2024-09-29 “Dinner For… Five” by Merritt

Today in Brooklyn, the weather was sort of unpleasant. Gray skies and temps in the 60s°F (Mid-teens Celsius). We essentially just hung out.

Devon and Hannah talked a good bit about work. Hannah is starting a new project here in Brooklyn tomorrow; she’ll meet with the client doing what Will calls “first contact” to see what they want. Since this is completely new, he wants Devon to shadow her all throughout the process, so he can learn how a project goes from first step to last. He’ll end up shadowing the engineer who ends up heading the work, but will get to go on site whenever that is called for.

After hanging out around the apartments most of the day, we decided to go out to dinner. We had barely decided where to go when Addison called me. I passed her off to Emma and Addison asked if she could come.

Hannah wanted me to say that she invited herself.

We all went out to dinner and it was really quite fun. There were a lot of laughs. Devon has an easy-going way about him and he’s got a great sense of humor. Addison played off his banter like they had rehearsed parts for a play. All things aside, truth be told, she’s a good actress and could probably make a few bucks doing stand-up comedy. 

After dinner, Addison called Uber and Devon and I walked the girls back to the apartments. About halfway home, something happened with men and Hannah. As we walked along (in engineering terms) the period at which our arms were swinging became equal. That’s to say our arms swung in unison. And when our hands bumped into each other for the second time, I took her hand into mine. 

I guess Devon and Emma noticed; they also joined hands half a block further along. 

So, we held hands. I guess we need to plan a double wedding now.

2024-09-30 “Slight Hiccup” by Hannah

SLIGHT HICCUP—Well… As magical as yesterday was, today… Let’s just say there was a little hiccup in things between Merritt and me.

Today, I was to have Devon shadow me as we start a new project. We were to do what Will calls a first contact meeting that would allow Devon to be in on a project literally from day 1. The meeting got moved to 2 p.m., so we met with the Engineer in charge.

“Take good notes,” he said. “I’ve never done a pet store… seem more of a remodel than an engineering project.”

Then, the  meeting got pushed back to 4 p.m. so Will said just end the day after the meeting; no need to come back to the office.

Now for the first thing leading to the hiccup. I have a wireless phone charger, and I thought my phone was charging. False. I texted Merritt from my MacBook a few times through the afternoon, so I didn’t notice. By the time we actually left for the meeting, my phone was dead. 

Second factor: Devon got a new phone today to go with the new job. His was charged so we could use it on the visit to take notes.

The meeting went well and ran over. There are a lot of plumbing issues for the fish and aquarium section. And ventilation issues.

Devon and I headed back to the apartment. I was going to hang out and wait for Merritt while Devon went to walk Emma home. As soon as I got there, I found a charger for my phone and plugged it in.

I found a couple of messages from Merritt of the “where are you?” ilk. Plus one saying he’d wait for me at the office. Ooops.

I called and explained, and he eventually said, “Okay, no biggie… I don’t have Devon’s new number… It’s all fine.”

All fine… Probably meaning I’m not happy but there’s nothing I can do.

“I’m sorry,” I said.

“It’s fine. I guess we won’t see each other… We both have early starts tomorrow out in Queens.”

I tried a compromise. “Why not sleep over at my place? I have a sofa… You know…”

“I’d not have a change of clothes… toothbrush… all that… It’s fine.”

Fine again.

So, I suppose we passed each other on trains going opposite directions before getting to our separate homes.

2024-09-28 “Girl Time” by Hannah

It is Saturday and Emma has to work the matinee show at the theater, but that didn’t stop us from having a nice morning together. After we all got back to the apartments last night (Merritt and I had dinner, then went to pick her up—Devon met us there to wait for Emma.), we hung out for a while, then Emma and I came to her apartment.

Let’s not call it a slumber party. That rings too much like middle school! Or something. I inflated one of the air mattresses, so I had a decent place to sleep.

We talked until late. Mostly, about life in 1880 and how hard it must be on the time-travelers who got sent back there. We also discussed that post that was hacked to our pages that talked about their social arrangement. It was titled “Out Of Time.” I think we agreed that it made sense for them. I’ll leave it there.

I’ll get this post wrapped up by mentioning that dinner with Merritt last night was very nice. It was so relaxed. If we call it a 2nd date or even 3rd date (who’s counting?), it was by far the most relaxed 2nd or 3rd date I have ever had. Chalk it up to the intense connection we have? Or the extended period of friendship that has come before? For whatever reason, it was very nice with no pressure or tension. 

We talked mostly about work, then about the idea that we need to be doing good deeds. Merritt told me about their visit to Florida, and suggested we might find a Habitat For Humanity office around here and do some work for them. I thought that sounded good.

Shortly after the picture was taken, Emma pulled on a t-shirt and some jeans while I took a shower and got dressed. She said it didn’t much matter what she put on; she’d have a costume waiting and there was a stylist who’d help her get her hair looking right for the show.

I’ll hang out with the guys while she works and we’ll all go for pizza or something tonight when she gets off.

Honestly, I can’t imagine a better way to spend Saturday.

2024-09-27 “Matching Up” by Merritt

I’m headed back to the office from Queens where I did more measuring. More looking at old blueprints so out of date as to be all but useless. Now, I’ve got to compile my notes for the engineer in charge of this project.

Hannah is supposed to meet me there when she gets done. She’s in the basement of some building in Manhattan that needs to have a wall moved so that a new elevator control system can go in. Moving basement walls is far from trivial since they usually have a building on top of them.

Anyway… The plan is to meet at the office, then we’ll go to dinner at a nice Italian restaurant that’s down the block. After that, we’ll get to Brooklyn in time to meet Emma and get her home safely. Hannah’s gonna sleep over at Emma’s on an air mattress.

I guess I should mention a conversation Devon and I had a few days back. Basically, it amounted to what, back in high school and college, we’d call matching up.

When a group of guys would meet a group of girls for the first time, there came a point (sometimes) when the guys and/or girls would briefly isolate to decide which guy and which girl would go together. Essentially, Devon suggested we match up between Hannah and Emma.

