The Foreigner

“So sorry for interrupting Mr. Coombs, go ahead and continue – please.” The doctor says.

“Well like I was saying earlier, I was driving down the main street which eventually turns into the state highway. I had the radio playing Waiting for a Girl like you and just like that as I was driving further down the street…. I found myself thirty years into the past.” Mr. Coombs pauses for a moment to recollect his thoughts.

“So…you were in a state of mind? Perhaps? Or was this…real?” The doctor tries to elaborate on his statement.

“No, it was real alright.”

“How did you know you were thirty years into the past?”

Mr. Coombs sits up more, “There were stores that have been closed for decades, the streets had older models parked on the sides – plus gas was only 84 cents. Even the old theater on the corner had the promotional release of the Evil Dead movie as it were the first time premiering! I even went further to get out of my car to check the dates of the newspapers which confirmed that I was for a moment physically in the 80's. How do you explain that?”

“Maybe you just happened to come across one of those vintage bookstores and the cars parked on the street were from a collector. And maybe the old theater was having a horror nostalgia night. Halloween is just a couple of weeks away." The doctor tries to rationalize.

"Out of all the days, I ride down that street, and just like that everything is all decorated for nostalgia? I don't think so..." Mr. Coombs says discouraged.

The doctor takes his glasses off and takes a breath, "Mr. Coombs, I’m afraid I can’t help you understand what all of this is. I do know that you have suffered the loss of your wife and that could partially be the reason why maybe your mind has been believing in things that you perceive to be real, but in reality are not.”

“I can’t believe I’m paying you two hundred an hour to tell me what I could’ve looked up on Google! 

Look, the fact is I was somewhere in time! Yes, that sounds crazy, but for some reason when I had the radio playing under frequency 107.1 at approximately 5:48 in the morning along Valley Blvd in Monterrey Park, I was for a moment in the year 1981.”

The doctor clicks his pen followed by scribbling on a notepad, “Why 1981? Is there a connection with that specific year?”

“Other than the fact that that song was released during that time, no.” Mr. Coombs says while laying back down.

“Let’s try an experiment with this. Try listening to a song from the 50’s and see if somehow you end up in that period while taking the same route to work.”

“I’m sorry I still don’t think you’re taking this serious. I was in another time. It’s not like I went to the grocery store and back, I went through time – no one has done that. No one could.”

“The eyes will believe what the mind perceives. Sometimes, we want something so bad that we will believe it as real as we want it to be.” Counsels the doctor with more scribbles on his notepad.

“I appreciate your time, but in all honesty, it was mistake coming here. I have to go.” 

Mr. Coombs gets up to retrieve his coat from the rack.

“Whether you decide to come back or not, please just try the experiment and let me know.” The doctor concludes as he looks up to Mr. Coombs.