In Through the Hidden Shelf

Sammy was a student librarian at the Jefferson County University Library, a place older than most states had been established in the U.S. She loved the engagement with the new patrons and often shared her favorite books, a mixed breed of true crime stories and historical autobiographies of feminist icons of yesteryear. 

      Her world changed one Friday evening when a young freshman girl came to visit.

      "Scuse me. Uh, Hello?" the student remarked standing by the front counter with her backpack slung across her right shoulder. She wore a pink shirt with the logo of her university club, a symbol of a fist inside of a circle above a cross.

      Sammy smiled, "One second. Let me get Jenny to help you out."

      The girl rolled her eyes and drew air through her teeth. "Can't you help me?" she arched an eyebrow. "You're not doing anything?"

      "Well, I was just finishing up an order...I'll just finish it after. So what can I help you with?"

      "I need this book, I have a really important project due Monday."

      "Oh, I'm sorry we closed ten minutes ago."

      "Did you not hear me? I said I have a project due on Monday."

      "I understand but-"

      "Ugh. Aren't you supposed to like... help students and stuff? My GPA is on the line."

      "Yeah, of course. But..."

      "Ugh."

      Sammy sighed. "Fine. What's the book called?"

      "It's right there." the girl said gesturing to a piece of paper on the counter.

      "Seriously?" Sammy leaned in to read the note. "A Vindication of the Rights of Woman? Okay, at least you have a good curriculum."     

      Sammy headed over to an old part of the library that had seldom been accessed unless a special request called for one. She had walked through a maintenance supply room hallway that led her to another room with old shelves and books. The place had some of the rarest books in the place, such as historical ones from special collections published during the 18th century. 

      It took Sammy a second to find it, but it had been falling apart. She ran her thumb through the cracked spine and sighed. Something was strange about it.

      When Sammy pulled it from the shelf, she felt a shock run through her body.   After a deep breath with the book in one hand, she felt dizzy.

      She glanced at the book again. The title all matched but it was in an almost pristine condition now. "Need to sleep. Been here too long!" she whispered.

      "Aye! Scuse me?" the echoes of the girl called out from the front.

      "Hold on!" Sammy said walking back. "Super impatient."

      She looked up and the rude girl was nowhere in sight.

      A blonde woman around her age waited instead.

      "Wow. Were you like back there preparing the fibers or something? Oh no, you were out there writing the book yourself, weren't you?" The woman giggled before snatching the book away from Sammy's grip.

      "No. I... Wait...where did the other girl go?"

      "Aha ha. Look at your bloodshot eyes. You're definitely stoned right now." the blonde girl waved at her and walked away with the book. "Thanks again!" she winked.

      Sammy walked out into the bathroom and splashed herself with cold water.

      She couldn't even piece together what had happened.

      She finished up and headed back to the bus stop outside the school.

      There were a couple of women walking around wearing beautiful old-fashioned dresses. A couple of them also had thick blue denim overalls with a checkered shirt underneath. They looked grizzled and muscular.

      Sammy waited until the bus had come by to pick her up.

      "Pretty dress," she commented on someone's floral design upon entering.

      It had seemed like everyone else had been playing dress-up, they all wore period pieces wardrobe from the 1930s with bright confident colors and patterns with conservative cuts. Some of the other women had dresses down to their ankles, they appeared to be corporate workers with suitcases and leather-bound portfolio folders.

      Sammy watched the women outside enter the bus as she passed by neighboring towns. It didn't become apparent until she saw the first man for a while that most pedestrians around were women.

      The man stood there minding his own business holding onto the rails in the bus. Despite him not being particularly interesting, the atmosphere seemed to have changed as he walked in. The chatters amongst the riders had gotten more frequent and softer. Sammy wondered what was his deal. Maybe he was a celebrity of some kind. The women all watched him up and down with wide unblinking stares.

      The man sighed, he looked visibly uncomfortable in his baggy tan suit.  

      He seemed almost too thin to fit in such a large suit.

      He was lean and on the shorter side compared to other men.

      One of the women peeked in through the brown paper bag of groceries he held.      "Whatcha got in there?" She reached in and grinned. "You eat so healthy. Is that why you're looking so nice and skinny?"

      "Leave me alone." the man said.

      He made a point to move towards the back of the bus where Sammy sat.

      Someone else who sat across stared at Sammy and raised an eyebrow.

      "What?" Sammy asked.

      "You're the last one to get a seat, aren't you?"

      "And?"

      "Aren't you going to offer the gentleman your seat?"

      "What? No. Why would I do that?"

      The man had overheard the interaction and looked embarrassed. "No. It's alright."

      "Pfft. Wow." the lady remarked.

      She stood up and offered it to the man instead, she was persistent until he took it.

      She pointed her finger at her face. "You don't know what's customary around here, do you? Must be another backward tourist."

      Sammy shook her head and muttered. "Lunatic."

      She walked over towards the front to a friendlier face.

      The bus driver turned up the volume of the radio and bobbed her head.