He was clear he’d be happy to see how things worked out with either girl and assumed I would be too. He went on to say that he believed that Hannah had already decided that  she wanted to try things with me, so I should work with that, and he should see how things go with Emma.

It didn’t come off like a question. More like, since Hannah had made a choice, everything else had to fall in place.

I’m not saying I disagree. Just saying how it went.

Also, Devon got all his paperwork sorted out and will start working at NYC SysCo with Hannah and me on Monday. Will has also worked out for him to start college in New Jersey in January. He just missed the fall terms.

So, I guess that’s it. There’s definitely something nice about knowing… let's say it like this… knowing where to sit when we’re all in a room. 

2024-09-26 “Day Off” by Emma

This is the Emma living in 2024. You can tell ‘cause my clothes are different. That Emma from 1984 living back in 1880 is pictured in clothes what like I woulda worn if I wudn’t so poor. Plus, I'm holding my iPhone.

I sure feel sorry for that version o’ me. Jumping to 2024 was a shock on account of how different things are in an easier way. Them that went back to 1880 have a whole lotta problems t’ face, and what got mentioned on the 24th ain’t hardly none of ‘em.

Well, that’s all I want to say ‘bout that now.

Next I wanna say it’s my day off. What the versions of us in 1880 said about doing good deeds is ‘bout ‘xactly the same thing we come up with for why all this is happening. It don’t ‘xplain why we had to shift time, but it’s all we got to go on now.

Since it’s my day off, I’m gonna go back to that church were we gave away the Halmart sleeping bags and ask ‘em if there’s anything I can do to help with them trying to help people what haven’t got a place to live. They call it a homeless ministry. 

I also wanna tell a little about how me an’ Deven are getting on. It was three days back when he walked me to work and took me out for dinner. All I feel like saying right now is I don’t have anything to complain ‘bout it. He’s sure nice and he makes things fun. 

He’s gone to Manhattan to meet Mr. Robertson ‘bout starting work, now that he’s got is government papers in order. He’s supposed to start work Monday. 

When he gets done, we was gonna go have a picnic but it’s real cloudy an’ might rain. I decided to make a picnic anyway, ‘cept over here in my ‘partment since it’s mostly empty anyway. I think it’ll be nice.

Well, that's all for now. Thanks for reading my stories!

1880-09-25 “What Lies Ahead” by Merritt (born 2000)

Earlier journal entries have discussed how we are living now and how each of us came to be time-shifted back to 1880. Lacking other diversions, we have long discussed what we should be doing.

Our many hours of discussion have led us to believe that there are three possible ways to account for the time-shifting. As mentioned before, we have:

In 1880 in Memphis

• Emma 1984

• Hannah 1984

• Merritt 2024

In 2024 in NYC

• Emma 1880

• Hannah 2024

• Merritt 1984

In 1984… somewhere

• Emma 2024

• Hannah 1880

• Merritt 1880

So, the three possible ways to explain this are:

• there are three versions of each of us in the same universe at different points in time.

• there are three versions of us in different universes either:

• • at the same point in time.

• • at different points in time.

Science as we understand has theories about time, space, and multiverses. But nothing about multiple versions of the same person; that is seen only in science fiction. Whatever happened is not covered by any science that we know of.

If multiple versions of us are in the same universe at different times, there is a very interesting possibility existing with regard to the versions that time-shifted to 1984 (as we believe there are) and those that shifted to 2024.

Arriving in 1984 at the age of 24 would mean being 64 in 2024. Thus, two versions of each of us could be coexisting in 2024.

Possible, but unknown. In fact, nothing within physics (or more so metaphysics) gives any clue as to why there was a shift and what we are to do, now that we are shifted.

Our only real clue as to what we are to do comes in the form of a check that came to me (Merritt) from some organization in St. Louis called “Benevolence Worldwide.” It was in an amount sufficient to pay my mortgage for a year. A note indicated that it was for “kindness and generosity in opposition to oppression.” 

So, unsure of anything else, we feel like some part of the reason we are here is to do good deeds. Being kind and generous… opposing oppression… It’s vague, but it is something.

2024-09-24 “Moving On” by Emma

I s’pose you can guess I’m walking to work. I guess I’ve said b’fore that it seems funny to me that people want to hear me tell about how I lived in 1880, ‘cept they think I studied it an’ am acting.

Anyway, I’ve had a lot to think about recently, an’ I’ve come to an idea that seems to make sense to me. There’s been two main things taking up all our thoughts. One is why we’re here and what to do ‘bout it. The other is… I’ll say it like this… Who we’re gonna do all that with. 

I can’t say I have an answer to either question.

What I can say is while we’re figuring things out, we gotta just keep moving on. It seems like doin’ nice for other folks has some bearing on why we’re here, so I guess we oughta do that, for one thing. And then we take each day and do our best at our jobs and in how we treat each other.

Now, as for who matches up with who, I guess you know Hannah is pretty set on trying things out with Merritt. I still wish I’d never’ve said that stuff about not wanting to be forced into being together. But, I guess that’s water under the bridge. An’ I’ve been saying if something’s meant to be, it’s meant to be, and I believe that.

But, Devon bought me dinner last night an’ it was real nice. He said it was fun and asked if we could do it again. I said it would be nice.

Now, right now I don’t feel like kissing him or nothing, but spending time seems fine. He don’t seem in a hurry ‘bout necking or nothing else, so I s’pose we’ll just visit at the ‘partment like we’ve been doing, but go have a picnic or something once in a while.

To boil it down, the four of us, plus Addison are gonna be living real close an’ sharing a sitting room. I think we need to get on with working out the way things’ll be and worry less about how it all got like it is.

1880-09-24 “Challenges Abound” by Merritt (born 2000)

CHALLENGES ABOUND—September in Memphis is hot and humid. The air hangs heavy all around, and there is no refuge. 1880 does not have electricity; hence it does not have air conditioning, nor even fans.

