I stared in utter disbelief at this woman who thought nothing of coming into my house uninvited, or unannounced. I also failed to buckle my pants in any kind of timely or adept fashion, despite years of practice.

The woman giggled slightly and closed the book she had been reading, her finger marking her place so she could go back to it after.

"Well, today I guess I'm Betty Crocker." she said, then cocking her head to the side slightly asked, "Who are you, with your pants like that?

I just kind of stared, not quite comprehending anything at the moment.

"What?" I asked dumbly.

She shook her head and waved a hand at me, "Nevermind." She peered at me curiously. "You look shaken, what's wrong?"

I continued to stare. She was talking to me like she knew me. I blinked, shook my head a bit to clear it (in an unintentionally melodramatic way) and said, "Of course I'm shaken! I come out of my bathroom to some stranger standing around in my kitchen. Wouldn't YOU want an explanation?" I finally found my coordination and had my pants up, buttoned and buckled.

The woman looked about as confused as I felt... and... hurt?

"Mark... come on, this isn't funny. I mean, if you want to roleplay or try something new, we can do it after dinner. You're the one that didn't want to go anywhere tonight. I thought you wanted to relax."

I froze, half because of the sincerity which I felt from her and half because of what she was saying. I didn't want to go anywhere? Well, I didn't, but how would she know that? What the hell was--

You ever get the feeling that something just wasn't right? I mean, like you're glancing at your desk at work and you know something is different but it takes you a few minutes to pinpoint it? I was getting that now, I just hit the pinpoint stage. Aside from the odd factor of a stranger standing in my kitchen... my kitchen itself was different. Not too much, mind you, but... different. Same toaster, same fridge, but there were little post-it notes on the fridge. I don't do that. I never use post-it notes. Little things all over the place, a blue hand-towel, the shades being blue, both things were green when I walked IN to the bathroom, I was sure of it. I remember where I bought everything... but those things weren't there.

My mouth was agape as I glanced around the kitchen. I had the feeling things were off-kilter when I got into the room, but I was mainly concerned with the major factor of HER. Now though, my attention was drawn around to other things... same cups in drainer, but three more and two plates I had never seen before. Nothing in the sink, table was spotless, floor was clean...

"Honey, sweetie..." the words sounded like she was trying to make things right by using them, "are you ok? You don't look so good." she laughed slightly, a short forced laugh, "Frankly, you're scaring me."

My eyes made their trek around the room and slowly came back to the most obvious difference. The source of the voice. I had completed a mental list of things different in the room and it was impossible for all those things to have changed in the short time I was in the bathroom. It couldn't have happened. I would have heard the people banging the nail into the wall for the calender that hung there. I would have heard them refinishing my cabinets. Something very peculiar was going on.

I stared at her with a strange, docile look on my face. It felt limp and at rest. Like my brain wasn't sure what signals to send to the muscles to get them to form faces like "sad" or "happy." I just... stared, then in a fairly bland tone I stated, "I think I'm scared too."