Cracks in Reality

Trifecta's prompt inspired me to return to a serial piece I've been working on for a while now.  The prompt is

CRACK
1a : a loud roll or peal <a crack of thunder>
  b : a sudden sharp noise <the crack of rifle fire>
2: a sharp witty remark : quip
3a : a narrow break : fissure <a crack in the ice>  
  b : a narrow opening <leave the door open a crack><cracks between floorboards> —used figuratively in phrases like fall through the cracks to describe one that has been improperly or inadvertently ignored or left out <a player who fell through the cracks in the college draft> <children slipping through the cracks of available youth services>
4a : a weakness or flaw caused by decay, age, or deficiency :unsoundness
  b : a broken tone of the voice
  c : crackpot
5: moment, instant <the crack of dawn>

As usual the entries have to use the third definition and are between 33 and 333 words in length.  Be sure to check out other responses here.  If you've missed some of this story, follow the tab at the top labelled One Night in Dusseldorf.

If I’d felt a little unsure of myself before following Kris into the woods, now I felt down right lost.  I glanced around trying to find some sign that I was dreaming.  There wasn’t one.  I even tried pinching myself, convinced I must have fallen through some crack into Never Never land on my way out to the little chapel.

People don’t just turn into animals, I thought.

The air around the wolf shimmered again.  Then, the wolf was gone.  Kris was standing in its place.

“Give me your hand,” his rich baritone flowed around me, soothing and reassuring me.

I hesitated.  Kris waited.  I reached out feeling like I was in one of those slow motion movie montages.  Kris took my hand and placed it on his chest.

“See.  I am real.  What you saw is real.”

“How?”

“It’s magic.  Literally.”

“How can you exist and the world doesn't know?”