Blast From the Past

Rebecca was thrilled about her new apartment. She was finally moving out of her parents’ house. It was about time too. She was 25 after all.

               She had finally found herself in a career that she loved as a freelance writer and photographer for the local newspaper. And she had finally published her first novel. Her dreams were coming true. To her, her life was almost perfect.

               She pulled her car in front of her apartment building. It was a beautiful brick building with white trim. It had a flower garden that wrapped around the building with a vegetable garden around the back where the tenants could grow their own vegetables. When she had done research on the area and the building, she had discovered that the building had originally been built in the early 1800’s as a hotel.

               She loved old buildings and the history behind them. Things like that had always intrigued her. Everyone that knew her growing up had always said that she would work in a museum. And she had for a couple of years. Her time there had helped her realize her love of writing and now here she was.

               She stepped out of her car and took a deep breath. This was the first day of her new life. She grabbed the last of her bags from the trunk. Then she headed inside. She had an amazing idea for her next book and she wanted to get started as fast as she could.

               “Hello, Dear. How are you doing?” asked Georgia, her new landlord who lived on the bottom level of the apartment building. Her family had owned the building from the day it was built. She was a super sweet old lady who insisted on having community meals that she cooked for the tenants.

               “I am doing good, Ms. Georgia. Finally got the last of my stuff from my parents’ house. How are you doing?” Rebecca asked politely as she approached.

               “I am doing fine. Getting older,” Ms. Georgia said with a giggle. “After you put that stuff in your room, why don’t you join me in the vegetable garden and we can get started on your spot. I even have some seeds for you to pick from to get you started,” she added.

               “Of course, Ms. Georgia. I would love that. I will be right down, just let me drop this stuff and change,” Rebecca agreed. My book can wait a little longer.

               “Okay dear. See you in a few. I will be working in the back of the vegetable garden area, just come find me,” Ms. Georgia said, waving as she walked around the corner of the building.

               Rebecca turned to go in to the building and noticed a strange man in strange clothing coming out the door of the building. It looked like he was wearing clothes from the 1800’s. It was the early 2020’s.           

               There must be some type of reenactment somewhere, she thought. She didn’t think about it again as she took the elevator up to her floor. When the doors of the elevator opened, she noticed a lady in 1800’s clothing walking down the hall towards the stairs at the other end of the hall. Her dress was a beautiful dark green color trimmed in what looked like gold lace. Then she disappeared around the corner.

               “I have to figure out where this reenactment is at,” Rebecca said to herself, as she stepped off the elevator.

               As she entered her apartment her phone started ringing. She fished it out of her pocket as she set her bags down on the couch.

               “Hello,” she answered. There was a lot of really bad static on the other end of the line. She pulled it away from her ear to see who had called her. It showed her mother’s number. “Mom? Can you hear me? I think there is something wrong with your phone,” She said. “If you can hear me, I will call you back in a minute.” And with that, she hung up.

She tried to call her mother right back, again there was nothing but static on the other end. Is my phone broke? What the heck. She thought again.

So instead, she sent her mom a text:

Hey, I don’t know what’s going on with my phone, but I will call you back as soon as I can. Love you.

She immediately got a notification that the message could not be sent because of no service.

               “What in the world is going on?” Rebecca asked no one in particular. She checked her phone and saw that she had no service at all. “That is so strange, I had perfect signal here yesterday.”

               Thinking that maybe the cell tower was down, she put her phone on the counter and changed clothes. When she was done, she headed out to go back downstairs. She headed towards the elevator like always, but as she got close, she noticed the strangest thing of all.

               The elevators were gone.

               Like they had never been there in the first place. The doors were gone. As she stood there in her faded jeans and old t shirt staring at the spot where the elevators had been just 15 minutes before, a woman opened the door to her right. Again, she was in 1800’s period dress.

               “Young man, what are you doing lingering in the hallway? What is your business?” she asked.

               “Young man? I am a woman and I was looking for the elevators. Did I pass them?” Rebecca asked turning around, looking at all the doors she had past.

               “I have never seen a young lady dressed as a farm boy in all my days. What is an elevator?” asked the lady, a very confused look on her face.

               “Ummmm, I … never mind, I will just take the stairs,” Rebecca turned away and headed back down the hall. “A farm boy?" Seemed like these actors were taking the acting thing a little far.

               But where in the world did the elevators go? I had just used them. Am I going crazy?

               She made a note to mention this to Ms. Georgia when she met up with her in the garden. She headed down the stairs and to the back door of the building. She walked out into the warm sunshine. The garden looked the way it had on the day of her tour of the building, just a few more blooming flowers. She took a moment to breath in the scents deeply. Then she headed to the back of the garden.

               There she found Ms. Georgia, but she was dressed in pettycoats instead of the jeans that she had seen her in earlier.

               “Wow, I love your dress, Ms. Georgia. When did you change?” asked Rebecca as she approached.

               When the lady in front of her turned around, it wasn’t Ms. Georgia. Or at least not the same age as she was when Rebecca had left her. This woman was much younger with blonde curly hair.

               “I am sorry, dear. I fear you confuse me with another. My name is Margaret. What is your name, dear sir?” the lady asked as she looked Rebecca up and down.

               “My name is Rebecca,” Rebecca answered, confused. “Can I ask you a strange question?”

