Yeah, sounds crazy right? I remember when I first went there. It was totally an accident. I was seven years old, and my dad had taken me out to town. He dropped me off at Harry McGraw’s Children’s Place, which was basically a kid’s playplace that doubled as a candy and toy store, gave me $10, and went to the bar for the rest of the day. I spent maybe fifteen minutes looking at all the Power Ranger action figures and searching for a jumbo cherry lollipop, which they seemed to be sold out on, before I got bored.
“What’s the matter, boy?” Harry McGraw, who all the kids in town called Grandpa McGraw, asked. He was universally loved, and for a good reason. He was a father figure to everybody, and cared about everyone in town.
“I’m bored. And dad only gave me $10. That’s not enough for anything here.” I sulked.
“Aw, cheer up little fella. Say, what’s your name?” He asked.
“Steven. I’m named after my dad’s friend. You can call me Stevie if you want.”
Grandpa McGraw’s face lit up, and he ran his fingers through his white hair. “You know, if you want something less expensive, go through that door right there. Things are a whole lot cheaper there, you know.” He winked, and pointed to a large white door that didn’t really fit with the rest of the store’s cheery, colourful vibe.
I walked over to it. “This one?” I asked, and he nodded and smiled. I opened it, and stepped over to the other side.
It was pretty much identical to the side I had been on a few seconds prior, but before I could turn and go back, the door slammed behind me.
A young man who looked weirdly familiar approached me.
“Welcome to the new Harry McGraw’s Children’s Place, I’m Harry McGraw, how can I help you?” He said, holding out an arm for me to shake.
“You’re not Grandpa McGraw. Your hair is brown. And you’re not old.” I said. He looked confused.
“Umm… anyway, help yourself! Choose any candy you’d like.” He said.
I walked over, and to my delight, found a jumbo cherry lollipop. “I’ll take this.” I said.
“Excellent choice, sir. That will be fifty cents.” Harry McGraw said.
“Fifty cents?” I asked in shock.
“Hey, sorry, kiddo, that’s just how things are this day and age.” He said.
I handed him my ten dollars, and a kid in line behind me gasped.
“Ten dollars? For your allowance. My parents only give me three dollars in allowance. Please, PLEASE, buy me something.” He said, clasping his hands together. He pulled out a Superman comic from his pocket. “Just this, I promise, that’s all.”
“Um- how expensive is it?” I asked.
“Comics? Those are a dollar a pop.” Grandpa McGraw said.
“Oh. Okay, I guess.” I said, and handed Grandpa McGraw my ten dollars.
“You boys still got $8.50 left. Go nuts, pick whatever you want.” He said, and the boy and I looked at each other excitedly.
As we left with our hands stuffed with candy and toys, the boy talked to me.
“Thanks, dude. That was sick. You rich or something?”
“Uh, I don’t think so.”
“Oh. Anyway, let’s go sit down. Here, I’ll show you my secret spot.”
Walking outside was weird. It was my town, but it was different. The coffee shop was an arcade. The bar my dad went to all the time was just an empty lot.
“Ah,” the boy said, going to the empty lot in place of a bar. “Here we are. Hey, what’s your name?”
“Steven.”
“Steven. I like the name Steven. Well, my name is Jeffrey.” He said.
“Nice to meet you, Jeffrey. My dad’s name is Jeffrey.”
“That’s cool. I’m eight, and I was born in 1972. What about you?”
“I was born in 1997.” I said, and Jeffrey laughed.
“Silly. There’s no way you were born in 1997, that hasn’t even happened yet. I mean, how old are you?”
“I’m seven.”
“So you were born in 1973, then?”
“I-I guess?”
“Okay. Well, the sun is going down, and my mom will get mad if I’m not home for dinner. See you tomorrow, Steven? Meet at the same place.”
“Uh, okay.” I said, and Jeffrey ran in the opposite direction.
I walked back to the Grandpa McGraw’s place, and walked behind the employee counter and back through the white door, while the young McGraw yelled at me in confusion.
When I reached the other side of the door, Grandpa McGraw was waiting for me.
“Have fun?” He asked, and I nodded.
“Come back tomorrow, then.” He winked, just as my dad stumbled in through the front doors.
“C’mon, Stevie, let’s get home. Dinner’s waiting.” He slurred his speech, and I sighed as he grabbed my shoulders and walked me home, stumbling all the way.
