hurch of Isekai
Welcome to the Church of Isekai Part 1
"Welcome to the Church of Isekai" – the banner printed in big bold letters was hanging over the stage at the end of a sprawling lawn. Below it – a large square portrait titled – "Robert and Tammy's wedding" with two happy youths hugging. A crowd dressed in their "Sunday Best" was moving between tables set up "À-LA FOURCHETTE" or as they called it "Ala Furshet" – let's not be too fancy ok?
"How do you do, Sir, my name it Steve. The young lady with the caterers suggested I ask you about this church" he addressed the read-headed Tammy's uncle. "Oh she did, didn't she… well little Alya knows me too well… And isn't that little anymore… he-he-he… OK … well… Nice to meet you Steve. I'm Mike. Mike Geiger… I'm in construction… Here's my card… So… about the church…"A middle-aged man thanked a uniformed girl receiving a plate with snacks and asked "can you explain what this church is about?". The girl refused – "Sorry I'm with the catering. I can't discuss anything other than food. I did come here as I was younger – we had lots of fun. But you can ask anyone in a fantasy costume or … see that read-headed man next to a woman in a green dress? He's Tammy's uncle and he likes talking to strangers.... A lot…". "Thank you," the man said thinking to himself about small towns with everyone knowing and annoying everyone else over the decades. That "A lot" sounded like it has in it many, many, many hours of repeated stories that the kids had to endure while being too polite to break him off. Just then the green-dressed lady seemed to have wandered off and the moment seemed perfect.
The story was long and rich on details. The way Steve remembered it was:
The man who runs it just calls it a "Church" – probably for accounting reasons. He showed up about… what was it.. about 20 years ago. Showed up and started working in a town's youth center. Somehow the kids of all ages loved him. Helped them with homework, told stories keeping the youngsters glued to their seats, took them to the woods, taught survival skills… Yeah like the boy scouts but more… Even taught them fencing and languages. He seems to know several – we took our daughter to Quebec, Canada and she did all the restaurant ordering in French! We went to Mexico and she spoke Spanish there! Oh no, we don't speak any of it at home. Somehow she picked it up at the youth center. Oh about the Church – he started it. He calls it "Isekai" – says it's Japanese for "Other Worlds". Apparently there are Japanese cartoons about kids getting transported into video games or fairy-tales. Yes, they watch some cartoons. Yes, and read "manga" – I think that's the word they used. Age-appropriate? Oh yes, we checked. He's not arguing about religion and doesn't mind people being protestants or Catholics or whatnot. He just calls it a Church because one needs to believe in those worlds and being able to travel between them – his line of reasoning is – when people have the same belief they come together in a church. No it's more than a "Manga Club" – remember all the outdoorsy stuff? In the summer he took the kids into the woods for 2 weeks at the time – they come back so happy. We had signed up our daughter for 3 sessions in a row and she still loved it. They gather right here and then go off into the woods – tents and stuff. Come back after a week, say hello to parents and off they go again. They have to dress up as elfs, dwarfs, knights, learn real fencing. We had a boy take a county trophy in it two years ago. Yes, small town, we all know these things.
Oh, sure, we do have regular churches – my family goes to a Presbyterian one, there are two catholic ones… there must be more… I'm sure there are all kinds – if not in our town then somewhere in driving distance. No, the pastors and ministers didn't come here for a joint protest – they do have "youth clubs" but there is no homework help and their afterschool program is just not fun comparing to this place. Sunday service – you drive the kids here after lunch on Sunday and you're free till 8pm – shopping, resting. They do the sermons but it's the kids who read them. They write essays about a life lesson from a cartoon they watched together in Japanese. Yes, in Japanese. I don't know if they really understand it – never took my kids to Japan. Sure, we do pay but it's not that expensive. Besides we do want this place to look nice. The "IsePope" … he-he-he … no he doesn't call himself that … doesn't have a Ferrari… I don't know what car he has but surely if he drove anything fancy we'd know. Strange, I don't think I ever saw him drive – he just shows up a your door if he has to talk to you. So yeah, he made a name for himself here. To my knowledge he doesn't want to branch out. The "Misses IsePope"? Yes, I think I've seen her but she's probably too shy – she rarely comes out. The kids say they all saw her during the Summer Outings but we don't like people prying into our lives and we let him have his privacy. Probably that's why he picked our town and isn't leaving – I think his lady doesn't like large crowds and in this town you never come across any place with more than 3 cars parked near it.
The wedding – yes, Tammy, my niece, is a happy graduate of all of the programs this place offers, and so is Robert. Yes, high school sweethearts – how romantic is that! Yes, our town doesn't have a separate high school – we pool with 3 more towns and the kids drive there in the morning and drive home. Some have cars, some got parent transportation services he-he-he… Yes there's a bus but you have to request it and kids hate it – you missed it, you stay home, but if you come to the drop-off point early, you freeze or get wet… So Tammy is from our town and Robert from another and they did meet in high school. Tammy got him to come here – told him she's a top notch Healer and their party needs a Alchemist. He starting coming to this place and here they are – graduating from school, from this … khm … Church and joining for life. So sweet… Our little grown-ups… Their parents wanted them to wait up and not rush with the wedding, but they insisted. Oh, the sincerity of the young. They are both going to the same medical school in the Fall – she wants to be a Pediatrician and he wants to be a pharmaceutical scientist – to design new drugs. They got to use the grounds for the wedding for free, I hear, and the IsePope will be officiating. What do you mean he can't officiate – you don't have to be a priest to declare people married – anyone can apply for a license to do marriages in the State of Pennsylvania – not just clergy. The couple gets a marriage license from the town-hall and whoever got an officiating license stamps and dates it. Yes, a license everywhere …
Looking down Part 2
I was standing in the belfry of the Church looking down at the last-minute preparations and the people seemingly having a great time. A big day for me. 20 years… 20 years ago I came to this town and loved the place immediately. The woods of Northern Pennsylvania, the hills, the clean air, the calm gentleness of the place… and the people.... the most wonderful people you can imagine. Friendly, eager to help, working hard and valuing the creature comforts their work affords. People minding their own business, yet able to come together on occasions of joy or sorrow. People always keeping their smiles up and working hard to make their inner state match the facade. Soft on the outside, strong on the inside. It seems like a set of some romantic movie. It seems like a set of well-connected gears – everyone in the right place, everyone knows someone or at least someone's cousin through primary school or kids' sports or a dog park. It seems a single outsider can bring the whole place to a screeching halt. But I've managed to fit in despite being more than an outsider. I have come here from another World.
I think I was born in this World but in another country. I said "I think" because there is no way to be sure as it could be a similar World or maybe not. Surely one could just hop on a plane, fly to the old place and find out, but in all honesty – why bother? Would I run into a old version of myself? What if the Original Me had moved elsewhere? In that case me not meeting the Original Me will prove nothing. I've poked around a bit looking for traces of The Incident that started it all for me but found none in the old archives and newspapers. This seems to be opening a whole new can of worms – not only this could be a Similar World but also The Incident could have "replicated" me and others pulled into it or some Forces erased our existence from history or anything else. At this point I realized that the only can of worms I want to deal with is the one I buy at the lake where I sometimes go with a fishing rod to sit and contemplate.
I was expected to excel in school as a child and I did. Learning was easy and I did a lot of extra reading. As a result I often "knew" the way thing must go as they did in the novels but surprisingly they didn't do so in reality. You can read the entire bookcase of literature – from French History to legends of ancient Greece to Birdwatching Guides and still not know