Finally opening my eyes I realized the light wasn’t nearly as bright as I thought it was. What a weird dream. The day started out normal with me taking a shower, eating a crappy microwave breakfast, and heading to work with a tired demeanor. It wasn’t necessarily sunny out today and there was more moisture in the air of the London streets than I would like. Cutting through Whitechapel on my way to work, as usual, I walked through an alleyway. The only thing in the alley was a single dumpster but as I walked past it I felt a sudden dizzy sensation.

The alley was lined with cobblestone and the buildings on either side were made of red bricks. Some wooden crates were stacked up where the dumpster was and hanging a story above me were some drying clothes. Was I going nuts? The drying clothes weren’t there before and I could have sworn those crates weren’t there a second ago.

“What is going on?” I asked myself as I spun around to take in my surroundings. At the end of the alley there were people walking past so I went over to take a look. Maybe my mind was just playing tricks on me.. While I walked, I felt around and realized I didn’t have my phone or wallet. Did I leave them at home? Maybe, but I was positive that I put them in my pockets.

When I emerged from the alley I was in shock. All the cars had been replaced by horses and carts. The people were dressed like it was the late Victorian era and there was dirt everywhere. Where the hell am I? The bustling crowd didn’t seem to care that a man dressed completely different from them walked out of an alley. My clothes were just a black collared shirt and some black dress pants. It wasn’t my style per se but I had few options since it was close to my laundry day. To be honest I thought it looked a little too edgy. I wandered around the area taking in everything I could. There were vendors lining the street unlike I remembered. I assumed I was in some sort of marketplace and everyone seemed to speak English, or at least some broken form of it. However, this was not here yesterday and I don’t remember hearing anyone setting anything up in the night.

“Excuse me, sir, what is going on here?” I finally ended- up asking one of the vendors. He was sitting behind a large table with bags of grains and lentils sitting in bags inf front of it. 

“What? Are you a muttonhead? This is a market.” the vendor asked. He was a shorter Indian-looking man with muscles to make his size irrelevant. On top of that, he had the facial expression of someone who was ready to beat the shit out of the next person to piss him off.

“I just came out of that alley and I don’t remember ever seeing a market here before. Was this set up last night?” I asked as I looked around at my surroundings. The more sights I took in the more I felt like I was part of some movie set.

“What are you talking about? This market has been going on for a long time. So buggar off if your not gonna buy anything.” The man said.

“Then maybe I’m lost. Could you tell me where I am?” I asked even though I could feel him getting more annoyed.

“You’re in Whitechapel, London kid. You probably didn’t realize it because this is the only part of Whitechapel that isn’t littered with whores and beggars.” He answered with an angry click of his tongue.

“So I am where I thought I was.” I thought out loud with a confused look. I was even more confused by his description of the place but maybe he was just messing with me.

“Just get out of here.” The vendor said with an even more pissed-off look than before. If this was really Whitechapel then why did it look so different? Was it a historical reenactment festival or something? No, there’s no way that Whitechapel would host something like that during this time of year. Maybe…

“Is there a festival going on?” I asked curiously before continuing towards my work. It wasn’t that far from here so maybe my coworkers could tell me what was going on. 

Upon getting to my workplace I found that it was not the same. My coworkers had been replaced by other people. What was originally an office building was now a cobbler filled with shoes. I couldn’t believe what I saw. What exactly was going on? Was I still dreaming? At the corner, I saw a young boy dressed in the same late victorian style clothing that everyone seemed to be wearing. However, he was holding a large paper with the current news on it. On it also read the date. Though the date itself didn’t matter much to me. What mattered was the year. 1888 is what it read. Then the realization struck. 

I stood there for a moment in pure shock. Everything lined up in my head as I had either time traveled or gone crazy. Either way, I was in such a shock that I meandered my way back to the alleyway that I had walked through before ending up in this timeline. Once I was there I slumped against the side of one of the buildings and thought. For what felt like hours I sat there thinking. What was going on? What was I going to do? I don’t have any money. No one is going to believe I am from the future so what can I do? I do know that no matter where you go you need money so my first priority is that. Another thing is that I need shelter and my other priority is getting some clothes that don’t stand out. I can’t exactly change but I did see that several of the men in the market were wearing long coats. Most of which would cover up my clothes enough to make them look normal.

I looked up at the drying clothes hanging above me and sure enough, there was one. It was a worn gray coat with several holes in it but it would work. Pushing some of the crates in the alley underneath the clothesline I used them to climb up to grab the coat. Once I had it I climbed down and threw it on. It was still a bit damp but it wasn’t as if I couldn’t put up with it. Damn it, now I look even edgier than before. Whatever… it would be fine for now. It’s not like beggars can be choosers.  

Speaking of beggars, It was probably best for me if I got some money first and I didn’t have any clue what currency was being used during this time period. I swear if I got sent to this time period by some outside force then they should have at least given me some kind of ability, damn it. This was hopeless. I had no clue how I was going to get any money. Perhaps I could try begging on the corner? Wait, that vendor said that there were tons of them here so I don’t think that this is a charitable area. 

