The Mandela Effect

By Eduard Joseph

While watching Snow White with his daughter, Stephen could've sworn the evil Queen said "Mirror Mirror on the wall" instead of "Magic Mirror on the wall". At first he dismisses it, but soon discovers more examples of false memory that ultimately leads him to the biggest secret in human history.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Eduard Joseph
• Release date: Dec 26, 2019
• ISBN: 9780463649794

Eduard Joseph

Eduard Joseph lives in Cape Town South Africa and has been writing since a young age. His first book "Freaks want love too" was rejected by numerous publishers in 2005.In 2013 he decided to go the self-publishing route and his first novel hit online stores. It was a success on Amazon.com until it was removed by the author due to royalty issues.Eduard Joseph loves writing what's in his heart, and thus writes about anything from romance, comedy, horror and suspense.His latest novella, The Mandela Effect, tells the story about Stephen who unravels the biggest secret in human history and the truth behind false memories in a thrilling mystery setting.

Book preview

THE MANDELA EFFECT

By Eduard Joseph

Published by Eduard Joseph

Smashwords edition

Copyright 2019 Eduard Joseph

Front cover design by Eduard Joseph

Author's official Facebook Page

This is a work of fiction. The events and characters described herein are imaginary and are

not intended to refer to specific places or living persons. Any resemblance to any person or

persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

All Rights Reserved

The right of Eduard Joseph to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him under the South African Copyright Act of 1978 (as amended).

CHAPTER ONE

Something has changed. It’s too small for us to even notice, but at the back of our minds we know something’s a bit off. It’s been like that for several years now, but we’ve gotten so used to it that we ignore our sixth sense that’s trying to warn us. We go on with our daily lives and when our mind notices the changes, we convince ourselves that we’re just tired and overworked from a long day.

Being a single dad sometimes takes its toll on Stephen, so most nights after tucking in seven year old Emma, he just watched mindless entertainment on the TV. He used to love reading when he was younger, but the last couple of years it felt like his brain was too tired to read the non-fiction books he so loved.

Words were how he made a living – he worked as an investigative journalist for Planet News and found it as a bit of a relief to watch South Park or Family Guy episodes at night to give his brain a well deserved break from the world of words.

Thursdays was spaghetti and meat-ball night and while he was preparing an early dinner for the two of them, Emma watched an animated movie in the living room. He could hear she was watching Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. It was the one movie they had in common – he used to love it as a child, but the evil queen used to scare the hell out of him.

He set the table and went into the living room where Emma sat cross-legged on the floor; staring up at the TV screen with a teddy bear on her lap.

Hey, kiddo. He said, Dinner’s ready.

Just five more minutes. She pleaded.

She didn’t look away from the TV screen as she spoke – completely enchanted by a movie she’d already seen a hundred times. Stephen noticed that she was mouthing the dialogue from memory as the movie continued and it brought a smile to his face.

Magic Mirror on the wall. The evil queen said on the TV, Who is the fairest of them all?

Stephen pondered about that sentence for a bit. He never really paid attention to the movies she watched while he was preparing dinner, but for some reason he didn’t quite understand, something felt odd about that specific scene.

He remember watching Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs numerous times as a child, but couldn’t remember her saying Magic Mirror. It was Mirror Mirror, right? Maybe his tired mind was playing tricks on him and he misheard just now. After all, not only had it been a long day, but it had been a long week.

He picked up the remote and paused the movie much to Emma’s protest.

Come on. He said, Before the food gets cold.

Emma got up with a grunt and followed him to the kitchen while dragging her feet. She picked at her food; not really in the mood to eat anything – sulking that she couldn’t watch the rest of her movie.

The faster you finish your food, the faster you can go back to watching your movie.

That was the statement she was waiting for and she enthusiastically started stuffing her mouth with spaghetti; her cheeks looking like a hamster harvesting food for the winter.

Slow down. He said, You’ll choke.

No I won’t.

She stuffed the last bit of spaghetti and a meat ball in her mouth and then ran out of the kitchen. Stephen chuckled at her as he heard the evil queen speak again in the living room. He took his time to finish his plate; trying to unwind after a long day at work of deadlines and editing process.

He let Emma finish her movie and then tucked her in at about eight that evening. Her bedroom was decorated with posters of unicorns and pink teddy bears. She had a thing for anything pink and fluffy and when she grew up she wanted to become the first person to find an actual unicorn.

Daddy, do you think they exist?

Only her face, hands and teddy’s face stuck out from underneath the covers as Stephen sat on the edge of the bed next to her.

Of course. He indulged her fantasy, I saw one once.

Really? Where?

Chestnut Falls.

Chestnut Falls? She pondered.

"When I was a kid, just about your age, grandma used to take me to my grandparents who lived in a town called Chestnut Falls. There was a Pancake Palace next to Route 56 just outside of town where we’d stop for pancakes. I didn’t have friends growing up and spend most weekends playing out in the woods behind my grandparents’ house. That’s where I saw the unicorn."

Really? She gasped excited, What did it look like?

Soft pink – almost like candy floss and the white horn glistened in the sun like a pearl.

Wow. When can we go there?

He thought for a moment. He hadn’t been to Chestnut falls since he was a child and wondered whatever happened to his grandparents’ house. It would be nice to see it again. He loved laid-back rural America towns – they always felt so homey, but going back there he knew she’d want to look for a creature that didn’t exist.

I don’t think he’s there anymore.

Why not?

It’s been years. Stephen said, I think he might have moved away. Now get some sleep.

He kissed her on her forehead and left the bedroom with the door open a crack and watched from the hallway as she turned onto her side; clutching her teddy against her chest as she closed her eyes. She started to look more and more like her mother when she slept. It’s hard to believe that it’s been six years since she died. He just wished Emma had a chance to get to know her mother.

CHAPTER TWO

Six years before the accident.

Stephen had always been a bit of a workaholic when he was onto a good story and so was Patrick. It was one of the many things they had in common, but when it came to love they were very different. Patrick met Helen when he was in college and married her right away – that was about ten years go. Stephen, on the other hand, didn’t have much luck in the love department as none of the women he dated stayed for longer than four months.

No. Stephen said.

He and Patrick stood at the counter of the local coffee shop. It was a few minutes until they had to be at work and they decided to get a cappuccino. Patrick was trying his best to set up Stephen with one of Helen’s friends.

Why not?

Because I don’t want to.

She’s pretty. Patrick said; hoping to intrigue him.

"I bet she is… and I bet she’s crazy as well. Most beautiful girls are crazy and I really don’t have time for crazy-girl-drama right now. I’m working on a big story – big as in Watergate big."

"That’s what you say about all the stories