The snickering and quiet laughter followed him everywhere he went. He thought about wearing clothes from this era, but he didn’t know when he would pop back. Even more than that, his beard went with nothing from this century.
So, he endured the snickers and the laughter, knowing this wasn’t his time and he would never have to see these people again.
Hopefully.
Maybe.
He had no idea.
He knew only one thing: the Internet knows all. He just had to find a browser. But first, his favorite part: coffee.
If there was anything in this century that should be considered their crowning achievement, it would be their coffee shops. Mostly, quiet little oases, with comfortable furniture. There he could enjoy one of nature's best creations while continuing to bumble his way around the technology of this time.
“Miss, could I bother you for a moment?” Abe said, in a quiet voice.
The girl made eye contact with Abe.
She smiled politely, took a sip of coffee, stood, and walked out of the coffee shop.
Abe slumped his shoulders and slowly took off his hat. Why did this keep happening? All he was trying to do was get answers. Either the future had developed trust issues or it was Abe.
It was Abe.
After a change of clothes, he was back at the coffee shop.
“Excuse me sir, can you help me with something?” Abe asked the man next to him.
The man looked at Abe, and then almost instantly smiled and said, “Sure thing. What’s up?”
See, it was Abe.
“I was wondering if you could tell me where I could find an internet browser on this device?” Abe asked confidently.
The man paused for a second, unable to determine if Abe was serious or not. Finally, he said, “Sure.”
The man took the phone from Abe. With one click, the man had the browser open and handed the phone back to Abe.
Abe saw the Google logo on the browser page and a huge smile spread across his face.
“Thank you so much, sir! Blessings on you,” Abe said, shaking the man's hands jovially.
The man repeated “It’s fine. Really.” a few times to Abe.
Abe’s gratitude became increasingly intense until the man shouted, “IT’S FINE! REALLY!”
The coffee house went silent.
Grabbing his coffee and coat quickly, the man left.
Well, at least he got an answer this time before he scared them off.
With the coffee house back to its quiet roar, he returned his attention back to the phone. Now to search.
Thirty minutes later, he threw the device on the table in front of him and shrank back into his chair.
“Tough day?” came a voice.
“A tough week is more like it,” Abe replied absentmindedly, rubbing the temples of his head.
Abe dropped his hands and looked toward the direction of the voice.
There sat a small, old man. Long grey hair and beard both neatly kept with gold and obsidian hair ties. He wore a black jacket and aviator sunglasses. He sat across from Abe and smiled.
“Where did you come from?” Abe asked, alertness returning to his face.
The man pointed with his staff. The gold skull’s eyes lit up with a white light at the end of the staff aimed at the front door of the coffee house.
“Sir? Is your staff glowing?” Abe asked, his eyes wide.
Suddenly all was still in the coffee house. Nothing moved. No one breathed except for Abe and the man with the glowing staff.
Abe stood up suddenly, stunned by what was going on around him.
“OK, sir? Are you doing this?” Abe exclaimed.
Suddenly everything snapped back five seconds. Only the man and Abe knew it had happened though.
Abe sat bolt forward. “What the hell is happening, sir?” he shouted at the man.
Everyone in the coffee shop stared at Abe. He slightly chuckled and mumbled quietly to everyone, “Apologies folks. Sorry.”
Slowly, everyone went back to what they were doing, unaware of what had just transpired with Abe.
Abe relaxed back into his chair, his eyes fixated on the man in front of him.
“How close did you come to crapping your pants?” the man said, chuckling slightly.
“I’m still not sure that I haven’t, sir!”
“What can I say? I like to try fun attention grabbers when I can,” the old man shrugged.
“You could have just asked for my attention, sir,” Abe stated.
“Let’s take this discussion to a more tropical atmosphere,” he said, whipping his staff a few times over his head.
Abe and the man disappeared with a crack that split time and space open.
The coffee house morning resumed unperturbed.