STRANDED IN TIME

She took a look around. Many cars parked along the street were different. There were a couple of station wagons and what she called a boat car which was probably a Cadillac, but it looked so old. A shiny red sporty car which Samantha thought was a Torino was a couple of houses down. It had a big white stripe down the side. People around here must have get togethers on the weekends, she thought, not realizing there were so many families who visited each other anymore. She turned to go up to her apartment above Thomas’s garage, but stopped. She noticed the garage didn’t have a second level. And it was brown, not white like it was before. “Great, I’m at the wrong house,” she said aloud. She walked back out to the street and looked up and down at the houses. Where was it? That had to be Thomas’s house. She went up the steps and knocked, but nobody answered. “This is a nightmare,” she mumbled. She turned to see two people walking down the sidewalk. She thought they were guys, but they had long hair and flared jeans. One had lighter hair than the other. Other than that, they looked similar. They were also smoking cigarettes. “Hey!” She waved, happy to see someone. “Do you know who lives here?” “Oh yeah,” said the guy in the KISS shirt, “It’s Thomas.” “Thomas Jones?” Samantha asked. “Yeah, why?” His eyes scanned her up and down as he took a long drag of his cigarette. “Are you selling something?” “Oh no. I just thought-” she paused and looked at both of them. The other guy had darker hair and wore a Mr. Bubble t-shirt. The image was worn and she wondered why he didn’t throw it away. When he smoked, he held the cigarette as if he were an amateur. He obviously wasn’t used to it. “Never mind.” “Is something wrong?” The KISS fan asked her. “I thought maybe you were selling something since you look so dressed up.” Dressed up? she thought. Maybe because I have wedge heels on. “Um, well, my phone quit working.” She hoped one of them would offer her theirs. “Oh. Well, did you call the phone company? My mom did that and they came out to the house. You probably just need a new one.” “Not a landline,” she said. They looked at her as if she were on another planet.