The universe unfolded before Joseph's eyes. Planets, stars, and galaxies zoomed through his vision, disappearing in a moment. Whole species evolved from single-cell organisms into bipedal creatures more advanced than humans. Stars exploded in bursts of blinding light before collapsing into formless black holes consuming everything.
A voice whispered into his ears, the words at first undecipherable. Joseph strained to make them out. Soon everything came into focus. The voice whispered theories and equations beyond anything Newton, Einstein, or Hawking had ever conceived. With these, Joseph would be the world's greatest scientist. He would be rich and famous; he would win every possible Nobel Prize. They would rename the award after him.
The whispering became fainter until it finally died out. No, there was still so much he could learn! The planets, stars, and galaxies whizzed by in the opposite direction, time reversing until everything contracted into one single point of light. That light grew brighter and brighter until it blinded Joseph.
His eyes opened to the underground chamber. He snatched the penlight that had fallen next to him, sweeping it around in search of the wonders he'd seen. He found no one in the chamber with him but the corpse. Had he dreamed the whole thing?
Joseph sat up and looked down at the black stains on his shirt and the stone floor. Of course, the vile-tasting potion he'd swallowed. That must have caused him to hallucinate. No, not a hallucination-a vision. A vision revealing the secrets of the universe. The key to understanding everything.
He pressed a hand to his forehead as he tried to remember what the voice had whispered. Snippets came to him, but nothing cohesive. He shot to his feet, looking around the chamber again. "Please, you have to tell me. Tell me again so I can remember. Where are you?" he shouted. His voice echoed throughout the chamber, receiving no answer.
Joseph knelt down to taste the liquid that had spilled on the floor. This time nothing happened. He needed a larger dose. One of these jars must hold more. He would find it and this time retain everything he saw and heard.
His watch beeped; it was midnight. Pop would skin him alive if he didn't get home soon. He didn't have time to look through the jars now, but he couldn't leave them here. He couldn't let someone else find them and discover the secrets of the universe. "They're mine," he said.
He carefully took the jars from the shelves to put into his backpack. When he ran out of room, he dumped out his textbooks and notebooks for school. What did he need them for now? No book could teach him as much as the potion. When he finished, the backpack felt as if it weighed a hundred pounds, but he didn't care. He slung the pack over his shoulders and started up the tunnel, ignoring the cold.