After work, I make my way home, the heat pushing into the 90s F even with October less than a week away. Once home, I’ll usually strip down to my trousers and undershirts. The girls have adopted the habit of putting on their dressing gowns as soon as dinner is eaten to thwart the heat by a small measure.

Devon retreats to his room. “Lordy heaven help me! These white women are tryin’ t’ put a noose ‘roun’ my neck fo’ sure! Draw them blinds, Misses… Draw ‘em closed quick ‘fore someone gets a look… Mercy on my soul, mercy, Lo’d!”

We sit in the heavy still air. The sounds of the Memphis evening are strange to us. The background noise of 1880 defies our 20th and 21st century ears.

Clopping hooves signal the passing of a carriage or wagon. Laughter from the neighbor’s children will rise into the thick, humid air. From the window of the house behind us, the cries of a baby filter through the sounds of the birds and insects. Across the street, shortly after dinner most nights, a piano plays ragtime or hymns; no one sings.

Though we have running water, it is pumped from the Wolf River and is delivered notably muddy. I devised a way to filter out the silt—Devon spreads it in the front flower bed. Hannah crafted a still, and Devon mans it through the day to create clean water for cooking and drinking. 

Darkness comes with sunset. The gas streetlights do little more than remind us how dark it is. Oil lamps inside offer hardly enough light to justify the heat they produce, but they are all we have.

So, amidst the wavering shadows from the oil lamp we huddle together in the parlor, our voices low, our laughter soft. Our ideas mingle and grow one from another. Always, questions arise…

Why are we here? What should we do? Can we go back? How?

Our whispers drift into the dark swelter that surrounds us. But no answer returns.

~Storyline on Blogger (Link in Bio)

#aiart #artwork #digitalart #ai #ailove 

#fiction #shortstories #shortstory

2024-09-23 “According To Plan” by Hannah

Today has proven to be a very interesting day. Some of it has been what happened and some, how I reacted to what happened.

I have said before that Emma has come to feel like a sister to me. We’re that close. I don’t actually have any siblings, so what I feel for Emma is very special. I guess it is like “best friend” X 10.

Hold that thought.

Today at work, Merritt and I were in the office for the morning compiling his data and comparing it to blueprints from the 1970s. We work very well together. Today, he seemed more cheerful than he has in a few days, and he invited me to lunch at that grocery store that sells sandwiches before we went separate ways for the afternoon.

Then, I called Emma and asked her about me meeting her after she finishes her performance. What she told me was something of a surprise.

Not long ago, I had pizza with Devon and encouraged him to show his interest to Emma. He’s a great guy, and we get along very well. If I had any second thoughts about which of the two men I’d like to explore things with first—and I’m not saying I had any—they would have been dispelled by Emma telling me Devon had made her breakfast, walked her to work, and was taking her to dinner when she gets off.

Yeah… that happened.

I typed out a text to Merritt about us meeting for dinner and almost sent it. I didn’t because I thought it would have seemed too… something… contrived? Arranged?

Another surprise was how disappointed I was to not get to hang out with Emma. I’m very happy for her; not jealous. Just I was looking forward to it a lot. I take that as some indication of just how close I feel to her, and that’s a good thing.

Anyway, my mind is awhirl right now! In a good way!

2024-09-22 “More Ideas” by Emma

I was undressing for bed, as you see, but I stopped to tell about some things that happened o’er at Merritt and Devon’s earlier.

You might‘ve seen the post from 1880 that got put to our pages where they was accounting for where all the different versions of ever’body was. Well, naturally, we was talking ‘bout that.

I wanna say we got real silly thinkin’ ‘bout 1880 Merritt sitting in a train one second, then going into a sparkly cloud and comin’ out driving a car! I sure hope he didn’t have a wreck, but Merritt said the time-shift pro’lly stopped the car.

Then Devon said, “You know what, the three of you in 1880 are the most knowledgeable people in the world about science.”

We all just stopped, and Devon went on. “If Emma 1984 took AP Chemistry, then she knows about electron orbitals and the electron cloud. And the other two would have had chemistry in college, as well. In biology… what? Genetics? Antibiotics… If they could get to the right people, they could change… life… What if they could get… like… transistors going before 1900?”

Well, the discussion on that took a long, long time, an’ then I said, “Maybe why we shifted was to put them three back in 1880 so they can make ever’thing better.”

“What if,” Merritt said, “they do something and the future we are in breaks?”

Then I said, “Well, if that’s so, they already did it, ‘cause if they are on the same world as us, it was a 144 years ago.”

Devon smiled. “She’s right about that. Emma, you are so smart.”

“I don’t feel very smart,” I said. “‘Round Merritt an’ Hannah an’ you… Engineers…”

I guess I sort of got worked up and a little teary, but Devon reached over an’ took my hand for a few seconds, real sweet, and he said, “Smart is different from educated. You have lots of intelligence and it hasn’t been ruined by teachers and professors forcing you to use it a certain way.”

Merritt nodded. “He’s right, Emma, about you being smart. Since we met, you’ve understood a lot of things long before anyone else has.”

I ain’t sure ‘bout that, but it was nice to hear.

2024-09-23 “Shooting My Shot” by Devon

First off, Merritt and I have agreed that I won’t read his posts and he won’t really read mine—cut/paste with as little reading as possible. That said, I won’t really post anything that I haven’t more or less discussed with him to start with.

So, this morning, we were talking about things.

Side note: I received my Social Security Card, so I’ll be calling Mr. Robertson today about getting started at NYC SysCo. Thus, I’m not going to day-job today.

Unrelated side note: I decided to surprise Emma by having breakfast made when she got here. In my mind, it is a “thank you” for the version of her back in 1880 being nice to the version of me.

Back to Merrritt and my conversation. It has become clear that he thinks both Emma and Hannah are interested in me. I attempted to set him straight. Based on the discussion over pizza, only a small fraction of which would fit in a post (that I didn’t read), I assured him Hannah was more or less set on seeing if things with him would work out. I told him how she was encouraging me to think about Emma.

It took some convincing, but I think I got my point across.

