant dream of childhood. He then pulls the door open. Peering through the door opening, it appears to open up to the same rain-soaked forest. Dr. Bard, however, is well aware that looks can be deceiving when entering an otherworld. Dr Bard steps through the doorway...

part two: 'a journey into Dr. Bard's Mind'



(2009/05/17 revision)