The Invite
I finished my lunch and as I was walking back to my car I noticed that every windshield I passed had a flyer underneath the wiper. The flyer looked like it was an advertisement for a dry-cleaning establishment. All that changed when I got to my car.
I also had something under my wiper blade, however, it was not a flyer; it was a note. It appeared to be an invitation to a local park. The odd thing about the invitation was that it wasn’t just a generic invitation; it was specifically addressed to me by name.
Needless to say, I found it very odd. There was no signature on the invite which made it even more perplexing.
I always enjoy a good mystery, and having time left on my lunch break, I decided to go to this park, which was located not far from where I was.
Arriving at the park I felt a little bit uneasy, as the park was completely empty. The weather was beautiful. It was a clear sunny day; the air was filled with the scent of spring flowers in bloom, and the temperature seemed to be in the 80’s. You would expect a lot of people. Besides being thrown by the fact that the park was empty, I should have realized that the scene in front of me on this beautiful day was completely out of place. It was February, after all. I said aloud, “There’s something wrong here.”
I debated turning back and forgetting about this whole mystery idea when there was a sudden flash of light.
The next thing I knew, I was not in the same place where I had started. Well, let me be more clear, I was in the same place physically as I had been, the park, however, the scene had changed. It now looked closer to the park I should have seen when I got there. The sky was cloudy. It must have recently snowed as there was at least an inch of snow on the ground. The temperature was possibly in the low 40’s, as the evaporating snow created an eerie fog that blanketed the surroundings, and there were people wandering around the park. The people seemed to move with a rather robotic cadence.
If I wasn’t confused before, I definitely was now, due to the voice I heard that spoke to me. Or should I say spoke within me? It sounded like it was inside my head, just like my tinnitus It said, “Sorry for the confusion. This idea of seasons is so confusing for us. Please just act normally. This observation won’t take long in your notion of time. You will be returned by the time your mid-day eating interval is over.”
It seemed like forever as I tried to leave the park. Interacting with others to find an escape was useless. The people seemed as bewildered as me (if they were real at all).
I finally did get out of the park, back to my car, and back to work. I knew no one would believe me if I told them what happened, so I kept quiet.
The next day when I went to my car after having lunch, I was surprised to notice notes on a number of other cars. As to my car, there was only a flyer for a dry cleaner.
