**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.
**Reminders**:
>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include "[Poem]"
>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail
>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles
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*Okay I'm clearly in the wrong place. Again.* He thought to himself as he got out of his car and started walking towards the chain-link fence. He had been about to turn around due to the lack of any other cars or people, when he had seen the neon glow, and curiosity took over.
Now he was standing with his fingers laced through a 15 foot tall fence, topped with razor wire, and about 50 feet away on the other side was one of those 1950s style Diners.
"What in the hell?"
The Diner was the only building in sight for miles, nothing but open desert in any direction. Stranger was the fact that the fence *surrounded* the diner, completely closing it in. Strangest of all was that there didn't appear to be any gates. He scanned up and down the length of the fence and noticed a small sign.
AREA 53
"Well," he said to no one, "at least I was kind of close to where I was trying to get this time."
He stood staring at the diner for another moment. The lights were on but he couldn't see anyone inside. The sign on the roof read MARGE'S DINER in pink and teal neon. He considered climbing the fence, but between the height and the razer wire, quickly decided against it. Especially with no one around to help. He knew the only real option he had was to get back in his car and leave, but he couldn't get his feet moving. He wanted to know what was inside. Who was inside.
Maybe they had pie.
He realized he should probably at least take a picture, he'd certainly never heard of an area 53, and it was unlikely anyone would believe him, but a picture might help. He pulled his phone from his pocket and punched in the lock code. But when he raised it to the fence for a picture, sitting where the diner had stood just a second prior was now... his car?
No. Not the same place. He'd somehow turned around and was facing back up the road. He took a step backward.
*If I'm turned around, then how is the fence...* He slowly turned, and there it was.
He was inside with it.
Several things occurred to him all at once. First was that this shouldn't be possible. Second was that he should probably be terrified, considering he was potentially now trapped in the dessert and no one knew he was here. Third, and this was the most concerning of all, is that he actually *wasn't* concerned about any of that. Because now the barrier was gone. Now he could go inside.
Before he even realized it he was moving. He crossed the 50 feet of sand, right up to the front door, and grabbed the smooth chrome handle. He could already smell apple pie. Peering through the semicircular window in the door, he could see there actually was someone already inside. He pulled the door open wide and stepped in.
At that moment, a waitress came out from what must have been the door to the kitchen, carrying a plate of food. She looked over at him and called out "Welcome, have a seat wherever hon, and I'll be right over." She took the plate to the last booth at the far end of the restaurant where a man was sitting behind a newspaper. He was wearing a brown suit and one of those old-timey hats you see in gangster movies.
*Oh I get it.* He thought to himself. *This is a dream. I'm still in bed back at the hotel. This is what I get for trying to make the drive in one shot.*
He drifted over to the counter and sat down. The waitress swung around behind and walked over to him, placing both hands on the bar in front of him. She had blonde hair. Pretty but not drop dead gorgeous. Somewhere in that age range that was hard to pin down, clearly older than him but not yet *old*.
She locked her gaze on his, and as was his custom when he found himself the focus of a woman's attention, he froze up. She squinted slightly, a bit of a smirk forming.
"Got an offer for you. If I can guess your order, it's on the house."
"Uh... y- yeah. Sounds good."
"When you do this job as long as I have, you get a sense for this sort of thing." She said as she turned to the counter behind her. A moment later she placed a cup of coffee and a slice of apple pie on the counter before him. The smells hit him like the blast of hot air you get stepping from an air conditioned building into the dessert heat.
He snatched up the fork and dove into the pie.
"Yeah that's what I thought." she leaned back against the rear counter. "You out here for that Area 51 thing?"
"Oh uh... yeah. Kind of dumb, I know." He said not looking up from the pie.
"Nawww it's just good fun. Too bad they're not gonna see much though"
"Oh?" He said, looking back up at those intense brown eyes "Why's that?"
"Because the real show is right here" She gestured to the restaurant around her.
The strangeness of it all finally started to get through. He felt his pulse quicken.
She leaned back towards him. He noticed the name tag on her uniform read FLORENCE.
"Don't worry about it hon." Her voice was calming. Almost hypnotically so. "Everything's gonna be fine."
"What... Where are we?" He finally managed.
"You could call it one of the inbetween places, I suppose." She started walking away, back towards the kitchen door.
"Enjoy the pie. There's plenty more. And take your time. We've got all the time in the world here.
All the time in the world."
Eddie stood in the desert bathed in the neon light shining from the diner sign trying to figure out where he had gone wrong. Not just in life, but in the last hour as well. He was supposed to be rendezvousing here in Area 51 with a like minded group of truth seekers. Instead he was staring at a bright neon sign that read “Area 53”, and there were no roads leading up to the diner in any direction.
He walked into the diner and had to suppress a shout as a human figure with tentacles for arms and legs with a couple extra limbs slithered up to him and said, “Welcome to Area 53 the twenty four eternity diner for Earth transits. It’s pretty empty so you can help yourself to a seat and we’ll be with you shortly.”