Now, here’s how I see things. Any man looking for a meaningful, maybe long term relationship would be happy with either Hannah or Emma. And I’m mostly sure Addison’s flirting game is really a facade for what is actually a sweet girl who’s a little dramatic and theatrical. I think.

Now, I feel like Merrit fits into the “any man” category; he’d be happy with Emma or Hannah. I think.

Emma… I’m not 100% sure about, but I know she’s nice to me. She listens to me and shares her ideas freely.

Hannah, however, is fairly clear about her intention to explore “things” with Merritt.

So… maybe my “unrelated side note” isn’t so unrelated. Emma works the Matinee today. I’m going to give it a shot, as they say. I’m going to ask her to let me walk her to work and, in celebration of me getting my SS card, let me buy her dinner tonight when she gets off. 

Might as well see what happens…

1880-09-22 “So It Seems” by Emma (Born 1965)

Today is Wednesday, Sept. 22, 1880. After dinner, Merritt, Hannah, Devon, and I gathered in the parlor to write out a journal entry that would organize some of our conclusions.

I’d like to start by saying Devon is finding it hard to feel a part of our social circle. I’ll illustrate with an example.

I’ve been helping him learn to read and write, and he has been very grateful, and at one point, he said, “If you wudn’t a white woman, I’d give you a good hug.” 

“You can hug me anyway, if you want to.”

“No thank y’ ma’am,” he said. “I ain’t interested in gittin’ my neck stretched in a lynching. Ain’t no telling if someone would take notice, but…”

All the same, we include him in meals. Hannah and I help cook, and he sees that as strange. Merritt helps clean up the dishes. Devon does not understand, but defers to his employer.

There’s not a lot to do in 1880, so we have spent a lot of time trying to sort out what has happened. Based on the dreams we’ve shared and our own experiences, this is what we think.

We know of three people who have time-shifted. Us. We have adopted identifying them by name and date they shifted from.

In Memphis in 1880 are Emma 1984, Hannah 1984, and Merritt 2024.

In New York in 2024 are Emma 1880, Merritt 1984, and Hannah 2024.

Clearly there are 1880 versions of all three of us. Hannah 1880 finished schooling as a doctor, and came to Memphis where she was denied a job because they thought she was a man. Emma 1880 set out for Memphis to find work. Merritt 1880 graduated from UT Knoxville as an engineer and came here to work on the new sewer system.

We only know where Emma ended up—2024 NYC.

We know of two 2024 versions. 2024 Merritt, after graduating from Georgia as an engineer, was driving a car around Vancouever when he ended up on a train in 1880, while 1984 Merritt was driving around Atlanta and shifted to Canada, then went on to NYC as planned.

2024 Hannah didn’t time shift. She is an engineer who graduated from Syracuse, just like 1984 Hannah did.

We can account for all three 1984 versions of us. Merritt is in 2024 NYC, and Hannah and I are in 1880 Memphis.

Merritt, Hannah, Devon, and I have discussed this a lot. It seems like symmetry would mean there were three versions of each of us from each of the three time-shift years.

So, who is missing?

So far, there is nothing on 2024 Emma, 1880 Hannah, or 1880 Merritt. If symmetry is indeed at work, they should all be in 1984. 

That would suggest that 1880 Hannah went to bed in the boarding house and woke up in a dorm in Syracuse. 2024 Emma had hitch-hiked a ride with a trucker, but would have woken up in a Memphis bus terminal with notes about a job interview at FedEx. 1880 Merritt would have been riding on a train and, passing through a yellow and green cloud, ended up behind the wheel of a Toyota north of Atlanta.

Now, 1984 Hannah and 1984 Merritt were both on their way to jobs with NYC SysOps. But 1984 Emma was hoping for work at FedEx.

Acknowledged, all this is very, very confusing, so I’ll try to sum it up.

In 1880, Emma 1984, Hannah 1984, and Merritt 2024 are in Memphis. Us.

In 2024, Emma 1880, Hannah 2024, and Merritt 1984 are in NYC.

And if there are actually three other versions (which we think there are) then Emma 2024, Hannah 1880, and Merritt 1880 are… somewhere.

We’ve also discussed if we are all in the same universe or in parallel universes. This makes things even more confusing, and someone will share our thoughts about that later.

For now, I’ll close with one more try at summing it up:

In 1880 in Memphis

• Emma 1984

• Hannah 1984

• Merritt 2024

In 2024 in NYC

• Emma 1880

• Hannah 2024

• Merritt 1984

In 1984… somewhere

• Emma 2024

• Hannah 1880

• Merritt 1880

NOTE: There is a 2024 version of someone after each shift.

2024-09-21 “Pizza And Ideas” by Hannah

After we all met at the coffee shop, Addison and Emma had to go to work. I suggested Merritt, Devon, and I get pizza, but Merritt reminded me he had to work up numbers for our next project and wanted us all to be free on Sunday, so he went home.

Devon and I went for pizza and promised to get Merritt a small carry-out.

As we waited, Devon said, “So, I read all the 1880 posts. I didn’t think the privacy rule applied to them.”

“I see…So, what’s your take?”

“Well, the obvious eye-raisers… 1880 you was a doctor. 1984 you was an engineer. Women’s rights, I guess. A woman doctor seems more in keeping with 1880 than a woman engineer…”

“Valid point. Go on…”

“Addason and me… not shifted, but… represented? What’s up with that?”

I nodded. “Interesting. What could it mean? Are others… represented is a good word? Tom? Will?”

“Not that were mentioned yet,” Devon said.

“I think it’s interesting that I am represented by a former slave. I never thought of myself that desperate in 2024.”

“Addison is a man…” I said. “Bosses would have been men.”

“Addison is still a flirt, though,” Devon added. “He’s hitting on both of you.”

“As our Addison hits on you and Merritt.”

“Well…” Devon shrugged. “…in 1880, you and Emma both get Merritt. Lucky man!”

“I read that as affectionate, not romantic.”

“Yeah,” Devon nodded. “Still… you two should work that out for 2024.”

