Perfect

Cognitive Dissonance

I had to figure out what the hell was going on.

I walked over to Ellen's.

It was completely different. Not only the outside had changed, but so did the inside. The counter was gone and there are now just tables. What the hell? I was just here last night. 

I sat down at one of the tables, and waited...and..waited...and waited. Finally fater about five minutes a young man came wandering over. He said, "Hi. Welcome to Ellen's Restaraunt. I'm Mark and I will be your server." Then he placed a menu on the table and promptly walked away.

I just wanted a coffee, but I decided to look at the menu anyway. I was beginning to feel very hungry for some reason.

Amongst many other things, I found coffee on the menu. Two dollars. Two dollars! Coffee is ten cents here. Someone is playing a very nasty joke and I don't like it.

I kept looking, but could not find a ham sandwich. I did find a lot of other sandwiches, though, but they were all very expensive. All at about five dollars or more. Certainly not the thirty cents I paid last night. I needed to find out what was going on, and I wasn't going to find out sitting here. I promptly got up and left. I barely noticed Mark giving me a dirty look as I was leaving.

I went into the big store, 'Walmart' I think  it is called. They have some very interesting things in here. Very expensive, though. At the back of the store they had a few pictures hanging on the wall, but they were moving. It looks like they are television sets, but they are hunging on the wall! This store is definately "different".

I  watched the checkout lanes and saw that the cashiers are not ringing anything in. It was the strangest thing. They are just passing each item over the countertop and it was beeping and the price was automatically appearing. Like some how there was something in the counter that knew the prices. Neat. 

I want to know how that works. I walked up to one of the couters and noticed a glass cover with some machine in it. While peeking into the machine, I don't really see---Ow! Ow! Ow! What the hell?! My eye was suddenly in extreme pain. As I was holding my eye, I stumbled back into a potato chip display.

Crash! The display went down with me and potato chips ended up all over the floor.

I looked up and someone who looked like a manager asked me if I was hurt and assited me to get up.

"That thing!", I pointed to the evil machine that tried to take out my eye.

"What about it?", asked the manager..

"It's dangerous! What if a child--!", I then noticed that several other people had gathered around and were puzzled by how I was acting. Perhaps even thinking I was crazy. I don't understand this place. I want to go home.

I started to run out of the place, but the manager yelled at me to come back. 

I ran out to the street and there was a bus stop. A bus was coming. Maybe this bus will get me home. There was a bright orange display on the front of the bus, '33A DUNDAS/AMBERLEY via HILLSBOROUGH'. I don't know where that is, but I don't care as long as it is away from here!

There was a bit of a line for the bus, but when I finally boarded I put two dimes into the farebox and proceeded to find a seat. Before I was able to seat the bus driver called to me. "What's this deal?", he saked pointing to the two dimes in the farebox. 

I thought he was a bit rude, so I was too, "Well since I put it in the farebox, I would hazard a guess it is the fare."

"Funny. Now put the right amount in."

"What? Bus fare is 20 cents."

"Funny. If you don't have the correct fare, a transfer, or pass, get out of my bus."

"How much is it?"

"Three-fifty."

"What?!"

"Three dollars and fifty cents, or a valid transfer, or a pass, or you don't ride the bus."

"You're as crazy as everyone else around here."

"I'm crazy? I'm not the one trying to ride the bus for 20 cents! Three-fifty, now, or out!"

"I'm leaving. I don't want to ride your bus, anyway. You are very rude."

I walked slowly back to the parking lot, thinking to myself. I am alone. I am confused. I am in a strange world. I don't know how I got here or how to get back.

I wandered around for a while, just thinking. What could I do?

I then noticed what looked like a police car pull up next to me.

"Excuse me, sir", a policeman said out the open window.

"Yes?"

"Is everything okay?"

"To tell you the truth, absolutely not.", I continued to tell him the entire ordeal.

After listening, and it apeared that he really didn't beleive any of it, he asked, "So tell me now, what year ro you think it is, or rather, what year is it?"

"1962."

He looked puzzled, maybe a bit confused and even frightened.

"What is your name, again?"

"As I said, my name is Richard Segmond. I am 31 years old. I'm from West Hampton. Where the hell am I now?"

"Okay. Excuse me. I need to check something."

He was looking at something for a rather long time. Then he took out one of those things that I saw so many people holding up to their faces, and he began talking into it.

He finished and then got out of the car.

"Mr. Segmond. I don't know how to tell you this, but you were reported missing and assumed dead."

"What are you talking about. I just crashed my car into that ditch over there just last night!"

"Last night?"

"Yes!"

"Mr. Segmond, you were reported missing 58 years ago. This is the year 2020."