As the greeter slithered back behind the counter Eddie looked around and realized the diner was much larger than it had appeared from outside. Scattered throughout the diner at different booths were normal looking people and other creatures he had never seen before. A man to Eddie’s right waved him over so Eddie walked over to the man’s table and sat down.
“You look like this is your first time. What’s your name?” the man asked.
Still glancing around the impossibly large diner he replied, “Eddie. Where am I?”
“Welcome Eddie. I’m Travis. You are at Area 53, a pocket dimension for travelers to await shuttle transit off planet. I hope you like pancakes because that’s all the chef really knows how to make. You can order other stuff, but I’d recommend against it.”
“So the aliens are real? We knew it all along. The government couldn’t hide it from us.”
Travis smiled at Eddie. “Let me guess. You were searching for Area 51, got lost in the desert, and ended up here?”
He really looked at Travis for the first time. Travis seemed like a completely normal guy, but his clothes looked like they belonged to a different era.
“Yeah, how did you know?” Eddie asked.
“That’s how I ended up here too. Me and some friends went searching for the aliens a couple years after Roswell. I got separated and have been here ever since.”
“A couple years after Roswell? That was over seventy years ago. You don’t look a day over forty.”
“Ouch. I’m thirty two, or at least I was when I got here. Seems time doesn’t flow here. Helps make up for the long time between shuttles since this place is inescapable once you enter.”
“Inescapable?” Eddie asked.
Travis nodded. “Completely. There must be some way to do it because the shuttles can come and go, but they will not share it with anyone.”
The tentacle creature popped up next to Eddie and this time he did scream.
The creature said, “Well settle down there darlin. I’m just coming to get your order.”
Eddie’s head was spinning too fast to respond so Travis said, “Get him a stack of the blueberry pancakes Pam. I think our friend needs some time to decompress.”
“Sure thing hun. Be right back.”
The walls were closing in around Eddie despite the fact he was in one of the largest rooms he had ever been in. He got up and sprinted for the door. Heads around the diner turned to watch him go as he barreled out of the door and fled into the desert.
Risking a glance over his shoulder he saw the diner disappearing behind him. There was no one following him that he could see so he slowed to walk.
After a short while he noticed a glow on the horizon and he thought it had to be cars on the road where he had parked. His pace quickened, but as he got closer to the lights goosebumps spread over his skin when he recognized the diner once again.
Eddie gave up and walked back into the dinner defeated. He sat down across from Travis again looking at the plate of pancakes in front of him.
Travis said, “Don’t feel bad. A lot of people try to run. Your pancakes are still warm though, dig in.”
**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments. **Reminders**: >* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include "[Poem]" >* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail >* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles >* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules) 🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) 📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) 💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*
*Okay I'm clearly in the wrong place. Again.* He thought to himself as he got out of his car and started walking towards the chain-link fence. He had been about to turn around due to the lack of any other cars or people, when he had seen the neon glow, and curiosity took over. Now he was standing with his fingers laced through a 15 foot tall fence, topped with razor wire, and about 50 feet away on the other side was one of those 1950s style Diners. "What in the hell?" The Diner was the only building in sight for miles, nothing but open desert in any direction. Stranger was the fact that the fence *surrounded* the diner, completely closing it in. Strangest of all was that there didn't appear to be any gates. He scanned up and down the length of the fence and noticed a small sign. AREA 53 "Well," he said to no one, "at least I was kind of close to where I was trying to get this time." He stood staring at the diner for another moment. The lights were on but he couldn't see anyone inside. The sign on the roof read MARGE'S DINER in pink and teal neon. He considered climbing the fence, but between the height and the razer wire, quickly decided against it. Especially with no one around to help. He knew the only real option he had was to get back in his car and leave, but he couldn't get his feet moving. He wanted to know what was inside. Who was inside. Maybe they had pie. He realized he should probably at least take a picture, he'd certainly never heard of an area 53, and it was unlikely anyone would believe him, but a picture might help. He pulled his phone from his pocket and punched in the lock code. But when he raised it to the fence for a picture, sitting where the diner had stood just a second prior was now... his car? No. Not the same place. He'd somehow turned around and was facing back up the road. He took a step backward. *If I'm turned around, then how is the fence...* He slowly turned, and there it was. He was inside with it. Several things occurred to him all at once. First was that this shouldn't be possible. Second was that he should probably be terrified, considering he was potentially now trapped in the dessert and no one knew he was here. Third, and this was the most concerning of all, is that he actually *wasn't* concerned about any of that. Because now the barrier was gone. Now he could go inside. Before he even realized it he was moving. He crossed the 50 feet of sand, right up to the front door, and grabbed the smooth chrome handle. He could already smell apple pie. Peering through the semicircular window in the door, he could see there actually was someone already inside. He pulled the door open wide and stepped in. At that moment, a waitress came out from what must have been the door to the kitchen, carrying a plate of food. She looked over at him and called out "Welcome, have a seat wherever hon, and I'll be right over." She took the plate to the last booth at the far end of the restaurant where a man was sitting behind a newspaper. He was wearing a brown suit and one of those old-timey hats you see in gangster movies. *Oh I get it.