Down World by Rebecca Phelps

Author:Rebecca Phelps [Phelps, Rebecca]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Wattpad Books
Published: 2021-03-15T00:00:00+00:00

Alexei walked us through the front gate of the hotel, for there was now a gate to walk through. Everything about the street had changed. This small town was now clearly a resort destination. All the mom-and-pop stores that had lined the walkway up and down from the hotel were gone, with towering elm trees and a few boutiques taking their place. The street looked newly paved and fancy old cars were zooming by, their radios blaring jazz and bebop.

We were standing on the sidewalk outside the gate, taking it all in.

“The hotel has a strict policy on trespassing,” Alexei said. “If we see you here again, we’ll have to call the authorities.”

Brady nodded, clearly waiting for him to leave.

“And tell your friends too,” Alexei added, before heading back inside.

“Yes, sir,” Brady responded, already turning me away from the hotel to lead me down the sidewalk. “Just walk.”

“Where are we, Brady?”

“I don’t know,” he replied, keeping his voice low and nodding to passersby, clearly trying to blend in. But we were still barefoot and wearing our modern clothes. Everyone stared at us, not looking confused so much as annoyed that we were on their street.

“But is it still modern times?”

“I said I don’t know,” Brady continued, walking faster and pushing me from behind.

A well-dressed couple passed us, and I could hear the woman whisper to the man, “Why doesn’t the city do something about them?”

“Just ignore them,” the man replied as they hurried past us. I spun my head to watch them go, and saw the woman looking over her shoulder at me, her brow furrowed in repulsion.

My mind raced, desperately trying to put together the pieces. We passed a newsstand.

“Wait a second,” I said. I could feel Brady’s frustration that I had stopped us, but I had to see the newspaper.

When I did, my heart sank. “Oh my God.”

We weren’t in the past, or the future either. We were right here, right now. The paper was called The Lakeside Charter, and it had today’s date on it.

“Don’t read it if you’re not going to buy it,” the man guarding the newsstand barked at me. I stepped away from the papers. Brady hadn’t said a word; he just stood next to me. “You kids need to get back to your part of town. You’ll get arrested here.”

“Sorry, sir,” Brady said, again being curt and polite. He clearly wanted to get us away from this place, and I couldn’t blame him. I let Brady take my hand, and we walked as quickly as we could down the street and away from the commercial area. Soon the fancy buildings and the palm trees gave way to some more-rundown old shops and small houses. The neatly mowed lawns slowly became overgrown with weeds and dried-out bushes. And all the fancy cars were nowhere to be seen. Other people who looked like us began to appear, wearing torn old T-shirts and jeans with no shoes. Nobody seemed to notice us anymore, or care that we were there.

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