The woman, Grace, I reminded myself, gently guided me out of the park, apparently content to let me stew in my own thoughts for the time being. Honestly though, she was probably just as lost in her own thoughts. I wondered if she was questioning her decision to take some strange man she found having a mental breakdown in the middle of the park back to her home and not to a mental institution. A few minutes of walking took us to a parking lot where a dozen or so vehicles were parked. Grace opened the rear hatch on what appeared to be a baby blue late model mini cooper. She respectfully requested that I put my pistol and knife in the bag before storing it in the trunk. Me, believing this to be a decent and perfectly understandable request, did so without complaint. To be fair, I wasn’t exactly in a good mental state right then and though I highly doubted it would ever happen, I really didn’t want my fragile control on the situation to break to the point that using either one became an option for me. I opened the passenger door and sat down in the small but surprisingly roomy cabin. It was comfortable. 

My mind was still only just this side of functional and things felt numb to my senses as Grace started the engine and backed out of the lot. My eyes were pulled to the view out the window, though, as we drove. I had been to New York once before, as a child. The city skyline still held much the same feeling as it did then. The lights were everywhere, bright and glowing. Advertisements for this brand or that littered nearly any otherwise flat and blank surface. Some of the adverts even seemed to have some sort of holographic aspect to them that I couldn’t readily identify. I wondered if technology had come so far, but rationalized the occurrence as my mind playing tricks on me. The ride passed like a dream, my mind phasing in and out of my perceived reality. Part of me felt like a tourist again, getting to see all of the sights of a distant city and trying to take it all in. The other part of me just wanted to shut down at the absurdity of it all. Regardless, my eyes wandered as Grace drove through the city that never slept. Traffic was even still nightmarish despite the apparent late hour. The view brought me back to my fuzzy memories from all those years ago. The lights seemed brighter now, the cars sleeker.  

The clock on the radio read the time as one thirty in the morning. I supposed that made sense in a twisted sort of way. The transport wasn’t quite instantaneous, and the time zone difference made up for the remaining time between last I knew from Arizona and that moment in New York. Grace had changed the radio to some sort of smooth music channel and kept the volume low. The music was nice, kind of reminded me of the low-fidelity chill beats I had once used to help myself study. It was calming, not too loud or harsh to disrupt my fragile mental balance, but also enough to pull my focus away from the unkind feelings. The woman behind the wheel glanced over every few moments, but I was just letting the music and scenery wash me away. I needed the reprieve from the current crises. 

Looking out the window as the drive dragged on was an experience that I went through some serious mental gymnastics to rationalize at the time. I was under a lot of stress and didn't really trust any of my senses. So, when we left Manhattan and crossed into another borough, I really didn’t understand or particularly want to understand the things I saw. The easiest to explain was the vastly reduced amount of trash on the sidewalks and streets. There was still a good bit of graffiti around, but not as much as I remembered from before. The trash that I did see was different too. Instead of the usual bits of paper and wrappers of all shapes and sizes, I saw more glass and plastic products laying around, still in less quantity than I recalled. There were still plenty of disposables littered about, but it seemed that the city had undergone an environmental policy change similar to the one I was aware had occurred in Los Angeles, and obviously to greater effect as well. 

What was much harder to explain away were the seemingly floating lights that hovered near the long stretches of block built homes and businesses. Some were colors I had never seen before in a single lamp and others seemed to cycle through all of the colors of the rainbow. The orbs of light over one particular business even flashed in a way that I was sure was a terrible distraction for drivers at night. Grace seemed undisturbed by it, however. 

Where I became absolutely sure that I had gone crazy was when I took a closer look at the people walking the sidewalks. My thoughts were unfortunately rather judgmental. “Did that man have wings folded against his back? Must have just been a backpack. And the woman with the long rabbit-like ears must have just been wearing a silly headband, right? And what was that guy thinking with his skin dyed green like that? Lady, seriously? Who do you think you are attracting with that long purple cape and pointy hat? Halloween isn’t until the end of the month people!” Almost even stranger than the weirdo night walkers was that the seemingly normal people that also walked the streets completely ignored their fellow pedestrians, acted like everything was completely normal. I couldn't believe it. Thankfully, my idiot self of those days wisely kept all of those thoughts to himself. 

After what the car’s clock told me was nearly a thirty minute drive, Grace turned off the main road and into a back alley. It was about as dingy as anyone could expect in a big city. Dumpsters and trash bins lined the sides and there was some evidence of homeless people that took shelter there, but I didn’t spot any actually sleeping. There was a group of people a good bit further up the narrow alley that seemed to be having a small party, but they were far enough away that I couldn’t hear anything of what was going on. Grace turned again into a small garage that opened as they approached and brought the car to a halt inside. Both of us unbuckled and got out, Grace stretching with a yawn as she did so. I retrieved my bag from the back as Grace spoke up after the mostly quiet car ride. 

