His astronomy poster had fallen again. The pinholes had become too stretched out. He didn't know how, though he wouldn't put it past this rat-hole to have termites. Roger shifted the poster to the left then called his boss with the only excuse he could think of: unexpected coma.

The silence on the other end of the line wasn't encouraging.

"I don't know what you've gotten yourself into," Enrico said finally, "but no more days off and you can stay."

"Thank you, sir! Never again, I promise!"

Roger hung up and breathed in deeply. He would go to work, he promised himself. His life would go back to normal. He triple-checked his alarm before going to bed. He wouldn't be late, he wouldn't be late.

Roger woke up in the Sahara. He was going to be late.

***

Normal, dammit, normal. He was going to get his boring old life back if it killed him. Furious, Roger kicked opened his door only to see his poster had fallen again. The old pinholes looked larger than before, which didn't make sense because he had moved the poster and made new holes… which also looked larger than before…

Roger tossed his Sphinx postcards aside, stomped onto his bed, and prodded one of the pinholes with his finger.

Suddenly he stood on the Great Wall of China, his finger prodding thin air.

***

The landlord told him that putting holes in the wall violated his lease, gave him a warning, and offered no help. The electrician couldn't explain it either, though she did suggest a very good psychiatrist. The construction company told him to consult a quantum physicist and hung up.

Quantum physicist wasn't listed in the phone book, and he couldn't get a straight answer from Princeton, so Roger went out and bought some spackle. He patched up the holes and stored his poster in the closet.

That night he lay in bed, wondering where he would wake up. Would the spackle work or would he forever jump from place to place in a strange sort of traveling roulette? Where would he end up next? Australia? Though, that wouldn't be bad… He always wanted to play the didgeridoo. Or maybe Mount Everest. He'd wanted to climb that as a kid…