               “Rebecca is a very strange name for a young man. What is your question dear?”

               “I am not a young man. I am a woman. What year is this?” Rebecca asked, looking around.

               “The year is 1835, dear. If you are a woman, why do dress as a farm boy? Are you hiding from someone?” Margaret asked.              

               “No, ma’am. But when I went in the building just now, it was 2021. I started seeing people wearing the same style clothes as you are. When I came out of my room the elevators were gone and now you are telling me that it is 1835?” Rebecca asked, shocked.

               “What are talking about? Are you okay, dear? Are you ill?” Margaret stepped forward and placed a hand on Rebecca’s forehead.

               “No, ma’am. I feel fine. Just a little overwhelmed and extremely confused,” Rebecca said.

               “Come, dear. Let us go inside and get some tea. Then maybe we can talk this thru and see if we cannot figure out what has happened here,” Margaret said, putting her hand on Rebecca’s arm and motioned with her other hand towards the building.

               “You know this building is over a year old and you are the fourth person who has said that they were from a different time. It really is odd,” Margaret said as in a way to make conversation.

               “This has happened before?” Rebecca asked, stunned.

               “Oh, yes. Just about every three months. It is nice to know this place is going to be around for a couple of hundred years. Tell me, does the outside still look the same as it does now as it does in the future?” Margaret asked, hopefully.

               Rebecca glanced up at the building as they entered the back door. “Yes, it does. I think the only think that really changed was the city surrounding the building. It was destroyed by a fire in 1902. I think this building is the only one that escaped the blaze with no damage to it. I did a history report for school about a it few years ago.”

               “Oh, what’s the city like now?” Margaret asked, excitedly.

               “It’s huge now. With tall buildings everywhere. In fact, this is now the shortest building left in the city limits. Ms. Georgia keeps it running very smoothly, but I fear for the future of the building when she passes. She has no children to pass it down to. I would hate to see this beautiful place destroyed. Ms. Georgia is the landlady,” Rebecca said.

               “Georgia is my middle name,” Margaret said, matter of factly.

               “I wonder if you are related,” Rebecca responded.

               “I think that we might be because each one of the people who have appeared here have confused me for her. So, we must be similar in appearance in a big way.”

               “Did the other people ever make it back to our time?” Rebecca asked as she realized how scared she was by the thought of never getting back to her own time and seeing her parents again.

               “Yes, they did. They were normally gone back within the hour. It is the strangest thing. They would go back up to their room and then they would be gone,” Margaret said.

               “Room? They all had the same room?” Rebecca asked.

               “Yes, they did. Room 213 as a matter of fact,” Margaret answered.

               “That’s my room!” Rebecca exclaimed. “I wonder what would cause anyone that stays in that room to travel back in time like this.”

               “Well, the first young lady that I met from your time said that there had been an awfully bad thunderstorm that day and that the building had been struck by lightning. And that when she came out of her room, she was here in 1835. Was there a bad thunderstorm in your time today?”

               “No, but there was one a couple of days ago. But I was still in the process of moving.”

               “Strange.”

               “Ms. Margret, do you think that I could go into my room. To see if I can get back. I just need to know that I can. I don’t want my mom to worry about me anymore than she already does,” Rebecca asked, shyly.

               “Of course, honey. Come on and follow me. I have a tenant in that room who was here for our last visitor, I am sure that she would be okay with you going in there.” Margaret headed down the hall to the stairs, “Has anyone from the past ever come to the future that you would happen to know of?”

               “No, ma’am. Not that I am aware of but this was only my second day in the apartment. But I plan on being there for a while, so I will keep my eyes open. Maybe I will get to come back and visit in three months,” Rebecca replied.

               “Oh, that would be nice. To have a repeat visitor. So far, they have all been different people. Well, here we are.” Margaret said as she knocked on the door. Rebecca could not help but gasp when she saw who opened the door.

               Ms. Georgia just smiled and waved her on in. “Come on Ms. Rebecca. Your mother is quite worried that she has not been able to reach you in so long. She just called the landline looking for you.”

               “Ms. Georgia? You knew?” asked Rebecca, as she stepped into the apartment.

               “Dear girl, not much goes on in this old place that I don’t know about. This included. I was the very first one it happened to,” she said giggling, turning back to Margaret she said, “See you again in three months.”

               “Until then,” Margaret said, bowing her head slightly.

               The door closed. Rebecca looked around the room. It was her apartment. All her stuff was there. Her phone was even still on the counter where she had left it, vibrating as her mother called her again.

               “Hey, mom,” Rebecca answered. “Sorry I was in the shower,” she lied, knowing very well that her mother would never believe what had just happened.

               “Oh, thank heavens. I was so worried when our call dropped earlier. I thought you were hurt,” her mother said, relief in her voice.

               “No, ma’am. I am fine. Ms. Georgia let me know that you had been trying to get a hold of me just now. Can I call you back when I finish drying my hair?” Rebecca asked.

               “Of course, Dear,” her mother said. “I love you.”

               “Love you too, mom.” Rebecca said. As she hung up the phone, she turned to face Ms. Georgia, but before she could say anything Ms. Georgia put her hand up.

               “There will be plenty of time to talk about what just happened, but for now, lets go finish your spot in the garden. You know since you are going to be staying with us for a while,” Ms. Georgia said with a little twinkle in her eye.