“Well, here we are.” She walked back outside and made sure I followed as the garage door closed. “Watch your step on the stairs, they can be a bit slippery after a rainstorm. My apartment is on the top floor.” Sure enough, the stairs she led me to were attached to the back of a decently sized two story building, though it appeared that there was also a basement floor as well. The metal stairs looked aged and weathered, but still sturdy.

“Do try to keep quiet when we get inside, my partners and daughter ought to be asleep by now. I was just out for a run and wanted something different than my usual route. Good thing I did it seems, though. You might have been stuck there all night if I hadn’t.” She smiled at me but it quickly turned into another yawn as we began climbing the stairs. “Ooooh, I’m tired. I’ll get you set up on the couch with a blanket before I go to bed, okay?

With no other decent answer to give, I just nodded at her. She was already doing so much for me, how could I have asked for more? Instead, I followed her up the stairs and to the platform in front of the door to her home. Interestingly to me, she didn’t pull out a key, just reached out and grabbed the door handle. I couldn’t really quite see from where I stood, but it looked like a soft light flickered on and off again before the door clicked open. The thought occurred to me that she might have one of those fancy biometric locks I had seen popping up on the market for the last year or so. The things were impressive bits of technology. 

 Inside, the apartment was bigger than I had expected, taking up the entire upper floor of the building. I had always thought that New York apartments were small, but this place was by no means small and at least three times the size of my old one bedroom unit in Phoenix. This place must have cost a pretty penny, I thought. I questioned what the partners grace had mentioned did for work if she was just a bartender. The place had a somewhat industrial feel to it, with exposed brick in some areas and lots of rail lighting hanging from the ceiling. The lights were dim at the moment, however, as Grace had only brought them on at their lowest setting as we walked in. She motioned me over to what was obviously the living area judging by the large ‘L’ shaped couch and the love seat on the other side of the coffee table. 

"If you flip the cushions up on the long side, it folds out into a bed. You can sleep there until we find better arrangements. Do you need something to sleep in? I doubt that dusty hiking gear is very comfortable. I think Andrew might have some shorts and a t-shirt that could fit you."

The comment about my clothes being dirty caused my foolish self to make the mistake of sniffing the shirt I had been wearing since the previous morning. 

Oh. Yeah, that was pretty unacceptable in decent society. 

"That would be great. As long as you don't think he'll mind? I probably ought to take a shower before I sleep on your clean couch though." I was apologetic and embarrassed. I reeked and I had sat in her car for the last half hour. And now I was in her home. 

The woman seemed to take it all in stride and spoke somewhat dismissively, a hand waving the suggestion away. "No, he'll be fine. And if he isn't, I'll make it up to him somehow. As for a shower, just wait until the morning proper. My daughter, Arianna, is asleep in her room right next to the hall bath and if you wake her up at this time of night, I will NOT be happy."

I nodded at the woman immediately. She had a mom face on and there was no arguing with the mom face. "Good. Now give me a minute. I'm going to go change and grab some things for you. I'll be back in a jiffy."

Left alone with my thoughts, I attempted to wrap my mind around the seemingly impossible thing that had happened. As much time had passed, and as real as things felt, I couldn't very well pass this off as a dream anymore, and things felt a bit too real to just be a hallucination. I had actually physically walked through a door in the Superstition Mountains and ended up in New York City of all places. It shouldn't be possible. That event broke every law of physics and nature that I knew of. It just didn't make sense. But, however illogical it was, it did happen. I really was there. Even if all of this was just my mind being lost to the depths of insanity, however, it would still be prudent to make plans. There were flights every day from John F. Kennedy Airport to Phoenix Sky Harbor. I could just hop a plane and be home. Of course, getting back to my truck would be a pain, but I thought I could remember the way well enough that he could navigate someone else there as a passenger. How to explain all of this to another person though? This is why people shouldn’t break the laws of physics. It makes everything so difficult.

My musings were cut short by the sound of a door closing softly. Grace walked back into the central area, now wearing pajamas with a light robe over top. A large blanket was draped over one shoulder and a small bundle of clothes was carried in one hand. My mind of the time went blank as a single thought slapped itself over everything else like a unicorn sticker in a diary. 

She was really pretty.

Oh my sweet summer child… Why was I such a dunce back then? A sense of longing in my heart and I passed it off as wanting a girlfriend. Even then I knew that didn’t feel quite right, but due to an incredible feat of repression, it was all I could do to tell myself that there was nothing else that I could possibly be longing for when I saw a pretty girl. Besides, now wasn’t the time to be thinking such things anyways. My eyes dropped to the hardwood floor, ignoring the sight of my own body before flickering back up. I could only hope that she hadn’t caught my look of embarrassment in the dim light. 

