Preludes and Knick-Knacks (short story)
Preludes and Knick-Knacks, or Preludes and Knick-Nacks, was a story by Scott Sanford. It served to open the Sophiad arc in which Sophie Everytime and Professor Awesome got together again after their first brief encounter with each other. A preexisting illustration of Professor Awesome by Aristide Twain was used to illustrate it.
Contents
Plot
Some time after encountering Sophie Everytime, Professor Awesome is at home when he encounters his neighbor Jenny Everywhere with an octopus on her shoulder. Jenny explains that she's shifting over to another universe briefly because ‘Brianna’ needs her for her “amazing superpowers of breathing air and walking on land”. As the odd pair shift out, they drop something which turns out to be an explosive.
As Eric lies on the ground, badly hurt, Sophie appears beside him. She is briefly distressed at his injuries, but then a second Sophie shifts in with future knowledge and magical lollipops of the kind Herbie Popnecker consumes. The other Sophie brings the first up to speed and shifts out, leaving the remaining Sophie to unwrap a lollipop for Eric.
When he wakes up, the boy finds himself uninjured. They talk briefly and Sophie informs him that she doesn't think she should techncally be visiting his universe “yet”, and that she will be back later. She gives him a strange plush toy to remember her by, and shifts away. Eric examines the plushy, puzzled, but finds himself happy that she will eventually return.
Worldbuilding
Jenny Everywhere
- The Jenny Everywhere who appears here is the one native to this universe and has been in many other stories.
Octobriana
- The octopus named Brianna is never explicitly described as an incarnation of Octobriana, with the reader being left to infer the pun.
Professor Awesome
- The story features the Parallax Universe's standard Professor Awesome, who begins the story at home, in the parking lot of his apartment building.
Sophie Everytime
- This story features the ‘primary’, 38167th Universe version of Sophie Everytime, who has visited this universe at least once before.
Universe
- The events of this story occur in Eric's home universe.
Continuity
- Eric and Sophie had met in passing earlier. (PROSE: How Jenny First Met...)
- Plushies of the type described have been seen before in other stories, debuting in PROSE: The Toymaker's Labyrinth.
- The “burger place next door” to the “Parallax” Jenny's apartment building has never been seen but would also be mentioned again in PROSE: Delusional Visions.
Behind the scenes
Read online
The story is available on the author's website.