"Keeps a sharp lookout for sabotage / Sitting up there on the fuselage

That little frail can do more than a male can do / Rosie, the riveter / Rosie's got a boyfriend, Charlie / Charlie, he's a Marine / Rosie is protecting Charlie / Workin' overtime on the riveting machine"

      "That's Rosie the Riveter by The Four Vagabonds." the bus driver said.

      Sammy looked puzzled. " Okay? It's very... old-fashioned."

      "Oh, shut up. It's a good anthem!" the bus driver teased.

      "Anthem?"

      "Yeah they play it for the anniversary of the..." the bus driver stopped to wipe the corner of her eye with her sleeves. "I lost my father, my husband that day." 

      "I'm so sorry." Sammy looked uncomfortable as her exit approached. "Well, have a nice day," she said. She felt like the whole world was going crazy.

      She turned to the man from the bus who had also gotten off.

      Sammy watched him close for a few minutes.

      It didn't take long until someone else had bothered him. There was an antique car that suddenly slowed down to whistle and heckled at him. They shouted sexual things. One of them gestured an imaginary blowjob with her hands. 

"Hehe." The woman on the passenger side pointed down at his pants.

      "You're planning a trip soon, right? Because that bulge is packing!"

      One of the women sitting in the back seat laughed out loud.  

      "So, big boy." said another.

      "Let's hear it. Spit it out." said the man.

      "Do you like pets?"

      "Oh, Because, you'd like to show me your kitty tonight? How original."

      The woman driving with sunglasses and a leather jacket over her thin bikini finally chimed in. "Here's one you haven't heard, you little firecracker. Are you any good at cooking? Because I’d like to order me a real...big juicy sausage with two eggs on the side. Like that one huh?"

      The rest of the ladies laughed out loud.

      "If you're done, I'll make my way back home then." the man continued.

      The greaser girl drove the car in reverse. "Hey! Seriously though, hop in the back we're going to the lake if you want to tag along. Don't you think my swimsuits cute?" she said tugging on her top and exposing herself briefly. She was annoyed by his lack of a reaction. "Quit being a little bitch. Have some fun with us, will ya?"

      Sammy watched and couldn't hold in the laughter, mainly from the ridiculousness of the situation, all four beautiful women in a top-down muscle car yelling out cat-calls to a man. It felt like the Twilight Zone. Bizzaro Land.

      The situation was stupid, but the girls were funny she admitted.

      The man's reaction was an enigma to her.

      He was meek and uninterested in any of them. Even the shy men she knew would crack a smile or would flirt back or get flustered. But, he seemed fed up with it all. Almost as if he was tired of it happening every day.

      "Hey!" Sammy shouted. "Leave him alone. He's not into you four losers."

      The ladies turned to Sammy, honking and flipping her off.

      "Dumb whore! Ruining everybody's fun." they sped off.

      Meanwhile, the man had already gone far enough away.

      "Wait! You with the bowler hat," said Sammy.

      He turned around.

      "Why are all these women obsessed with you and acting thirsty as hell?"

      "What? They were perched?"

      "No. It means they really wanted you." Sammy said walking closer.

      "Look here, I have pepper spray. If you get any closer I'll... I'll tell my wives. They're not far from here, one of them owns a cannon and is in the Marine Corps. You won't get far if you rape me."

      "WHAT?! Are you crazy?"

      "I'm not crazy, I'm just not an idiot. I know what's on your mind. I know how frustrated you might be, but it doesn't give you a valid excuse to torment me! You or anybody out there who thinks they can take advantage of a situation. I'm not a damn toy!"

      "HA HA HA HA HA HA!" Sammy tossed her head back and laughed so unapologetically hard, her abs began to hurt.

      The man continued.

      "You're insane! You could single-handedly out power anyone in that car!"

      Sammy gave up following him and went on her way toward her own place.

      She walked by a convenience store and took notice of the advertisement posters.

      "We need you to fight! Put your dukes up for women's cause!" the poster was titled. The artwork was incredible and exaggerated. They were of heavily-armored women in green berets walking through the Atlantic Ocean holding American flags and large automatic weapons. It was a propaganda poster urging women to take arms and fight overseas. There was a list of countries listed on a chart, each with a gender inequality index. The countries with the most inequality had larger fonts bright colors, and blood puddles underneath them. "These countries need to be liberated!" the texts said. "Enemies of Women are Enemies of Peace!"

      Sammy slowed her strut to really focus on what they were saying.

      "This is wild."

      Another poster was a memorial service, the biggest gathering in the country to commemorate the fall of the warships and to pay respects to the men who had fallen during WW2's Operation Magic Carpet. A mission returning millions of men fighting across the Pacific Theater and Europe, but they all had died during an ambush battle from a secret platoon of Nazis and Japanese Imperial Army war ships hiding out in Canada. The battleships and aircraft carriers were destroyed killing thousands, similar attacks on the ports in Europe and the U.S. between the years of 1945 and 1946. Sammy read the Allies eventually won, but severely wounded the American economy. Women were left to sustain the Home front with an unequal demographic census. Most of the males were too young to work, or at a retirement age. This was all on the various newspaper clippings that Sammy had read. It was a reminder of the timeline. A reminder of the significance of the memorial. The final poster was less aggressive, and a positive one, of a chief noblewoman putting an end to child marriages and increasing the pathway for young girls in their villages to get a proper education. This was the ultimate goal for America. The poster asked for donations for the foundation.