I was shocked, but I smiled—and blushed. But, I thought that was an open door to mention Emma’s interest in Devon.

“Listen, not everything is parallel. Engineer… doctor… Our Emma is far from disinterested in you. And I get the idea you’re interested in her, and why wouldn’t you be? She’s adorable… smart… kind. She’s so relaxed and easygoing. You must have noticed all that.”

Devon smiled. “Of course I’ve noticed… but Hannah… seriously…”

I looked at him and he went on. “Listen, you’re not saying Emma is all that because you aren’t are you?”

“What?”

“I mean, every nice thing you said… it’s true about both of you…”

Just then, the pizza arrived and rescued me from being embarrassed.

2024-09-21 “Hacked!” by Merritt

Emma, Hannah, and my IG accounts have been hacked. Further, the Blogger page where all our posts are collected has also been hacked. 

For some reason, none of us have posted over the last few days, but you may have noticed the “journal entries.” Addison called this morning wondering what we were up to. 

Hannah was in the office when I called her. Fortunately. 

There’s a guy, Matt Harlan, who’s an electrical engineer. He overheard Hannah. He’s a nice guy, and maybe extra nice to Hannah (though never out of line). 

When IG said they would look into it and recommended changing passwords, Matt said, “I can do better than that.”

His 30 y/o younger brother is a cyber security engineer for one of Meta’s providers. He was able to get some info and trace the IP of the poster.

Once we were all at a coffee shop near the theater, Hannah said, “It’s an obscure private organization in St. Louis called ‘Benevolence Worldwide.’”

“We don’t know if it’s the same people,” I said.

“Has to be.” Devon replied. “Same name with different words.”

“We don’t even know if these things really happened,” Hannah added.

“We should just change our passwords and delete the posts,” I said.

Emma shook her head. “Maybe not.”

“Why?” I said.

“Think of what we can learn about them if they keep posting. Maybe… we’ll understand things better…”

“Brilliant!” Devon replied. “You won’t have to wait for linked dreams!”

“What would we learn?” Hannah asked.

Addison laughed. “I’m a man who hits on cleaning girls and dancers!”

“You’re still her boss,” Devon replied. “Women wouldn’t have been a boss in 1880. Hannah’s a doctor, but the hospital men wouldn’t let her have a job. I’m a former slave—a black man.”

“That’s kinda hot, though,” Addison said, looking back at Devon.

“Anyway…” Hannah said, shaking her head, “what’s the plan?”

We talked about options for a while, but Emma’s thoughts made sense, and I added, “Besides, changing passwords wouldn’t help. They hacked us once. They can do it again.”

“We go on,” Emma concluded, “and hope we can learn things from their journals.”

1880-09-21 “Wrong Memphis” by Emma (born 1965)

My name is Emma Knox, and I was born in Vicksburg MS in 1965. I am now living in Memphis, TN, but it is 1880. I, along with two friends, Hannah and Merritt, are time travelers.

We decided to journal our experiences, so this is my first official entry. I wrote down something earlier, and that’s what gave us the idea to make journals.

It was July 4,1984 when I time-shifted. Before the shift, I was more or less normal for a poor Mississippi girl. My daddy was a tenant farmer outside Vicksburg. Momma worked in a nursing home as a nurse assistant.

I was a pretty good student. I took some AP classes like history, biology, and chemistry. I took physics and would have taken calculus, but mom got sick and had to stop taking shifts. When I turned 17 I got my equivalency diploma and got a job doing dishes at Shoney’s. 

Mom finally got too sick to work and we lost our insurance. Meanwhile this boy named Sean wouldn’t leave me alone. He had a stocker job at a Kroger and thought I’d make a good wife. I called him Stocker Sean the Stalker. 

I decided to see about a better job, and FedEx was growing fast, hiring people for everything. I had an interview for a job doing maintenance work in the hub. I got on a bus one afternoon planning to spend the night in the bus terminal. I fell asleep not far out of Vicksburg, and when I woke up, I was sleeping in a boxcar in South Memphis. It was 104 years in the past.

Well, I wandered toward the middle of town. In 1880 Memphis had just over 33K people. I come to a place where there was a theater on one side of the street and a burlesque show on the other. There was a nice looking man and one of the dancers talking. We locked eyes.

I don’t know how, but I knew they were time-shifted, too. I couldn’t keep from walking right to them.

Of course, they were Merritt, from 2024 and Hannah from 1984 (like me). There was some sort of intense, immediate connection between us.

Merritt explained how we are now living together in his house, so I’ll close this entry.

That’s how I got to 1880.

1880-09-20 “High Kicks” by Hannah

This is the first entry in my journal. I am Hannah Madison, born in Scranton, PA in 1962, living in Memphis, TN. In 1880. I am a time traveler. Some unknown metaphysical phenomenon time-shifted me, Merritt, and Emma from 1984 to 1880.

How I came to be in Memphis is clouded with uncertainty. I attended Syracuse University and majored in Engineering. I had accepted a job at a company called NYC SysOps. I had stayed in the dorm after graduation to be RA for a short pre-summer term. On June 14, I laid down to take a nap.

When I woke up, it was still June 14. But it was 1880, and I was in a boarding house in Memphis. I was not an engineer, though I had all the knowledge from when I laid down for the nap. Instead… I was a burlesque dancer. 

Everything about being in Memphis was confusing. The other dancers, through conversations, revealed that they thought I was from Scranton. They also called me “doc” and I picked up on the idea that the version of me that had been there before I time-shifted had claimed to have been a doctor, trained at the Women’s Medical College of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.

The woman that runs the burlesque show, Greta, has made a few comments leading me to believe I came to Memphis to work at City Hospital, but was denied a job because I am a woman.

It wasn’t long before it was clear that the boarding house was barely a notch shy of being a brothel. Brothel-like activities were not officially part of the place, but they were hardly uncommon. Let’s say my disinterest in them did not help my situation. 

Also, it should be noted that the me that came from 1984 wasn’t much of a dancer to begin with!