I went through that white door a lot growing up. Jeffrey became my best friend, and we would spend all day playing together, before I’d come back to the present time, and my drunk dad would stumble me home. I didn’t catch on for a while that I really was time traveling, it wasn’t until I was 13 or so I truly caught on to what was happening. I didn’t really care; I didn’t care about much when I was 13. All I cared about was hanging out with Jeffrey.
“What do you want to be when you grow up?” He asked me one day.
“Doctor.” I said.
“Cool. When I grow up, I’m going to be a police officer.”
“Police officer? My dad’s a…” I said, and trailed off when I came to a realization.
“Your dad’s a what?” Jeffrey asked me.
“Jeffrey, what’s your last name?”
“O’Sullivan. Why?”
“When’s your birthday?”
“June 17th, 1962.”
“What are your parent’s names?”
“John and Martha- jeez, why are you interrogating me? This is no fun. Let’s do something else.” He said, and at that moment I knew I was talking to my dad, as a kid. Jeffrey O’Sullivan, my father, had been my best friend all this time.
“I gotta go.” I said, and I heard him yelling back at me while I ran to that white door.
Grandpa McGraw, who had gotten used to me running through his white door, moved aside to let me through.
“Kid, one of these days you have to tell me what’s behind that door.” He said.
“One of these days. Just not now. See you later, Grandpa McGraw.”
“And why do you keep calling me grandpa!? I’m not that old- not yet, anyway!” He shouted as I walked through the door.
Old Grandpa McGraw smiled at me shakily as I entered my own timeline.
“Finally figured it out, huh kid? Took ya long enough.” He laughed as my dad, aged and withered, walked through the door. He looked more sober than usual.
“Hey. Steven. Let’s go.” He said, and I followed, just our routine for the past 6 years. We walked home in silence for a while, before he said something.
“Did I ever tell you the story of how I named you?” He asked.
“Yeah. I was named after a friend of yours.”
“No- well yes, technically. But I haven’t told you the full story. See, I met him when I was seven years old, and we stayed best friends for most of our childhood. Then when I was 25, I met your mother, and we were both young and stupid, and I ended up getting your mom pregnant, with you. Right around that time, The original Steven got really sick, and I promised that if he didn’t make it to meet you, I’d name my kid after him. Well, he was doing better than we expected, and I really thought he could be your uncle Steven and meet you. But, a week before you were born, he passed away, right in the same hospital you ended up being born in.” He sighed. “Jeez, I really don’t know why I told you that. I guess, some nights, especially this one, you just remind me so much of him, I couldn’t help but tell you.”
“Uh, yeah.” I said, trying to process what he just said. Maybe, he had another friend Steven who got sick when my dad was 25? No, I knew it was hopeless.
The years went on, and I slowly began to forget about that. Well I guess I never forgot, per se, but I was able to put it off into the back of my head, just being able to spend time with my best friend, enjoying the moments, until one day it was unavoidable.
It was just after my 24th birthday, and Jeffrey and I were celebrating together when he paused for a moment.
“Steve, can I tell you something?” He asked, nervously.
“Of course, man. We’re best friends.”
“You know that girl I’ve been dating, Heather? Yeah, well, she told me. She’s pregnant. I’m- I’m going to be a dad.”
“Woah, good for you!”
“One more thing,” He said. “I’ve been thinking, we’ve been best friends since we were, what, 7? I want you in my kid’s life. I want you to be his uncle Steven. I think I want to name it after you, if it turns out to be a boy. And maybe Stephanie if she’s a girl?”
That’s when it hit me. His son. Me.
“Of course, dude. I… I gotta go.” I said.
“You know you really have to stop just running off like that in the middle of conversations! I hope my kid doesn’t pick that habit up from you!” I heard Jeffrey joke as I ran away.
Young Grandpa McGraw waited for me by the white door. “Steven! I finally went through that white door! Isn’t it crazy how-“
“Yup!” I said, running past him.
Maybe I have time, I thought. Maybe I don’t get sick for a while. Maybe this time will be different, and if I don’t catch whatever it is I have, I’ll be safe.
“Dad!” I said, bursting through our front door.
“Oh. Hey, Steven, what’s up?”
“About your friend. Steven. What was it that he caught?”
“Steven didn’t catch anything. He had cancer. It ran in his family.”
Ran in his family.
“And, um, how long after mom got pregnant with me did he get diagnosed?”
“Weird question, but I think it was a week, give or take.”
“Oh. O-okay.”
And I really do have no idea what’s going to happen to me, and my younger dad, but I guess I’ll find out in a week.