      Sammy realized she was not living in her world anymore.

      Something had transformed everything.  

      Sammy looked up at a giant billboard in the busy city center. It was of a woman in a blue suit waving. "Vote a second term for our nation's first female president, Sandra Stockton!"

      Women were now in power in this country and filled most of the cabinet positions in the White House. It was something for Sammy to smile about.

      She passed by a tribute sculpture by a fountain commemorating the men who died.

      Sammy learned there was a global holiday for the event, they called it Fallen Soldier Remembrance Day or simply Men's-Day.

      Sammy stopped walking towards her apartment. 

She knew it wasn't hers anymore.    

She instead sat on the sidewalk and people watched. Most of them were women in various uniforms and outfits with the occasional guy walking by with several females to his sides, in a polygamy arrangement. It was the standard practice she'd imagine after reading the posters. This world had been flipped around, and mirrored, and turned over its head every way possible.

      Sammy observed it all like a sponge.

      She eavesdropped while two women communicated on a coffee date.

      "You wouldn't believe the types of men they have in South America."

      "Did you ever fill out the application for Paolo's visit?"  

      "Yeah, he didn't pan out. Turns out he was "complicated".

      "What does that mean?"

      "He has like 30 darn kids from ten different women, Meredith. I don't need any of that drama in my life. I might just go the new sperm bank route. I keep hearing about it. Sally-Ann from Channel 5 says they're the new ginchy way to live life when you can't get pinned down with any of the limited suitors in this country. Then I can spend my entire days at the Elephant's Den when I'm feeling lonely."

      "Oh, Joy. Just give in already, it's not so bad sharing a husband." she turned over to catch me listening in. "E-Excuse me? Were you listening to us?"

      Sammy jumped and apologized repeatedly.

      She'd gone off to walk until she noticed the girl from the library walking on the opposite side of the two-way street. "Hey!!" she called out blinding walking towards incoming traffic. She was lucky not to get struck.

      A police officer quickly flagged her down with sirens.

      "Stay where you are, ma'am. I need you to wait til I pull around."

      Sammy stood idle while the policewoman exited her patrol car.

      "Don't give me that confused look, young lady. You're the one trying to cause an accident here with your shenanigans. Now go on now. What's going on with you?"

      Sammy stuttered. "I- I need to talk to that girl over there." she pointed

      "What for?"

      "I need that book! I need to get it back."

      "Did she steal that book from you?"

      "No. I lent it out to her from the library."

      "Okay. What's your occupation again?"

      "I'm a librarian. The book has some sort of special powers."

      "Identification Card, Please."

      "What?" Sammy hesitantly pulled it out.

      "Fancy, where did you get this thing? It's got a very clear image of you."

      "I need to get that book. Please!" she begged.

      "Settle down now Ms. Samantha Owens. Say, Maggy" the policewoman turned to her partner. "Get a look at this I.D. Look at the fancy documents they're issuing at the DMV."

      Sammy ran off while the cop was distracted.

      She finally caught up to the girl who checked out the book. "You!"

      "Uh. Have you been stalking me?"

      "No!" Sammy said leaning on her knees. "I....just...need." she gasped.

      "Girl, you must have the absolute best drugs money can buy."

      "Stop. I need that book. I really desperately need that book."

      "This one?" she pulled it out from her backpack.

      "Yes!" Sammy snatched it. "I'm sorry but I need to return it."

      "Fine. Jesus. Crazy-lady!"

      Sammy walked back until she saw the policewoman asking pedestrians about her whereabouts. She flinched and took a step back to find a bus stop again.

It seemed like she was cursed because the greasers riding around had spotted her.

      They pulled over to the side of the designated bus stop.

      "Well, well, well, what do we have here? The city's national cock-block."

      "That wouldn't even make sense." Sammy snapped back.

      "You want us to gut you, dumb ugly broad?" Said the girl on the passenger side. She pulled out her butterfly knife from the glove compartment and did a trick.

      Sammy started to get scared but had nowhere else to run. The other end of the street had been monitored by the policewoman.

      Then the bus arrived, and the driver pressed her thunderous horn.

      Sammy covered her ears, but she was happy about it.

      "Should I get that Lizzy Lousie out there to impound that piece of shit hunk of metal? Or will you get the fuck out of my way!?" yelled the bus driver still honking.

      Sammy was astonished. "Government workers don't fuck around in this timeline."  

      The muscle car sped away but not before shouting back to Sammy.

      "If I see you again, I'm going to carve my name on you!"

      Sammy took a deep breath and was the first one to get on the bus.

      Her leg bounced while she waited for the university exit.

      When she returned, she placed the book back on the old shelf and it transferred her back to her familiar world again. She told the freshman girl she didn't have the book she was asking for and opted to never set foot in that strange backroom again. In fact, she'd take a break from history books for a while.