A couple of weeks after I woke up in 1880, I was outside the burlesque show building when a handsome, nicely dressed man walked by. There was something more to him than vision alone would perceive. I was compelled to approach him.

That was Merritt Gray, and somehow, we both knew we were time-shifted. Later, on July 4, we met Emma Knox, also time-shifted from 1984; her arrival story will be in her journal.

1880-09-19 “It Was Awkward” by Merritt (born 2000)

Back on June, 28 of this year (which is 1880 where I am now, but was 2024 where I was) something happened that defies explanation. As I said in an earlier entry, I am journaling this unexplainable experience (as are two others: Emma Knox and Hannah Madison). Something happened and time-shifted us from when and where we grew up to Memphis, Tennessee in 1880.

I had just graduated from University of Georgia with a civil engineering degree. I found a car on the Internet that was in Burnaby, British Columbia, which is near Vancouver. I thought it would be a nice adventure to, rather than paying shipping, fly out and drive back to a job that was going to be waiting for me in New York.

I picked up the car and took it for a drive. It was a 2023 Honda Accord. Red. Everything was going according to plan until…

As I was making a curve, a glowing yellow and green cloud appeared. I couldn’t avoid it. I entered the cloud and was surrounded by flashes of yellow and green lights. I blinked my eyes and felt the seat under me change.

When the yellow and green lights cleared, I was sitting on a train… and old, old train, I thought… and I was definitely not in Canada.

I guess I pride myself at being thoughtful and keeping my cool. I thought I had passed out and was just waking up in that half-dream state, but I never woke up any more. I sat back and studied my situation.

I had a suitcase on the floor and I examined its contents to find out I had just graduated from University of Tennessee as an engineer. The ticket in my jacket pocket said I was bound for Memphis. A letter told me that I had a job as an engineer on the creation of a sewer system for Memphis, the need for which was highlighted by the 1978 yellow fever epidemic.

Shortly after reaching Memphis, I was walking along a street and came upon a burlesque show. So, 1880 burlesque is far, far milder than 2024 music videos. Still, I wished to be seen as proper within the context of the time. I noticed the dancers outside soliciting patrons to go in, but I had no intention of showing interest.

However, something compelled me to take a second look, and doing so, I made eye contact with one of the dancers. I stopped in my tracks and she started walking toward me as if not in control of her steps.

“Um,” she said, “I’m Hannah… something… happened… I feel like I… have to tell you…”

“I’m Merritt.” I nodded. “Yeah… something happened…You…shifted?”

She nodded. “How do we know?”

“I don’t know. It’s… I just know…”

“1984.”

I shook my head. “2024. I’ve been… here… a couple days.”

“I shifted on June 14,” she said.

We didn’t have a chance to talk much about things at that moment, but we knew we’d stay in touch.

With that much told, I’ll leave it to Hannah to fill in how she found herself in 1880. Emma showed up a few days later on July 4. Her journal will account for her time-shift and how we met.

I will close this entry saying that there was some sort of instant connection, something that compelled us to approach each other and that revealed that we had time-shifted. As I said before, this is all metaphysical, defying science as we know it.

Crazy? It feels like that.

1880-09-19 “Out Of Time” by Merritt (born 2000)

I, Merritt Gray, born in the year 2000, but living in the year 1880 will now set out to begin a journal that will record the unthinkable, unimaginable circumstances that have become my life. I am a time traveler, and with me are two others; Emma Knox, born in 1965, and Hannah Maddison, born in 1962. My time shift occurred in 2024 and theirs in 1984 placing us together in Memphis, Tennessee in 1880.

Because of some dream experiences, we have concluded that there are versions of ourselves living in 2024 and most likely in 1984 as well. How it happened and why is unknown, but we believe it is metaphysical and beyond the bounds of any science we know.

There are many things readers might find interesting. How we arrived in 1880… How we are living now… What we are planning to do… Hannah, Emma, and I have decided that we will start journaling our experiences. To what end, we are unsure, but whatever metaphysics shifted us might have some way to make use of them.

I believe addressing how we live is a good place to start, for that is the most certain of all things.

The 1880 version of me just graduated from University of Tennessee as an engineer before taking the place (we think) the 1984 version of me who just graduated from University of Georgia as an engineer who we know took the place of the 2024 version of me, who also graduated from Georgia as an engineer.

I will write about all that later, but that all is to say, as an engineer, I make a good living. Three weeks ago, I closed on a house (Mortgages are new, but I was able to get a loan) that is pretty nice, and it includes running water (which became a thing in Memphis in 1873) of a sort. We also have a cistern that collects rainwater.

Everyone moved in with me—there are four bedrooms plus a servant’s quarters. It has an 1880s version of a bathroom with a sink, toilet, and tub.

The boarding house Hannah lived in was barely a notch above a brothel, and Emma and my place wasn’t nice by any standards. I more or less insisted we all move in together.

There’s a fourth member of our household. As soon as we moved in, a young man named Devon Collier introduced himself and asked if I needed a gardener and house boy. He is a 22 year old orphan who was born as a slave in 1858. His parents were house slaves, and their owner named Devon. His parents died in the yellow fever epidemic in 1878.

Devon knows we are time-shifted, but it’s hard for him to imagine the things we’ve told him about. He uses the servant quarters, insisting it wouldn’t be proper to do otherwise.

Another thing Devon does not understand is the social relationships between Emma, Hannah, and me. The metaphysics that time-shifted us has further given us an intense feeling of connection.

I was born in 2000, and socially, I was exposed to the idea of more fluidity in relationships. Born in the 60s, Hannah and Emma were not blind to what their parents would call non-traditional arrangements.

That said, I’d say we are all pretty conservative in our thinking. Even by 1880 standards, which outside the public light embraces brothels and that sort of thing. And given the uncertainties of being time-shifted, we quickly decided that pursuing anything remotely like a serious romantic relationship was sketchy.

Yet, the social connection is strong, and begs for some level of affectionate expression. I’d honestly say it falls far short of being romantic, but our interactions regularly include hugs and cuddles. It seems deviant in the context of 1880, but would hardly be noticed in 2024.

