Back at the hut, the man who used to be a horse was standing in Harvey’s bedroom. He
was stood before the full-length mirror, examining his naked body from all angles.
“Well, tallness is over-rated,” he mumbled to himself, “I’ll have to get a hair cut but the
beard is quite nice. Nice jaw.” He felt his torso. “Not bad, not bad. A bit of hair, always
good.” He examined lower down. “I’ve had better, but it’ll work just fine. Better than not
having one, I suppose.”
Harvey walked over, holding a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt.
“Ah, great.” the man smiled and took them from him.
“What’s your name?” Harvey asked as the man got dressed.
“Mike,” he replied, “I think.”
“You think?”
“It’s been a while since I’ve used it. I’ve been living in the sea for at least a few months.
Before that I was llama in Spain and before that I spent quite some time as a hare in
southern France. It’s been a while since I was human and even then I was called Frederico.”
Harvey tried to make sense of this.
“So, you can change whenever you want?”
“Yup.”
He threw the necklace at Harvey.
“With that,” he explained.
“What is it?”
“The Universe,” said Mike.
Harvey had a closer look at it. He peered at the tiny glass cube and examined all the little
lights inside. Close up, he could see they were in fact tiny, tiny galaxies, gently revolving
inside the glass.
“Jesus!”
“I know.”
“There’s a universe in there!”
“Not just any universe,” said Mike, checking himself out in his new threads, “Our Universe.
This Universe. Somewhere deep inside that cube, is a little you and a little me having this
conversation. The same you and me that are having it now.”
Harvey’s head hurt.
“But then there’s also a little universe inside the universe.”
“Try not to think about it.”
“Where did you get it?
Mike thought about this for a moment.
“I was given it by a very friendly otter, I forget where...”
“An otter?”
“Well, I doubt he was always an otter. Oh, that’s right! I started out as Susan, not Mike.”
Harvey’s eyes widened.
“And with this...” Harvey thought aloud, “You can change into whatever you want?”
“Not whatever you want,” replied Mike, or Susan, “It’s a bit random. Sort of like the
Universe set on shuffle, if you get what I mean. Got any spare shoes?”
“Uh. Some old loafers.”
“They’ll do.”
Harvey found the loafers and gave them to Mike. Mike put them on.
“A bit small, but they’re fine for now. Right! I’ll mosey along. Thanks for your help.”
Mike headed for the door.
“Wait,” Harvey stopped him, “Don’t you want this?”
He held up the necklace.
“Nah,” Mike shrugged, “It’s yours now. In exchange for the clothes.”
“But... you’re gonna stay like that?”
“Yeah, why not? I’ve been worse. If I keep it I’ll just keep changing and never be satisfied.”
“But, you were a girl to begin with, weren’t you?”
“Think so,” Mike nodded, “But I’ve changed a lot since then. Do you want to know how it
works?”
Mike nodded at the necklace. Harvey didn’t know what he wanted, so said nothing. Mike
took the necklace from him and held it up.
“You need to put a part of your body through the chain for it to work,” he explained, “Neck,
arm, tentacle, you get the idea. Then, you take it like this.”
He held the cube between his thumb and forefinger. It began to glow a brilliant white.
“You need to be touching any two opposite sides. When it glows, that’s how you know
you’re doing it right. Then, all you do is shake things up to shake things up.”
He let the cube fall into his palm and the glow faded.
“Keep in mind it’s very sensitive,” he warned, “Only the slightest wobble can trigger a
change. The stronger the shake the bigger the change will be.”
He picked up the cube again but made sure no part of himself fell through the chain. He
demonstrated the slightest of jiggles.
“Ever so slightly, for just a fraction of a second,” he said, “That’s enough for the smallest
change. Maybe your physique, maybe your hair colour. Enough that people might still
recognise you. Harder still and maybe your age might change too. But things don't really
get interesting until you get past the one second mark.”
He shook it again, fairly hard for a full second.
“That’s enough to change gender. Be careful of that, ‘cause it can surprise you. Any harder
than this and there’s always a fifty-fifty chance you might end up with an inn-y instead of
an out-y. A second and a half, then your race might change too.”
He shook it again for two seconds.
“That’s enough to change species. Two and a half seconds and you might start to become
things that are fictional or extinct. Little word of advice; dinosaur is not as fun as you
might think.”
He shook it for three seconds.
“This is the mother load,” he explained, “Not only could you change gender, species, age,
whatever, but the Universe will change around you. Up until now, these changes only affect
you but beyond this point they affect everything else too. An entirely new life. You might
be a nun in a monastery in Poland. Or part of a traveling circus in Moscow. And people
there will know you too, though probably by a different name. You won’t know them,
though, so be careful.”
He shook it for five whole seconds.
“That...I’ve never tried. Never dared. But I reckon if you shake it too hard, the very rules of
the Universe might change with you.”
He tossed it back to Harvey.
“Good luck,” he smiled, “Have fun. And pass it on when you’re done.”
“But...!”
Mike hesitated.
“You didn’t explain how I get back to normal again,” Harvey whined.
Mike chuckled.
“You don’t.”
“What? Never?”
“Theoretically it’s possible,” Mike shrugged, “There’s always a chance that you’ll randomly
get assigned precisely how you started. But the chances are astronomical. I wouldn’t count
on it.”
With that, Mike left and briskly walked away. Harvey looked down at the necklace.