“Hey handsome,” Elsie’s soft voice was instantly recognizable. I smelled cigarette smoke and felt those familiar itchy sheets. The hospital. I went to scratch my head, but winced when I felt an enormous lump. I stretched. Things hurt. What happened?

  I remembered the date with Anne.

  “You guys have that here?” I asked.

  “Do we have what here?”

  “Sushi, you just said you were craving sushi.”

  She looked at me, confused. “You’re hearing things, I don’t even know what that is!”

  There was no mistaking, she definitely said sushi, it could not have been more clear.

  “Sorry, must be hearing things, yeah. Anyway, it’s a Japanese dish, it’s rice and raw fish rolled in seaweed, it’s incredible.”

  “Wow, fancy! They must have all kinds of exotic foods out there in Los Angeles.”

  “We do, yeah… Anyway, what are you feeling?”

  She shrugged. “I could always go for a burger at Starlight!”

  “Oh my god, me too! Best burger I’ve ever had, period.”

  I decided I’d look for a fancier option later, somewhere nicer to take her next, maybe for Valentine’s Day, but at that moment a Starlight burger sounded just right.

  We sat at my usual booth at the diner, and Sally greeted us with a couple of menus and a wink. I feel like we bonded that one day she saw me crying, and I’m sure she was happy to see me on a date. We chatted and got to know each other a little more, avoiding the uncomfortable questions about her past, though I was finding it increasingly difficult to think about anything else. She was so charismatic and clever when she opened up, and I remember making her laugh quite a bit too. Honestly, I don’t think I’ve had a date go that well since 2019, 62 years in the future.

  We had a stroll through the park after the meal and stopped at a bench facing the lake. The yellow light from the street lamps lining the walkway danced and shimmered on the lake, and I pulled the classic yawn and stretch, resting my arm around Anne’s delicate shoulders. She reached up and grabbed my hand with hers, and nuzzled her head into my shoulder. It felt different than it did with Elsie. I’m not sure what it was exactly, but this felt more familiar and normal. I tilted her head toward mine, and we kissed. Her lips were soft and sweet, and my mind flashed back to my life before, filling my head with incomplete images of a woman. Was I dating someone when I got stuck here? Was I married? Why couldn’t I remember? It seems like that would be a pretty major thing that’d be hard to forget.

  Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

  It was difficult for me to remain undistracted by thoughts of a possible significant other as I walked Anne home. She lived in a cute little brick apartment building a couple of blocks from the park.

  “I had a really nice time, Emmett,” she looked up at me and smiled. Her bright blue eyes glimmered like the reflections on the lake. Suddenly, I forgot all about the flashbacks and felt completely present. She had her hair down now, wavy and just past her shoulders. She looked beautiful. I kissed her again. Part of me wanted her to invite me up, but another was completely content leaving the date as it was.

  “I’ll see you soon, Anne.”

  That’s the last thing I remember before waking up here at Elk Valley Hospital. Again. At least I was still in 1957 this time.

  I had to see Fritz. He found me out, and after George, the grey man at Al’s, and Anne’s remark about the sushi, I was sure there had to be more of us. More people who got stuck here from another time. Plus, he’s the only person in this town who might have some sort of insight about what happened to me after my date with Anne.

  I checked myself out of the hospital and headed back to Grady Manor. After waiting an impossibly long time for Mrs. Grady to finish her phone call, I contacted Fritz to arrange another meeting at the cabin. Until the meeting, I thought I’d spend some time journaling. I spent hours trying to figure out more names from my life before Elk Valley. Despite writing name after name, none felt familiar or right. I wasn’t even sure half of them were real people, and I was beginning to understand George’s frustration when he was trying to draw those pictures of his own past.

  Hours later I was trudging through the woods trying to remember which way the cabin was. I remember being pretty good with directions, but without a well-worn trail, it was difficult to find my way through the woods in the middle of the night.

  It must have been about thirty minutes of wandering around before I finally saw the yellow glow of Fritz’s flashlight poking through the brush. With a sigh of relief, I followed the light. I wasn’t extremely confident in my sense of direction anymore, but it didn’t feel like such a hike last time we went to the cabin. If this was going to become a regular thing, I had to remind myself to pick up some more appropriate shoes and hiking gear. My socks were soaked through, after stepping through about a dozen unexpected mud puddles. Finally, I pushed through a final dewy fern to a clearing, but the yellow glow wasn’t coming from Fritz’s cabin. In the distance, at the far edge of the clearing, it looked like there was a makeshift tent, and the yellow glow was from what seemed to be a small campfire. I stared in stunned silence. Who was this, now? Maybe it was the grey man from Al’s? I didn’t know where he lived and hadn’t ever seen him around town. I started to walk toward it, then in a flash, a hand gripped my mouth tightly, and I was pulled back into the brush.

  Just before I disappeared into the woods, I swear I saw a massive Elk by the tent, its golden fur illuminated by the flickering campfire.

  - Emmett Brewer, in serious need of hiking gear