Pop. Fizzle. Opening my eyes I appear to have travelled to another universe… maybe. Everything looks the same. Same subway stop. Same buses. Same sky scrapers. For all intents and purposes I feel like I woke up in New York. I probably am where I think I am. But something that I can’t put my finger on feels off.

I know I travelled through time. Or space…or both. But I just can’t seem to find anything different. I mean it even smells like New York. You know that smell. If you’ve ever spent any amount of real time in New York or Chicago or LA… it smells like that.

Beyond what I can see, it just feels different. I spent my whole life in New York, Queens born and raised. I would know if something was different and it just feels that way but everyone I know would probably say I’m crazy. Ok… let’s rewind a litttle bit.

There I was minding my own business walking down the street. I had just stopped by my favorite gyro spot. If you’ve never had Santorini, I don’t even know what to say. Enjoying the best gyro in all of New York City, I passed by an alley way I walked past most days and never thought anything of it. Until today when I noticed what appeared to be a rip in reality. Like if you took a small knife and slashed through the air and there were stars on the other side. Like a complete moron I reached out to touch it. As soon as my fingers made contact with the tear I felt a pulling sensation behind my eyes. My ears needed to pop like I took a sudden jump in altitude.

After the sensations behind my eyes and ears subsided, nothing seemed to change. Other than I took an involuntary step forward. Everything was the same, if you discount the feeling I had in the pit of my stomach that something, everything was different.

Growing up in New York you have several instincts just built in, first is that New Jersey, sucks. I mean really sucks and is unequivocally NOT New York. Second you just know how the city feels. And third you have these built in senses of what the best types of restaurants are. Like you know where the best pizza is, where the best chicken alfredo is, etc.

Channeling that inner feeling that something was different about the city I was born into, I started walking. I fell into the stream of people walking toward the nearest subway station. I saw an empty seat which was rare so I took the opportunity to sit and think about what was happening to me. _I really must just be going crazy, _I thought to myself.

Once I reached my subway stop, I got off and walked up to the street level. I think it was around this time that I started to really notice things were not normal. I was really struggling to put my finger on what was different when all the sudden it smacked me in the face, it was the pants. I know such a little thing and you’d think that everyone would be wearing different pants anyway but these all were almost exactly three inches short of everyone’s shoes.

I almost just mistook it for a some stupid Gen Z fashion trend. I thought that until I saw one of those guys that clearly fought in Vietnam wearing the same kind of pants that it really clicked.

The way home got weirder and weirder. Beyond the pants, it was in peoples manerisms. Normally when someone bumps into you in New York, they just look at you funny. Or give you a, “fuck you”. Everyone thinks that we say, “I’m walking here!” But that is just in the movies. So it was super weird when someone bumped into me and said, “Oh Sorry, didn’t see you there.”

_What were we in Canada now? _I reflexively thought. I mean they are the nicest people around outiside of those crazy people from Minnesota.

Beyond the pants, the “oh sorry”. It just kept getting stranger. I got to my building, and the door man actually bowed to me. I mean who does THAT.

Ok so weird feelings aside the people were NOT acting like New Yorkers and now I feel like I had proof. I was not in New York City any more. Where I was I could not tell you. Probably some alternate dimension where people were nice or something dumb like that.

_I have to figure out where I am. _I thought. And how the hell do I get home?