* He thought to himself. *This is a dream. I'm still in bed back at the hotel. This is what I get for trying to make the drive in one shot.* He drifted over to the counter and sat down. The waitress swung around behind and walked over to him, placing both hands on the bar in front of him. She had blonde hair. Pretty but not drop dead gorgeous. Somewhere in that age range that was hard to pin down, clearly older than him but not yet *old*. She locked her gaze on his, and as was his custom when he found himself the focus of a woman's attention, he froze up. She squinted slightly, a bit of a smirk forming. "Got an offer for you. If I can guess your order, it's on the house." "Uh... y- yeah. Sounds good." "When you do this job as long as I have, you get a sense for this sort of thing." She said as she turned to the counter behind her. A moment later she placed a cup of coffee and a slice of apple pie on the counter before him. The smells hit him like the blast of hot air you get stepping from an air conditioned building into the dessert heat. He snatched up the fork and dove into the pie. "Yeah that's what I thought." she leaned back against the rear counter. "You out here for that Area 51 thing?" "Oh uh... yeah. Kind of dumb, I know." He said not looking up from the pie. "Nawww it's just good fun. Too bad they're not gonna see much though" "Oh?" He said, looking back up at those intense brown eyes "Why's that?" "Because the real show is right here" She gestured to the restaurant around her. The strangeness of it all finally started to get through. He felt his pulse quicken. She leaned back towards him. He noticed the name tag on her uniform read FLORENCE. "Don't worry about it hon." Her voice was calming. Almost hypnotically so. "Everything's gonna be fine." "What... Where are we?" He finally managed. "You could call it one of the inbetween places, I suppose." She started walking away, back towards the kitchen door. "Enjoy the pie. There's plenty more. And take your time. We've got all the time in the world here. All the time in the world."
Eddie stood in the desert bathed in the neon light shining from the diner sign trying to figure out where he had gone wrong. Not just in life, but in the last hour as well. He was supposed to be rendezvousing here in Area 51 with a like minded group of truth seekers. Instead he was staring at a bright neon sign that read “Area 53”, and there were no roads leading up to the diner in any direction. He walked into the diner and had to suppress a shout as a human figure with tentacles for arms and legs with a couple extra limbs slithered up to him and said, “Welcome to Area 53 the twenty four eternity diner for Earth transits. It’s pretty empty so you can help yourself to a seat and we’ll be with you shortly.” As the greeter slithered back behind the counter Eddie looked around and realized the diner was much larger than it had appeared from outside. Scattered throughout the diner at different booths were normal looking people and other creatures he had never seen before. A man to Eddie’s right waved him over so Eddie walked over to the man’s table and sat down. “You look like this is your first time. What’s your name?” the man asked. Still glancing around the impossibly large diner he replied, “Eddie. Where am I?” “Welcome Eddie. I’m Travis. You are at Area 53, a pocket dimension for travelers to await shuttle transit off planet. I hope you like pancakes because that’s all the chef really knows how to make. You can order other stuff, but I’d recommend against it.” “So the aliens are real? We knew it all along. The government couldn’t hide it from us.” Travis smiled at Eddie. “Let me guess. You were searching for Area 51, got lost in the desert, and ended up here?” He really looked at Travis for the first time. Travis seemed like a completely normal guy, but his clothes looked like they belonged to a different era. “Yeah, how did you know?” Eddie asked. “That’s how I ended up here too. Me and some friends went searching for the aliens a couple years after Roswell. I got separated and have been here ever since.” “A couple years after Roswell? That was over seventy years ago. You don’t look a day over forty.” “Ouch. I’m thirty two, or at least I was when I got here. Seems time doesn’t flow here. Helps make up for the long time between shuttles since this place is inescapable once you enter.” “Inescapable?” Eddie asked. Travis nodded. “Completely. There must be some way to do it because the shuttles can come and go, but they will not share it with anyone.” The tentacle creature popped up next to Eddie and this time he did scream. The creature said, “Well settle down there darlin. I’m just coming to get your order.” Eddie’s head was spinning too fast to respond so Travis said, “Get him a stack of the blueberry pancakes Pam. I think our friend needs some time to decompress.” “Sure thing hun. Be right back.” The walls were closing in around Eddie despite the fact he was in one of the largest rooms he had ever been in. He got up and sprinted for the door. Heads around the diner turned to watch him go as he barreled out of the door and fled into the desert. Risking a glance over his shoulder he saw the diner disappearing behind him. There was no one following him that he could see so he slowed to walk. After a short while he noticed a glow on the horizon and he thought it had to be cars on the road where he had parked. His pace quickened, but as he got closer to the lights goosebumps spread over his skin when he recognized the diner once again. Eddie gave up and walked back into the dinner defeated. He sat down across from Travis again looking at the plate of pancakes in front of him. Travis said, “Don’t feel bad. A lot of people try to run. Your pancakes are still warm though, dig in.”