I continued walking around before walking by some shops with almost reflective glass windows. I looked at my reflection and noticed that my body had changed. My hair was no longer a dirty blonde but instead a darkened shade of grey. I looked even edgier. Was this timeline trying to make me an edge lord or something? My face was still clean-shaven and I still had a mole under the right side of my chin. The pupils I had were severely dilated and my eye color had changed from a brown to a gey with a yellow ring around the pupil

No matter what timeline it was though the bags under my eyes were still there from so many night shifts. My chin which I wish was more chiseled was rather rough and my hair was still cut to be no longer than eight centimeters. Although that wasn’t my choice either. I had wanted to grow my hair out but I had to look presentable at work. The more I thought about it the more I realized I hated my job, so much that I don’t even want to talk about what it was.     

Enough focusing on the past, or future… It doesn’t matter. I guess I better figure out how I am going to get some money. I could try pickpocketing someone just to get some quick cash before finding a job. However, I had no clue how I was going to pull that off. Why did I have to be the good kid? I never did anything you would consider illegal so I never thought about figuring out how to do this stuff. The only knowledge I have about it was from a movie I saw as a kid. That said, I needed money if I’m going to live here until I can get back to my old life. It had to be done.

 I  wandered into an alley where t had a couple of drunks that had had their fair share of were walking booze. They reeked of stout, dead fish, and feces and looked almost like two overweight men who had been possessed by wild boar, causing them to grow more body hair than normal. Every bone in my body said not to but I needed the money, so as casually as possible I bumped into the man on the left and pickpocketing him in the process.

 I knew for a fact that he was too drunk to notice despite me having no experience with pickpocketing myself but it seemed to The mans wallet was pilfered without an issue. work. What I didn’t count on was the fact that he was so drunk that anything would set him off. He turned around and looked at me after I bumped into him I feel like he expected me to apologize before continuing on my way.

“Hey, watch where you're goin.” he said, but I ignored him. That was a mistake as he clocked me with a right side arm square in the jaw knocking me to the ground. 

“I was talkin to ya!” The man belloowed out with a thick cockney accent. Had it not been for the fact that he was too drunk to hit me hard enough I would be out cold. I needed to run but before I could his buddy had grabbed me from behind and was now holding me in place for his friend to strike me all he wished. Why did I have to choose these guys to piss off. Pickpocketing was not the way to go. It was like instant karma.

 The putrid mix of smells that came from these two decimated my nostrils, making me want to vomit. I was also getting punched repeatedly to the point that my vision was stained with a blur from me trying to not cry in pain.. The man-boar didn’t seem to want to stop until finally he struck my testacles, Then I was dropped.

“For the love of God, you could have left my testicles alone like a gentleman.” I said between my grunts and groans as I sat on my knees with my face to the earth. All I could do was  just sit with my body practically throbbing from the pain as it resonated through my stomach and into my chest. When I had finally managed to break out of my paralysis I wanted to die but I also wanted to count my reward. It had to be good or else it wasn’t worth it. However as I got up I noticed an old man giggling like a madman, he seemed to have seen the whole thing and did nothing.

“Why are you laughing, old man?” I asked with an annoyed tone.

“Because, that was the most entertaining attempt at pickpocketing I have ever seen in this alley and there are lots of them.” he said between his giggles.

“Well, I aim to please. I am Lou Barret” I said with a cocky bow.

“I am Harold Lewak. Now, come and sit. If you are desperate enough for money to get your ass kicked like that you must be hungry.” he said gesturing at a loaf of bread beside him.

“Thank you.” I said before sitting down and accepting his kind offering.

Although the bread the old man had given me was stale, it was far better than anything I had at the moment. The old man had a certain air to him that seemed to welcome me in. I wanted to let my guard down around this person even though he obviously saw me commit a crime and I did just that. 

To be honest he seemed far too slender to be able to steal anything from me even if he wanted to. He was dressed far better than I as he was wearing a full suit with his collar unbuttoned like that of a politician after getting home from work.

“If I may ask, why are you in this alley where obviously many pickpockets and drunks frequent.” I asked him in an attempt at sounding like I was from this era or as a butler from a British drama because that's the only reference I have. 

“To be frank I’m getting up there in age. Thus, I've been laid off and have no desire to tell the missus yet. So I sit here watching the drunks and pickpockets pass by waiting for something interesting to happen.” he said with a deep and solemn sigh.

“Do you not have the ability to retire? Or is it something else?” I asked before eating the last of the bread.

“I can retire when I so wish and I have the means. But I was hoping for just one adventure to come wisp me away before I end up settling down to die.” he said whilst making a motion with his hands to show him being wisped away.              

“Well, that’s quite morbid.” I replied.

“Indeed, but it doesn’t make it any less of the truth. While I’m waiting I might as well help a few people on the way, such as yourself.” he said before giving me a humorous glare. I couldn’t help but respect this man.

“If you wish to help me, you have already done more than enough by feeding me, and I thank you for being so kind. So I don’t wish to ask much more of you but do you know where I might be able to spend the night?” I asked with a hopeful and slightly awkward tone. His face got rather stern for a moment, furrowing his brow deep in thought before finally answering. 

“Your best bet would be to find someone down at the docks to work for and house you in return but that would be long term so they might not give you a room tonight. I would check with the clergy first.”  

“Thank you, you have been very helpful.” I said getting up. “I do hope we meet again. I wouldn’t mind having another chat.” And with that I was off.