If Grace had noticed anything, her face hadn’t betrayed anything. “Here ya go, hun. Got a blanket to sleep with and some clothes to wear for the night. Bathroom is the first door on the right down that hall.” She pointed at the other side of the room, past the kitchen where a small hallway opened up next to the refrigerator. “Keep quiet please, but feel free to make use of it. The pillows on the couch should do well enough to sleep on. If you really need something, knock on my door over there. Hopefully I’ll be the one to wake up and I can help you out.”  

A part of me really enjoyed being referred to by the kind lady as ‘hun’. It gave me the warm and fuzzies and made me think that someone actually cared. Of course, I knew that it was probably just a habit for her though, being a bartender and all. 

“Thank you. Really. I don’t know what I would do if not for you finding me. Police might have brought me to an insane asylum or something if I tried to tell them what had happened. I mean, seriously, who is going to believe some crazy tale about magically transporting from one side of the country to the other?” I laughed at my own joke and, to my surprise, so did Grace. Her giggle came with a look of disbelief, however, that I simply couldn’t understand at the time.

Grace took a moment to compose herself before speaking again. “Oh, you poor lost soul. We can talk more in the morning. If I stay up any later I’ll go delirious. Get some sleep, Allan. Tomorrow is going to be very interesting for you.”

“Uh… ok. Good night then.” Funny, both of us thought the other was a bit off kilter. To me, what I had said made perfect sense and therefore, why was this lady acting so weird about it? To Grace though, I was being the ridiculous one and she hadn’t figured out the entire truth quite yet. I found that out much later while talking to her about that day. 

I took the bundle of clothes from her hands and dropped the blanket onto the couch. 

“Good night, Grace.”

“Sleep tight Allan.” She walked into what I presumed was her room and shut the door. I’m pretty sure I heard the click of a lock too. 

Sighing deeply, I took the bundle through the kitchen and to the bathroom, which was exactly where Grace had said it would be. I walked in and shut the door. The light switch flicked on and the first thing I saw was my reflection in the mirror. Yuck. I was filthy. The second thing I noticed was the doubled sets of nearly everything on the vanity. Two toothbrushes, two sets of hairbrushes and double the expected soaps and other girly products were spread out around the bathroom, and everything in shades of pink and purple. This bathroom was obviously used extensively by the daughter Grace had warned me about, but I was curious if there was another one somewhere. 

I reached down to remove my boots and it became apparent that the dirt was everywhere and apparently, I had sweated even more than I had realized during that climb. My pants were nearly crusted with a foul coating of sweat produced mud. Gross. I didn't even want to take a closer look in the mirror to see how bad my face and hair were. Of course, I had never liked mirrors anyways. The recurring dream that I had had even just that day always popped into my head any time I saw one and it made my former self uncomfortable. 

It seemed Grace was prepared for the dirty clothes though. A cloth grocery bag was wrapped in the fresh clothes. That lady was obviously smart even in her tiredness. There was no way anyone wanted to see or especially smell those filthy things before they were washed. I quickly stripped and pulled on the provided shorts and shirt. The shorts were definitely a bit snug on me, but the shirt was apparently over-sized and was loose and comfortable even on my bulkier frame. It was actually rather nice in my mind. The fabric was light and soft and was more pleasing to the touch than any other shirt I had ever owned up to that point. I figured that it would be even better after I had taken a shower and scraped all of the grime off my skin. I was hopeful that I could continue using it for however many more nights I stayed under her generosity. I took a mental note to look into buying something similar for myself after I got home.

Fighting the urge to pinch off my nose, I stuffed all of my discarded clothes in the cloth bag and tied the handles together. No way did I want that smell escaping it. I could only hope that the stench didn't linger. Moving out of the bathroom, I flipped the light switch and padded back to the couch. My feet likely smelled, but it felt good to free them from the socks and shoes. I put the bag down on one end of the couch away from where my head would be and shifted the cushions until I was able to grab the handle on the hide-a-bed. The thing folded out easily and formed a surprisingly well padded full size mattress. There were already sheets on it, so all I had to do was take a pillow from the couch and spread the blanket out over top the bed before laying down. It was comfy. Much better than the sleeping pad back in my truck bed. I sorely hoped that no person or beast would find the truck and mess with it. Some of that equipment was expensive after all. 

“Oh well,” I thought. “Those thoughts are an issue for another day. Right now… it's time for sleep.”

A combination of physical exhaustion from the two days of hiking and travel and the mental exhaustion of the situation I found myself in broke through my usual insomnia and rather quickly pulled my hopelessly lost self into the land of dreams.