There i was, standing there with a gun against my head. I had to go back. Or go forward if you really thought about it. If I didn’t, i wouldn’t get to chance to meet my future wife. Or past wife? It didn’t really matter. If I were to be murdered here, the Eugene Grant in my actual timeline would never exist and that would mean I couldn’t travel back in time. I couldn’t imagine a timeline where I didn’t meet Ida. I had to do something. But first, maybe i should tell the story from the beginning.
It was a sunny Saturday morning. I was walking towards my favorite coffee shop to get my morning coffee as usual. As I was passing through the park i ran into a strange looking man who seemed to be in a hurry. He dropped the black case he was carrying and some stinky goo spilled out. I kept walking even though I felt lightheaded from the smell. I reached the coffee shop but a strong headache hit and as i was opening the door. I felt the need to press my palm on my eyelid. When i opened my eyes I was dumbfounded. A couple women turned to me questioningly. There were dresses everywhere. On hooks, on manequines, on women… A blonde girl was measuring another with a tape and had pins in her mouth. Did I step into the wrong building? I was pretty sure this was my favorite coffee shop before i walked in. I turned back and walked out, confused. My confusion tripled as i looked around, trying to take everything in. My surroundings looked pretty much the same but but not exactly. Instead of the dry cleaning i always went, there was a hair dresser, which had pictures of women with hair that seemed bigger than their head on the outside of the building. Every building that surrounded my favorite coffee shop was replaced and it looked like a scene out of an old movie. There was even an arcade and a DVD store that you would only see in movies right next to it. I grabbed a newspaper from the store nextdoor and was shocked to see the date. It was 1980. I put the newspaper back and looked around helplessly. How did i get here? I was just about get my coffee. I was walking in circles trying to decide what to do and as i turned around, our eyes met. She came out of of a cozy little building that said “Barnbrook Bakery”. She was wearing a green sleeveless plaid dress with a long skirt that had ruffles. She had hair, a lot of it. There was a green headband on her puffy hair and she had curtain bangs. She put a strand of her hair behind her ear and my breath caught in my throat as we made eye contact. She had beautiful hazel eyes that i couldn’t pull my eyes away from. She had plump rosy lips and a beauty mark just above them. She was wearing pearl earrings and a necklace. She was so pretty that i suddenly forgot the faces of all the other girls I knew. My feet took me to her unwillingly..