We sit together in the parlor, frequently all three of us, musing over our situation and the ramifications of it. And yes, you would definitely say we are cuddling. And yes, kissing them goodnight is common. Again, I’d honestly say it comes up far short of romantic and is way way short of being passionate. Intimate? Indeed.

In my next journal entry, I’ll write about my arrival in 1880. Emma and Hannah will journal about theirs.

So, I’ve started with how things are. I’ll next write about how I came to be here. Then, I’ll write about what we think is going on and what we might do about it.

  

Hang on. This is going to be a crazy ride!

1880-09-18 “Stuck Here” by Emma (born 1965)

Well, 1800 is way, way different than 1984. My boss at the theater where I’m a cleaning woman, Addison Magee, has, over the months, noticed certain things are hard for me, and I needed to explain to him why. 

Addison knows Hannah—she’s a dancer in a burlesque show—and Merritt—he’s an engineer working on the Memphis sewers—but he doesn't know we’re time-shifted from the future. He knows Merritt’s roommate, Devon—who is not time-shifted.

I had asked Hannah to meet with me because Addison acts like he’d be more than happy to take either one of us off so he could have his way with us. Neither one of us has much interest in him, but he’s mostly nice about things and plays his flirting off as if he’s only half serious about it.

“Addison,” I said, “you’re gonna think we’re crazy or lying to you.”

Addison looked at me, and he said, “Well, go on then. I’m listening.”

“I wanna explain why some of the things you want me to do come off harder for me than they should.”

We started explaining about us being from the future. Like I expected, he thought we were making up a story, but little by little, we convinced him. Somewhat. He finally agreed that he’d give me the benefit of the doubt when I didn’t know how to do things the way that’s normal in 1880.

When we were as done as possible, Hannah and me went out to the street, and Hannah said, “I had that dream again about being in 2024.”

I was surprised. “Me too! I was still the 1880 version of me stuck in 2024.”

Hannah shook her head. “I was the 2024 version of me, and Merritt was the 1984 version of himself. I don’t get it.”

“Well,” I said, “Addison Magee in 2024 is a girl and I’m an actor at a theatrer, but she’s still my boss. And you’re an engineer.”

“I would have become an engineer in 1984…” Hannah shook her head. “But… Emma… both of us in 2024… we like Merritt, just the same as in 1800…”

I nodded. “Except they’re not as honest about it. We might be in a relationship mess here, but at least we’re honest about it.”

“Maybe they’ll work it out like we did when they move in together.”

2024-09-17 “Sorting Things Out” by Merritt

Well, I have the inkling of an idea, a realization of sorts.

I mentioned yesterday that it seemed like Hannah had pulled back on how she was communicating with me. Far from unpleasant, but not as… inviting my attention.

Well, last night after I had gone to bed I had to get back up to use the bathroom. When I came out of my room, Devon was sitting on the sofa FaceTiming her. He was telling her about some things Addison said to us (that I mentioned in part before now).

I’m left wondering… Has her interest shifted? Is she now being… more inviting with Devon? I guess I’m fine with that, but it leaves me wondering what changed. Was it something I did wrong?

Okay, that was my idea… Moving on…

Earlier today, I was at the office when Hannah came in. She wanted to talk to Will and me, and she explained that she and Emma had shared another dream—very brief—about being back in 1880 as the 1984 version of herself. Also, she had somehow picked up some memories from the 1984 version of herself.

Then Will reminded us of something I knew now that the 1984 version of me wouldn’t have known. Hannah went on to explain that Emma had mentioned knowing about 2024 makeup, even though she had nothing like it from 1880.

So, it seems like… for one thing, it looks like Hannah might actually have a time traveler version of a 1984 version of herself back in 1880 with the 2024 version of me and the 1984 version of Emma.

And it seems like bits of our experiences and memories can get shared across the timelines.

Will said that all of this runs way, way out of the bounds of science, that we are truly looking at something metaphysical. There’s nothing any of us know of within the realm of science that even hints at what we’re going through.

2024-09-17 “Bridging Time?” by Hannah

This post is not about Addison, but she’s in it. This is about time traveling again.

Today, Tuesday, I woke up having dreamt of the 1984 version of me back in Memphis in 1880. She… I… was with Emma on the street outside the theater where she is a cleaning woman. We were talking about Merritt, worried that he was frustrated by some bad engineering ideas going into part of the sewer system he was working on. The dream was very short.

As soon as I woke up, I called Emma. She had the same dream. Emma works the night show on Tuesdays, so I arranged to get to Brooklyn to meet her for lunch.

Back up to last night. I was FaceTiming with Devon and he told me some things Addison said about living next to the boys and her head being right beside Merritt’s on the other side of the wall when she’s sleeping. 

Back to lunch today. We checked with Merritt, and he doesn’t recall having the same dream.

I went with Emma to the theater and we ran into Addison. She mentioned us living together with the boys, and I sort of blurted out something.

“Addison, what are you up to? You think you're Pat Benatar trying to put notches in your lipstick case?”

She looked at me oddly. “Up to? I’m just flirting and having fun? Who’s Pat Benatar?”

“Flirting?” I said, as I realized I had no idea who Pat Benatar is… was… whatever.

“Lighten up,” Addison said, rolling her eyes. “YOLO, girl. YOLO.”

“Yeah, whatever… Just… do the right thing.” I was so confused by what I’d said I dropped the subject.

Turns out (a lot of you know this) Pat Benatar had a song, “Hit Me With Your Best Shot,”  in 1980 that I somehow never heard. At least the 2024 version of me never heard it. The 1984 version of me was born in 1962, and obviously knows the singer and song.

Talking to Emma about it, she understood right away, adding, “My first day in 2024 I knew how to use makeup, ‘cept in 1880, it wudn’t nothing like it is now.”

Skip ahead to later with me back at the office in the private conference room with Will and Merritt. I explained what happened.

Will nodded. “Merritt, do you recall knowing about freon being banned… then R-410A and now R-32 coming in to take its place?”

