//------------------------------//
// Big Things 
// Story: World Domination and What Comes Next 
// by Strawberry Sunrise 
//------------------------------//

“Okay, just sign here,” Martin pointed to a signature line on the contract he was holding out. Principal Celestia skimmed the text above the line and then signed it. “And initial here,” Martin continued, pointing to a new spot. Celestia did. “And finally, sign and date here,” he said, pointing to one last spot at the bottom. Celestia hesitated for a moment, trying to remember the date, and then did.
“Alright, we’re done,” Martin said, and rolled up the contract. “Thank you for your patronage. I believe you will be very happy with your new GEICO service.” Principal Celestia thanked him, he hopped down from the top of her desk to a chair below, and then slid down the chair leg to the ground. Martin was, after all, only a few inches tall. As a small green gecko, he might not look like much, but he was GEICO’s #1 saleslizard.
As soon as he’d left the principal’s office, having walked on his hind legs out the door, he leaped up as high as he could and pumped his fists in celebration. With that sale, GEICO had finally achieved a complete monopoly over the entire car insurance business all across the world, the last holdout for a competitor’s company now a GEICO convert. A few other businesses were still holding on with their cash reserves, trying fruitlessly to win back their former customers, but GEICO’s service was just too good to give up. Everyone else would be bankrupt soon enough.
As Martin walked through the halls toward the exit, he whistled happily, sure he’d be getting a nice bonus soon. He’d been surprised that the school didn’t ban solicitation of its employees during work hours, but he certainly wasn’t one to complain. He’d been trying to court Celestia for a new GEICO car insurance plan for months, and as the cost of her former plan had continued to increase as her former company lost customers, she’d finally become more amenable to the idea. He unrolled the contract and looked at it again, a huge smile on his face and a tear of joy running down his cheek.
Then it hit him. Now that everybody had GEICO car insurance, would they even need him anymore? They wouldn’t have much use for a saleslizard if there was nobody to sell to, would they? He rolled the contract back up and frowned, no longer so happy about the situation. But he still had to do his job nonetheless - lifting the small cell phone he’d been carrying, which had been custom-made for his size, he called the company.
“Did you get her signed up?” a voice on the other end asked. It was Bill Roberts, the CEO of GEICO.
“Yep, I’ve got the contract right here. It’s all signed and everything. I’ll fax it over as soon as I can.” Martin said.
“Great! Now don’t forget the meeting on Friday - I see big things in your future!” Mr. Roberts said. It was Tuesday, but Martin had been promised Wednesday and Thursday off if he was able to sign Celestia to a policy.
“I won’t,” Martin said.
They each said, “Bye!” and then Martin hung up. What kind of “big things” could he be talking about? Unemployment? Welfare? Well, things wouldn’t be that bad for a while. He had a decent amount in savings, and besides, he was probably overthinking it. The company probably had some kind of promotion or new position available for him, that was all. Nevertheless, he still couldn't quite shake his fear.
He reached the front office of the school and asked if he could use their fax machine. The secretary obliged and he faxed the contract over to GEICO headquarters. By that time, school was getting out and students were starting to leave, some coming through the office on their way.
“Wow, can you believe we went to a whole ‘nother universe?” a girl with blue hair said to another girl, one with pink and purple hair, as they walked through the office. “And one where everyone was a pony? Even I was a pony! You were a pony! I love ponies! Whoops,” she said. She’d accidentally dropped the books she was carrying as she waved her arms in enthusiasm.
“Yes, Lyra, ponies are pretty great,” her friend said, not nearly as enthusiastic. She bent down to help pick Lyra’s things up. Their hands touched and Lyra blushed.
“Oh, Bon Bon, you loved it, too! Admit it!” Lyra said.
“Alright, yes, I did. And it was lucky there was such an easy way home after that awful shipwreck,” Bon Bon said, now smiling. They’d finished picking up Lyra’s things by this point.
“Another universe?” Martin thought. What were they talking about? He’d never heard of any other universe, and he felt pretty confident that nobody else at GEICO headquarters knew about this either. But they seemed pretty sure of themselves, and if there were other universes out there, that might mean other potential customers! He’d still be needed after all! It was surely worth investigating.
“Um...excuse me,” Martin called out. “Lyra, was it? And Bon Bon?” He still stood on the front office desk.
They turned. He’d caught them just as they were about to go out the door.
“Hello?” Lyra said. “Who said that?” He eyes flicked around until she noticed Martin on the desk. “Wait, aren’t you the gecko who sold me my car insurance plan a while back?”
“The very same,” he said. He didn’t personally remember her, having sold plans to a vast number of customers, but he was sure that it would have been him. He wasn’t aware of any other saleslizards in the area. “Now, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but what is this I heard about another universe?”
“Oh, well, there’s another universe where everybody’s a pony. You even turn into a pony when you go there! We went there for a short trip a couple weeks ago during Spring Break,” Lyra said.
“You don’t say?” Martin asked.
“We did! And it was amazing. If I didn’t have so much to do right now with homework and my part-time job and all, I’d go back there again sometime. Maybe this summer…” Lyra mused.
“With me?” Bon Bon asked.
“Of course!” Lyra said.
“So...how would one get to this other universe?” Martin asked.
“Oh, that’s easy! It’s right…” Lyra said, but Bon Bon interrupted.
“Wait, why do you want to know?” she asked, a bit suspicious. He had admittedly sold her a great car insurance plan a few months earlier, but she didn’t really know anything else about him.
“Just curious,” Martin said, and shrugged.
Bon Bon frowned, but she let Lyra continue. “It’s right outside the school!” Lyra said. “Just under the statue! You just have to walk through one of the walls of the podium and you’re there." She thought for a moment, then said, "I could show you if you want."
“Lead the way,” Martin said. “Um...just a second.” He looked down at the ground, trying to judge whether he could jump down or whether he should climb back down - he’d climbed up initially.
“Here!” Lyra said, handing Bon Bon her things. Then she reached out her hand for him to climb on.
“Much obliged,” Martin said, and did, still holding the original copy of Celestia’s contract.
They left the school and Lyra carried Martin over to the statue, Bon Bon following along as well. When they got there, Lyra said, “It’s right here. Just put your hand on the wall and it’ll go right through. Like this.” She did it herself with the hand not carrying Martin, then pulled it back out again.
“Thank you for your help,” Martin said, and bowed. “Now could you please put me down? I’d like to go take a look for myself.” She did.
Bon Bon handed Lyra’s things back to her, and then they left, both looking back and waving but Lyra doing so significantly more energetically. Martin waved back and then turned to the podium. “Here goes nothing,” he thought, and then he closed his eyes and stepped through.