Vanishing Alley

-12-

      The alley was made up of bricks — both the walls and its arched ceiling — and the ground was paved with cobble stones. It wasn't pitch black, but dimly lit by candles in lanterns hanging on the walls, so that told us that wherever we were headed, electricity hadn't been invented yet. As we walked through, it seemed very long and felt like we had been walking for at least 30 minutes, but that could have been because of the fear we felt, plus we were walking pretty slow, approaching whatever waited ahead of us with caution. Sara suggested we turn back, but when we mentioned that we had come this far, she agreed that we might as well keep going. We started to wonder if it was leading us anywhere, or if we were just walking through an empty, endless alley that led to nowhere. That was, until we started hearing distant voices. The sound was faint and far, but we could tell there were people talking. Were we walking to the other side of the building? Or were we about to step into a world we'd never seen before. Well, as we heard the voices get louder and clearer, we knew we were about to find out!

Still hand-in-hand (the fear and anticipation kept us from letting go), we continued walking and started to see a street scene appear, but couldn't make out the details. We knew we were close with no idea of what to expect, but with just a few more steps, we were there. I bet you want to know where! Well, we could not believe our eyes! It was just as Helen had described it in her journal! It was all right there in front of us. The sidewalks were alive with people who were strolling along, and the streets were occupied by horse-drawn carriages and wagons. The streets were candle-lit, and cobblestone paved, just like the alley. The women were dressed in lovely long dresses. Some wore gloves, some didn't. Some wore hats, others didn't. But one thing they all had was a small handbag that was just big enough to carry some money and a compact mirror. The men looked like gentlemen. They all wore top hats and suits. Some had a walking stick, others carried an umbrella, while the younger men didn't seem to carry either. I couldn't believe it! WE couldn't believe it! We all had to pinch ourselves to make sure we weren't dreaming.

"This is..."

"Amazing!" Sara finished my sentence as I struggled to find the right word to use to justly describe it.

"I can't believe what we're looking at right now!" Amy also struggled to find the right words. Actually, I think we all did.

"It's exactly like how the antique shop owner told me in the story. Every detail! It's just like I imagined it that day!"

"Now that we're here, I guess the question is... what do we do?" Jamie wondered as he couldn't help but look around.

"Why don't we walk around, see what's here?" Philip suggested.

"We could, but we don't really...fit...in...", Amy started to point out our 21st century era clothing until she stopped herself and instead said, "Uh... guys? Look at our clothes."

We were in such shock and astonishment of our current surroundings that we hadn't even noticed that our clothes were different! Yup, you read that right! Our clothes changed to reflect the time period we were in. It must have happened while we walked through the alley. Just one more thing to add to the things I couldn't believe were happening. "Well, I guess we can walk around now."

We walked around, not knowing where we were going, but the street looked like it had the same layout as it did in our time. The buildings were a bit different, so were the names on the storefronts and their designs, but the organisation of the streetscape was the same. We still didn't know what year it was. That was until we walked by a boy selling newspapers on the sidewalk corner and when we saw the date on the front page — Monday the 1st of August, 1882.

"1882!"

"Shh, Sara. Not so loud. People are looking."

I know she was surprised and didn't realise she was screaming, but we had to keep a low profile and blend in. We couldn't have people staring at us and asking questions.