The two of us had gone back in time to 1930, where we found ourselves sitting at the counter in a coffee shop which reminded me of a drug store soda fountain. Since we had traveled back in time by accident, I had arrived wearing a concert t-shirt, blue jeans, and modern tennies on my feet. My traveling companion was dressed up in 1930's garb; very stylish for the time, I was sure, but I thought it was silly and I told her so. Nobody had noticed anything different about me, and I'd been walking all over town since we'd arrived. She patted her coiffed hair and smiled, happy with the way she was dressed. I rolled my eyes.
Suddenly we heard machine guns. We all looked out the front window - myself, my traveling companion, and the proprietor of the coffee shop - and saw that the bank across the street was in the process of being robbed by authentic Italian mobsters. The proprietor yelled for us to get down, and we all dove to the floor. We stayed there for a while, listening to the cacophony of shouts and gunshots across the street as we tried to remain unnoticed. It was then that I suddenly and forcefully remembered that I had a 7-Eleven paycheck with me. I'd had the bright idea that I would be able to cash it and buy our way back to the present day, but with the bank being robbed, I didn't know anymore...
...I checked my pocket, in a slight panic. I withdrew my check and unfolded it hurriedly, and sighed with relief. Then I noticed... ah, hell! The date on the check was 1997, and there I was in 1930! There was no way the bank would cash a check from 67 years in the future! As I fretted silently my traveling companion rushed over. "Please, may I see it? Hurry!" she said, and I handed the check to her. She scanned it intently and then, visibly relieved, she handed it back. "What was it?" I asked, thinking that she'd had some concern for me regarding the check. "I just wanted to be sure that my name wasn't on it anywhere," she said over her shoulder. "I wouldn't want anyone here in 1930 to identify me as being associated with you because of that check."
I was taken aback, and I felt deflated as I returned the check to my pocket. I stood up, oblivious to the danger of the machine guns. "Lie back down," the coffee shop proprietor whispered to me. "If they see people in here, they'll come rob us next!" I didn't care. I stepped outside into the street and started walking. Eventually I came to green park with a giant white tree occupying the center. The trunk was at least 10 feet wide, with thick, sturdy branches which began growing from the trunk starting at about 5 feet up from the ground. The branches spread outward horizontally for at least 50 feet in all directions, splitting and dividing into clusters of white leaves. I climbed up onto the nearest branch and wherever I touched it or stood upon it, white flakes detached from the bark and settled to the ground. I walked far out onto the branch and then climbed up onto another. I continued like this until I was at the very top. I looked down and let my gaze travel outward, beyond the white profusion of leaves, until I could see the town. I saw the coffee shop, and I saw her inside, sitting at the counter and sipping daintily at a cup of tea. I didn't feel like sticking around there anymore, so I jumped from the topmost branch and flew away.