Merritt nodded and Will went on. “2024 you would have known that. 1984 you wouldn’t. Just like 1984 Hannah would have known Pat Benatar… Great song, by the way… So, it looks to me like bits of the different yous can get…”

“Transferred…” Merritt shook his head. “Emma and makeup, Hannah and the song…”

I then said, “The thing is, I didn’t even know that it was transferred. It was just there, in part, in my memories. Could we have a lot of transferred knowledge that we don’t even know about? Is that possible?

Will wrapped it all up. “Hannah, I’d say you have the best chance of noticing it… if Merritt or Emma have 2024 knowledge they shouldn’t already have. I guess we need to start a new page in our notebook on this. Swapping memories is far far away from string theory and quantum physics research. For lack of a better term, this is what Merritt’s calling metaphysics. Matter swapping places in time is one thing… albeit amazing. But personalities and memories being shared… possibly via dreams… isn’t… Well, let’s go with the reality that no one is doing research on that!”

2024-09-16 “Getting Things Moving” by Hannah

Here I am in a boring “at work” picture, but I want to share an idea with you. Bear with me.

Isaac Newton says that an object in motion will continue in motion unless acted on by an outside force. Once it’s moving, it will keep going unless something comes along to change its direction.

Now, to get an object moving in the first place, there needs to be a force of some sort.

I need to get Emma and Devon moving towards each other. Once they start moving then I believe they will begin to be drawn to each other. Emotional gravity, if you will.

Consider that they are orbiting each other, but not getting closer. Well, a nudge in the right direction will allow gravity to take over. They’ll be drawn closer and closer, once I can get them moving. As I see it, they are already being affected by each other’s attraction, but aren’t getting closer very quickly.

Sparing you the math, all I need to do is get them to slow down a bit and the attraction will kick in. 

How do I do that? Well, I think that if I talk to Emma and call attention to the good things about Devon, she’ll be receptive to my thoughts. That could be just enough of a nudge to get her to respond to his attention such that he sees her as more approachable.

Devon is handsome. He’s a good listener. He’s come through hard times and is still standing on his own two feet. He’s smart enough to accept help where needed, and ambitious enough to be looking to the future. He has a great sense of humor. He respects Emma… and me, too, for that matter. He appreciates us and lets us tell him about our days.

I could go on…

I just need to get Emma to think about this and then, next time he does something sweet and thoughtful, she might respond with a cute smile and flutter those beautiful eyes just right; just in a way to encourage him to feel welcomed closer to her.

I think if I do this, I can help them both find more happiness. And when they get together, it will remove some of the uncertainties that surround our current social situations.

I really want them to be happy!  

2024-09-16 “Tangled Web” by Merritt

First off, I’m out here in Queens doing the preliminary data collection for a small re-engineering job. This one is just adding motion detectors on some of the lighting system. Will Robinson is going to let me sketch in the basic design, locating lights and sensors. It gets into electrical code after that, so the final designs will get passed on.

Secondly, Hannah and I will meet with Will this afternoon to finalize our plans for the wiring chase design we did. That turned out nicely, and I think we both learned a few things, while at the same time, we drafted a solid, efficient design. In one area, we saved about 400 feet of wiring.

Okay… I don’t know how many of you actually are interested in my engineering progress! No offense taken!

I can’t get Emma’s analogy about cows and bulls out of my head. Time-travel aside, putting Me, Emma, Devon, Hannah… and Addison… into close proximity would naturally lead to romantic ideas. And tensions. Someone once told me that you’ll never fall in love with someone you don’t meet. Well… obviously… The other side of the coin is that you might fall in love with someone you do meet.

I’d argue you are most likely to fall in love with someone you share time and space with frequently. Cows and bulls in a pen? Maybe not that basic… But, the more you’re around someone, the more likely you’ll think you are attracted to them or know that you’re not.

So, here’s how I see things in my little circle of contact.

I am personally confused by Emma and Hannah, both of whom I think I could be attracted to.

 In the months Emma and I have been together, more and more I’ve found my thoughts resting with her, yet she made it clear that she didn’t want to be romantic just because we were together. I should have argued. Then, when camping, she opened the door with her “wish I hadn’t said that” comment, but there’s never been any follow-up and it seems she’s said all she wants on the matter.

Emma seems very content as the subject of Devon’s attention. And he seems fine giving it to her.

Devon and I are trying to be open about things, and he’s said he would be more than happy in a relationship with Emma, Hannah, or even Addison.

I’d be happy to try a dinner date with Addison except… I’m afraid it would throw fuel on the fire.

Example: Tom shared the drawings for the apartments. Devon and mine will be to the left of the top of the stairs. The door will open into an open-plan living room/kitchen on the left and bedrooms on the right. Emma’s will be at the top of the stairs to the right and will mirror mine. Addison's will be straight ahead from the stairs and will be a copy of Emma’s.

Addison caught me last time I was at the theater. “Did you see the plans? Our bedrooms will share a wall.”

“I suppose they will.”

Addison went on. “Don’t you think it will be hard to go to sleep knowing I’m lying in my bed hardly a foot away from you?”

I muttered some reply. Devon says she’s made similar remarks to him.

As for Hannah, after our date, I don’t know… She must not have liked it as much as I thought. Her Snaps show a definite change in mood.

She’s never sent nudes or anything close, but she’s always tried to look… appealing. Since our dinner the pictures have been… more sisterly than provocative. Last night, she Snapped herself in a bathrobe, but this time it was pulled closed all the way up to the neck.

So, I guess I turned out not to be what she hoped for. Or something… I don’t know.

So my take on things, overall… I’m going to try and be open to developing something with Emma or Hannah, if either of them show any interest in that. I’ll try and be nice to Addison without letting her jump the gate on things.

Devon will continue being Devon; he’s a nice, fun, likable guy, and both Hannah and Emma seem to enjoy that. Once he gets what he calls a real job, he says he’ll be ready to ask them out on dates.

That’s it. Basically I don’t know what’s going on, and it took me this many words to say that.

Thanks for being part of my story!