Uncertainty Principle: Chapter 1

View the story log

The Uncertainty Principle is the limit to the precision with which one can know the position and momentum of a thing. When it comes to a person, it is impossible to know their fate without knowing their exact position in life, the direction they’re moving in, and the speed they’re moving at–but as you increase your focus on this individual, you decrease the certainty of the observation you were trying to make. Looking down at the Randall family house tells you very little about them, yet even at this distance you might be interfering with their destinies right now, so you might as well look a little bit closer…

Darren Randall felt like his life was just about perfect; he knew he was an important person. He was blessed with a good job and a fine home. He had a beautiful wife and two amazing children. Darren tried to keep in shape by jogging regularly, and sometimes he met up with friends at the local nightclub.

“Darren, be a buddy and buy us some drinks,” Joshua Lords said with a laugh. He was Darren’s best friend, so Darren took no offense to the command and he casually headed over to the bar to order drinks.

That’s when he noticed her.

“Hey there, how’s it goin’?” he asked in casually friendly voice.  He wasn’t exactly prepared for the moment she made eye contact with him.

“Hi.  You’re Darren Randall,” she said in the most melodic voice he’d ever heard.

“How’d you know?” he wondered when he recovered from his brief shock.  The beautiful blonde introduced herself as Daria Sayansky, and she explained that she’d just moved into the house next door and her real estate agent happened to mention his name.

Joshua got tired of waiting for Darren to bring their drinks, but when he saw his buddy chatting with a woman, he decided to discretely buy his own drink and give them some space.

Darren made small talk with Daria about property values and how local crime was so low.  Finally he said, “Enough about me!  Tell me all about yourself.”

“I’m a musician,” Daria replied.  “I’m working on my second album right now.  My first one was such a huge hit that it landed me here.”

Darren was slightly surprised to hear that she hadn’t been living in the District her whole life, but he didn’t ask her about it.  He soon noticed that it was just about dawn!  He politely excused himself and returned home.

Meanwhile, at home Skylar Randall was up bright and early to cook a wholesome breakfast for her family.  Nothing gave her more satisfaction in life than taking care of her family, and even when it was exhausting, she loved every minute of it.

She smiled when she heard Darren come through the front door.  He was just getting out of the shower when she finished breakfast and called everyone to the kitchen.  The kids, Jack and Iris, came running into the room and grabbed up their plates.  Darren looked exhausted, but Skylar knew he’d been out all night celebrating his promotion.

Darren listened to his wife give a little pep talk to the kids to encourage them before school and he felt a pang of guilt watching the beautiful domestic scene play out before him.  “I was just talking to her,” he reminded himself and took another sip of coffee.

“You look so tired, sweetie!” Skylar teased him playfully.  “Maybe you should spend your day off in bed.”  Darren agreed with her brilliant suggestion–totally oblivious to the fact that she was propositioning him.  After sending the children off to school, Skylar called for him and made her intentions perfectly clear.

Even after all these years of marriage, she always made him weak in the knees.  By the time Skylar whispered sweet nothings in his ear, he’d forgotten Daria’s name!

Skylar seduced Darren and she wasn’t surprised that he nodded off afterward–he’d been up all night with Joshua and Ricky, after all.  Skylar wasn’t sleepy, so she quietly got up from bed and went about tidying the kids’ rooms and picking up things.

She did not notice that Darren was awake again in less than an hour.  She had no clue that as exhausted as he was, Darren couldn’t sleep.

Darren couldn’t sleep because he couldn’t stop thinking about Daria.  He got on the internet and started chatting with her.  “I had a really fun time talking with you,” he typed.

“I had fun too <3” Daria replied.  “What r u doing?”

The things Skylar didn’t know actually rivalled the things Darren didn’t know, for at that very moment, Skylar was taking a pregnancy test.

(continue reading…)