The Lost Man

"I think I’m lost."  What does it feel like to be a person who doesn’t bother anyone, quietly and peacefully walks to his favorite world-famous coffee shop, and suddenly instead sees in front of him some small, unfamiliar W.T. Grant store from which The Eagles’ songs are heard?

Confused, I looked around at the thin crowd of purposefully hurrying people. To say that I was surprised would be putting it mildly. The people dressed strangely in low-rise and flared jeans; women wore dresses over jeans and Juicy Couture tracksuits with colorful accessories.

"What’s going on here?" I still didn’t understand where I was. "Anyway, where is my coffee shop⁈ If I’m late sending the article, Mr. Bennett will charge me a fine immediately. And a lecture for about twenty minutes is also guaranteed."

I sighed and began to look for my coffee shop. I urgently needed coffee to wake up and Wi-Fi to send the article to the editor.

"Maybe I got the wrong street? Was I walking, lost in thought, and took a wrong turn? No! What a nonsense! Of course, I’m forty-six; it’s a good age when you can afford to forget some things if it’s to your advantage. But to go to a coffee shop and end up in an unknown place is already too much." Okay, I’ll solve problems as they come up. I glanced at my watch - and didn’t find my famous smartwatch on my wrist.

"I think I forgot to put on my smartwatch." I was surprised again because I never forget to put it on.

I shifted the briefcase handle from one hand to the other and walked to the intersection. There should be a sign with the street’s name. I’ll look and then turn on the phone’s navigator.

Indeed, the intersection was found pretty quickly. The street name is Robert E. Lee.

But I completely forgot where Robert E. Lee Street is in our city. 

"The house number was 3369. Good." I put my hand in my pocket and was stunned - my phone was not there! "And now, what should I do? How will I find my coffee shop? I can’t even call a taxi. And all the credit cards are linked to my phone… Hmm…It seems I have Alzheimer’s."

There was no time to indulge in sadness. I was already seriously late, and I will not see my monthly bonus. But I would still like to send the article. Otherwise, I will be completely behind schedule. I still have a mortgage to pay. The old method remains - asking passers-by."

I looked around and saw a woman about my age who was not in a particular hurry and resolutely approached her. 

“Excuse me,” I said as kindly as possible. “I don’t remember how I ended up here. Can you tell me where the nearest coffee shop with Wi-Fi is?”

“I don’t know.” She said and looked at me strangely.

I looked around the crowd for someone else to ask for directions. People were hurrying to work along the sidewalk. I spotted a respectable old senior in glasses and a strict coat strolling. "Obviously, some kind of professor, he should know"

“Excuse me!”  I turned to him. “Could you tell me how to get to the coffee shop?” 

“There is no coffee shop here. I know everything in the city and I have never even heard of it.”  The respectable old senior nodded solemnly and looked at me over his glasses. 

I froze. "Come on! And he doesn’t know?"

“Thank you,” I said in a low voice to an old man “I think I'll go.”

"I need to understand what happened to me. It feels like a piece of my life has simply disappeared." I looked around for a bench, but there was nothing close. "So, I remember exactly how I woke up a little before the alarm this morning. I quickly ran to the bathroom. Then, I had a quiet breakfast. Then I got dressed and went outside. I usually take different routes to my coffee shop to get five thousand steps. On the way back, I try covering the same distance. It turns out to be quite a walk, and I save on fitness.

So, I remember leaving the house and walking down my street. Then I turned right so as not to go past the shopping center - there is always such a fuss there; I don’t like it in the morning. Then, I went past the dental clinic. And that’s it. What happened next - I don’t remember. And it’s so strange. I know I went past the dental clinic… And then bam - and here I am, on Robert E. Lee Street. What the hell!"

I once had a surgery under anesthesia, and the same thing happened: I’m lying down, the doctor asks me something, I try to answer, and immediately - bam, and the doctor says, “Everything went well.” But anesthesia was to blame. And what happened now? Something must have happened! Because I left the house early so that I would have time to reread the article and correct it before sending it to the editor. I had to walk for about half an hour. I got to the dental clinic in about ten minutes…

From all these recollections, my heart started pounding again. So, I need to sit down somewhere and calm down. I finally found a bench nearby and sat down on it. Phew! That’s better. Now I’ll rest, reread the article, and then look for the Wi-Fi. I put my briefcase on the bench, opened it, and discovered that my laptop was missing.

I froze in bewilderment - I didn’t have a single device at all; how would I know the time now? How would I call the editor? How would I send him an article? And how would I ultimately find out how many steps I’ve walked today?

The panic was growing inside me. I tried to calm down and started to look around. Atop of a building was a huge screen with the time displayed on it. Phew! At least I know the time now. The massive screen then displayed a current temperature. I continued glancing at the screen and my eyes widened. On it, it says “Today’s date is January 15, 1975!”