Have you ever wondered about February ...
... the month, I mean ...
... and why it has only 28 days?

Is there not something here
    that seems a little odd? Not quite right at all?

Let me tell you a story. You can believe it if you like.
Or not. That is up to you.

You can treat it like fiction - a short diversion on the road through life. Say it matters not at all.
After all, you live in the RealWorld. What difference could it make?
None, surely!
If it had been a fledgling nation's constitution, a 'Bill of Rights' or a 'Magna Carta'...
Now that would have made a difference!
A small piece of fantasy?
Nothing.

Not in the RealWorld, perhaps. But in the TrueWorld, it could change everything. Reality would never be the same.
But then, reality never was.

There are those who never got past the last paragraph. They are gone. Away. To do whatever it is that they do. Stuck in the RealWorld. This story is not for them. If you are reading these words, then you are persistant. Confused? Possibly. Intrigued? Also, possibly (though unlikely!). Or just determined to find out what on earth I'm waffling on about.
One or two might have noticed the terms 'RealWorld' and 'TrueWorld'. Slightly strange terms, and spelled in an odd way.
The RealWorld is where things happen as they should. Another day - same way. According to the rules. The Laws of Nature. Fixed. Immutable. As it should be.
The TrueWorld is where things happen as people want them to be. The best of all possible worlds. Making sense. The right way. As it should be.

If only it were so.

Which brings us back to February.
A somewhat peculiar month. In almost every respect.
28 days clear, and 29, each leap year. Which is any year divisible by 4.
Except century years. They have to be divisible by 400.
The year 2000 was a leap year. 1900 was not.
So complicated. Hardly seems worth the bother.
Other months have 30 days or 31. Not a lot of sense there either. At least, they are consistent.

February varies according to the year. Why?
Even the name is a problem.
Feh-broo-arry!
Difficult to spell. Difficult to pronounce.
Why not just call it Febury.
Feh-bew-ri.
Simple.

And very, very dangerous.

Because there is a place where it is spelled 'Febury'. Where every month has 30 days. No leap years and other silly nonsense. Every month the same length. Just as common sense dictates. Just as everybody, with both feet planted firmly on the ground, reckons it ought to be. Where everything is exactly as people believe it should be.

The perfect democracy.
The ultimate dictatorship.

The TrueWorld.

It's a wonderful place. If you stand in Mecca, the entire world is held in the benevolent grasp of Allah, and Islam is supreme over all.

Texas. The current President Bush has been sworn into office. The previous Presidents Bush, George and George W., looked on with pride. Who would elect anyone else to sit in the White House in Dallas?

Meanwhile, somewhere in Surrey,England, the news arrives, telling of the latest triumphs of the British Empire as it civilizes a grateful world with its generosity, wisdom, and above all, a firm hand on the tiller of world government.

Wherever people are. Whatever people want.
That is the TrueWorld.
And everything fits ...
... except people like me.

To the vast majority, it all works delightfully.
Fly around the world.
In California, you are sun-bronzed and beautiful. Free to explore life without inhibition.
By the time the plane lands in Dallas, you're a Good Ole Boy. Stetson and spurs, with Governor J.R. Ewing's photo up there on the wall.
Stop off in Boston, and the liberal causes you hold dear in your heart, hold sway in a truly United States.

Hop across the Atlantic to Paris - capital of culture, and centre of a French speaking world.
Fortunately, you speak French, as we all do. The English language was an insignificant (and best forgotten) footnote in the rise of L'Universe Francais.

The aeroplane that started off in Los Angeles as a Boeing lands in Moscow as a Tupolev. Naturally. Would a good Russian fly in anything else.

On to Dai Nippon. Where the Emperor is a God, and we all revere our ancestors. They made this the place that it should be, and who would question, or suggest any other way.

Everywhere is exactly as people believe it should be.
Most people ...
... but not all.

Some people cross over.
From the RealWorld to the TrueWorld.

If you believe what you believe, and not what everyone else thinks, then you become the infidel. The unbeliever. And a terrible fate awaits those who do not conform. Your only chance lies in finding a place where your peculiarities and prejudices fit the local customs.
Where you can blend in.
It's that - or die for a cause that everybody else believes in!
And never, ever travel far from home.

From the TrueWorld to the RealWorld.

The real troublemakers!
If you come from a world where reality bends to suit your beliefs, and you have the willpower to carry that ability with you, then there are great opportunities.
For good - or evil.
People like Hitler and Stalin. Or Ghandi or Buddha.
The dictators, the magicians, the saints. The rebels and the writers.
Able to change the world, merely by being there.

If you are still reading this, in the hope of gaining some knowledge, some wisdom. Here it is. You can travel between worlds.

In the TrueWorld, Febury is sensible, and has 30 days. Like all months.
In the RealWorld, February has at least 28 days. Just occasionally 29 days.
There is a measure of uncertainty.

So on the night of the 29th of February (or Febury), when you go to sleep, be careful which world you dream about.
The walls of reality are very thin.
When you awake, check the calendar.
Is it Febury or February?

Or just a spelling mistake?

Be very careful in what you do next!

You might end up like me.