Grandma was always telling us stories about the "Other World". She made them sound like actual events from her heyday, not mere figments of her creative mind. Six-year-old me believed every word with vehemence.

Over the years, the enchantment wore off. Magic was not a part of the fabric of our reality. Miracles in our world were the results of accumulated coincidences, not divine intervention. 

I learned that the day my grandma passed away. No amount of praying was going to bring her back - the world was running short on miracles.

For the non-miraculous, time heals all. The memories of her death remained real but it grew distant with each passing day.

*****

It was the tenth anniversary of her death.

My family had gathered at our old home for a long due reunion. My elder brother brought his wife and two-year-old twins. Our parents, two uncles and their families, my cousins, everyone had made the time to meet up on this special day.

Our family lawyer arrived on time. As per her deathbed request, today was the day Grandma's will was to be formally announced to the family.

We all knew most of it, Grandma did chatter on about how she would divide up her property. In fact, mom and my uncles had already taken informal charge of their lots. 

As predicted, most of the will was addressed to her sons and daughter.

My cousins, brother and I were just there for the reunion. That was until we reached the last page. Grandma had left each of her grandchildren some sentimental token of her life as keepsakes.

Unfortunately, as it often happens with adult grandchildren, we began comparing the monetary value of the gifts.

"This antique china is at least worth five thousand," cousin Rita said to me, "Yours, Rim?"

"Mine's an eye-shaped pendant," I replied, "Not sure what metal it is."

"Oh," she snatched it from me, "Babe, look at this one."

Her boyfriend strolled over to examine the piece.

In his inexpert opinion, he described, "Looks like a prop from that superhero movie, you know the one where the weird doctor gets magical powers from meditation ."

"Nice try, Neel," I grinned, "They've nothing in common except the eye pattern."

"Well, you can't wear that,"  Rita's tone was almost accusatory, "Hopefully that stone's a real ruby."

Neel snorted. I laughed along but it did not really matter. I would keep that pendant even if it were the ugliest thing I had ever seen.

It was her favorite after all.

Grandma always kept it safe in a trunk at the foot of her bed. It was a treasured possession from her "Other World" stories. In them, her pet raven, McCawdor, loved to play with it.

The idea of a pet raven was fascinating to me. Let alone the fact, McCawdor could even talk. Grandma said she lost him when they first arrived in our world. I believed that was her excuse for her not having any proof of the existence of this exotic pet.

I received the pendant and a hand written letter as part of her will. It was the same for all her grandchildren. Each letter contained trivia on the trinkets she had given us, how she came to possess them or why they meant so much to her.

The rest of the night, we relived our childhood stories - our days in that large house where had lived together as one big family. It was a happy reunion, nothing resembling a death anniversary.

Grandma always knew how to make us smile.

*****

Four days later, I was standing in an abandoned fairground in a deserted countryside. The directions in her letter led me here.

"Very funny, Grandma," I muttered to myself.

This fairground was the supposed place where it all started. The place where Grandma stepped into our world for the first time.

*****

In my childhood, I had asked her why she didn't just return the way she came. She loooked at me mysteriously, "The doors of destiny open only once, Reema. Someday, fate willing, you will see for yourself."

"If it's a door, can't we just break it down?"

"That's only an option for the strong." Child me never suspected it to be a metaphor.

*****

"This is where our lives started," I whistled, feeling the importance of these grounds to our family history.

The field was deserted. The remnants of a broken Ferris wheel and a torn mass of flattened tents distinguished it as a fairground.

The ruins were expected. Nobody went to fairs these days.

I scanned the area, trying to reconstruct what might have happened on that fateful day.

Grandma walked out of a tent, disoriented (maybe drunk). Her pet raven was still with her but it had lost its ability to speak. Shortly afterwards, in a fit of confusion, the bird flew away. Grandma chased it and ended up getting hit by a car. Grandpa was driving the car.

'It'd be a cool romance story if it were true,' I thought to myself, turning to face the empty field.

It was empty when I got there anyhow.

Now, in the middle of the ground stood a dilapidated tent, advertising a long retired "Funhouse". That should have been my cue to leave but curiosity bested me. In the fading light of day, the sign on the contraption seemed to shine, drawing me closer to it.

I entered the tent. 

For a fraction of a second, something flickered under my jacket. I unzipped it, unprepared for the unexpected. The light was gone leaving a warm spot where it had appeared-  it was from Grandma's pendant. I had been wearing it since the day I inherited it. When nothing happened, I zipped up and continued my exploration.

Inside the funhouse, mirrors lined the walls. They distorted the viewer in every possible shape.

I tiptoed through till I reached the other end. It must have been a good twenty minutes inside the tent.

My second warning, the exit was better lit than the entrance. By now, it should have darkened outside.

I pushed through the cloth doorway and was immediately hit by a wave of bright lights.

It was a fairground. Not the deserted one I had just seen. This one was crowded. By the looks of it, a circus had come to town.

"Was the inspection satisfactory, officer?" a woman asked me. She was dressed in a  gaudy gown that could only be described as Victorian. Her plumed hat added a touch of importance to her otherwise uninteresting face.

'This is be a dream, I fell asleep in the tent,' I tried to blink away the absurd situation.

When I reopened my eyes ten seconds later, the scenery had not changed.

"Is something wrong, officer?" she urged.

"No, it's fine." I did not want to stand out in this situation. The stranger had noticed nothing out of the ordinary. I did not want to rouse her suspicions with amnesiac questions.

The choice seemed obvious. I had to retrace my steps. I turned to do just that but a sturdy hand grabbed my shoulder.

"Fees," a gruff voice said over my shoulder. I did not look at the speaker.

"I forgot something in the tent," I tried to reason, "It won't take a moment."

The woman intervened, "What Kajor means is we can't let you enter the funhouse twice for free, even if you are an officer of the law. That'll be one Rour."

"Ah, I left my purse inside,"

"Should we use a fetch spell for you, ma'am?"

Did she just say 'spell'?

"No, I'll get it myself. Won't be a minute."

Inside my head, this situation was beyond my comprehension. Every instinct screamed - 'Run!'

I had to force my feet to move at a normal pace, "No need to trouble yourselves."

The grip on my shoulder tightened. Then, I felt a tinge of warmth around my neck again. I yanked myself free from the strong grip.

Once inside, I made my way to the very back, the direction I thought I had entered the tent. Each mirror reflected me in an image more hideous than the last. After minutes of panicked searching, I was outside again.

This end of the tent was draped in reassuring darkness. Was I back?

"Running ?" it was Kajor.

"Now, now, ma'am is an officer of the law. Surely, she's not running," the woman directed this comment at me. Her inhuman eyes glowed in the dark.

Panic raged through my mind. I had to act calm, at least until I found more reliable company.

"Couldn't find it," I struggled to steady my breathing, "Must have dropped it earlier. Just give me a moment,"

I walked away. This time my fears guided me into the light, into the lively crowds moving through the ground. Countless stalls decorated every direction I looked - many defying the basic laws of physics I had known till now.

I was in the fabled "Other World".