Extant

Owen ignored them, staring at one of the stones. “It’s highly improbable,” he muttered.

“Then let’s put it to rest,” Brant snatched one of the stones from the table and marched to the boat slip.

Natalie exchanged glances with her friends for a moment before they all grabbed rocks and scrambled down the hall after him. They crowded through the door and she saw Brant standing at the edge of the dock. He tossed the rock repeatedly in the air.

 “For the record,” he announced. “I think this is incredibly stupid, but it’s worth getting soaking wet to prove he’s crazy.” Without another word, he jumped forward off the dock and fell towards the water. Instead of a splash, a blinding white flash filled the cavern and Brant was gone. The water lapped lazily at the dock pylons, undisturbed.

Silence.

Ten seconds passed.

Fifteen seconds.

Twenty seconds.

A minute.

There was another flash of dazzling light and Brant pulled himself up from the water on the opposite side of the boat. Nearly twenty feet from where he had disappeared, he was completely dry and white as a ghost. He held the stone out and his mouth dropped open in shock.

“Brant’s speechless! It is magic!” Tawney exclaimed.

“It’s not magic, it’s science,” Owen said from behind Natalie. He paced the cavern, unable to contain his excitement.

“Where did you go?” Leo asked Brant.

“Nowhere, I just-just blinked and I was there,” Brant pointed at the dock across the water from him. “And then I was...I was,” his voice trailed off. Without warning, he stepped off the dock and vanished in a flash of white light. When it faded, Brant was pulling himself onto the wooden planks of the opposite dock, still dry. He clutched the stone wall of the cavern and burst out laughing.