The weird thing about the gas station on 5th Street

For years, I'd stop at that 24-hour spot on 5th Street after my night shift, and the same old guy, Frank, would always be at register three. I went in last Tuesday and a different guy was there, so I asked where Frank was. He looked at me like I was crazy and said, 'Sir, I've worked register three for eight years, and there's never been a Frank here.' I know what I saw (and who I talked to) for over two years. Has a place or person you *know* just vanished for anyone else?

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milesh896mo ago

Man, @finleymiller's bubble idea makes my skin crawl. I once knew a bookstore that just wasn't there the next day.

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the_mary6mo ago

Wait, have you ever considered that maybe the bubble is the only thing that makes sense? In my experience, weird stuff like that bookstore just happens sometimes, no reason. The idea that there are whole other versions of places right next to us feels way scarier to me than a simple vanishing. It means nothing is ever really solid, you know? I'd rather believe a place closed overnight than think I could just slip into the wrong version of my own kitchen.

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finleymiller6mo ago

Whoa, okay. Hear me out. What if you didn't just see a person, but you saw a place? Not the whole gas station, but like, a little pocket of it that was different. For two years, your night shift self walked into a version of register three that had Frank. Last Tuesday, you walked into the normal one. It's less about a person vanishing and more about you stepping out of a bubble you didn't know you were in.

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