Stranded in Friends

1. The one with the realization

After Meredith had made the wish, something odd happened. It's like time stood still and then rewinded, like in a movie, where you go back to see a particular scene again. Of course she doesn't really know at first but when she wakes up the next morning, things have changed.

She is in the same building, it just looks newer, like it was recently built and her furniture is different. Older, or vintage how her generation would call it even though it isn't, yet. When she looks out over the city, things look different, too. Not very much but she does notice the little things. 

It's like someone decided to re-decorate and re-build New York in one night. Although the thought is absurd and impossible, she can't think of anything else that could have happened. Perhaps she is still dreaming, but she would be dreaming very vividly. How do you call these dreams? Lucid dreams. She must be lucid dreaming. There is no other way. 

Her wardrobe changed completely, her closet now full with fashion of the 90's. She knows that these trends are returning but she can't remember buying these. It's so weird and she feels like she is losing her mind. 

'Pinch yourself, see if you feel pain.' It's a perfect tactic to test if you're dreaming. But when she pinches, she feels a small stinging pain. 'Ok, count your fingers.' In dreams, you almost never have just 5 fingers, but Meredith can easily count them. 

Maybe she is not dreaming, let's see if her phone has a connection or can show her the date, and year for that matter. Unfortunately, there is no smart-phone in her apartment. She's freaking out, how is this possible? What did happen to her? Is she in some kind of a prank? Because if so, she doesn't consider it funny. 

After getting dressed, she hurries onto the street, looking for any kind of sign that she is still in 2019. However, when she passes a booth that sells newspapers, she hurriedly looks for a date and year.

May Fifteen, 1995. 

'Is this an old newspaper?' She asks the seller but he shakes his head, telling her that what she's holding is today's number. 'Are you joking?' But he shakes his head again while lighting a cigarette. 

She is freaking out! How did this happen? Is there some kind of force field where she fell into during her sleep that took her back in time? So many questions, so little answers. She travelled 24 years back in time.

After cooling down a bit, looking around, reading the newspaper to see what events have happened that shocked this time and then finds it rather amusing. What if this happened for a reason, she thinks and walks around confidently while trying some of the things that she always wanted to do if she were to be alive around this time. 

She wasn't, she is from 1996. How great, she thinks, to now see what New York looked like. 

Later in the day, she spots a coffee house somewhere on a corner that is close to Central Park. To her surprise the place is called "Central Perk." She thinks it funny, seeming that it would be a reference to her favourite tv-show. It wouldn't be crazy for it to really exist because it's a very popular show that is still airing on tv. 

She decides to pop in and have a cup of coffee, but when she walks in, it looks exactly like the Central Perk in the show. What a coincidence! A friendly girl at the counter takes her order and tells her she will bring it over as soon as it's ready. 

'Thank you.' She pays and makes her way over towards the orange sofa in the middle. The resemblance is uncanny. How did they get it to look so much alike, she wonders out loud. Nobody answers, the only thing she gets is some strange looks her way. 

Her coffee comes fast and when she watches the waitress walk away, she spots a blonde familiar man behind the counter. Gunther. 'No way!' She whispers to herself, freaked out again by the fact that an actor is serving coffee. Is he a real barista?

'Hi, so sorry to bother you but we usually sit here. Is it ok if me and my friends join you?' Her gaze shifts again to a very, very familiar woman that is known all over the world as Monica Geller. But Meredith sees her as the actual actress and grows nervous, mumbling an ok and anything for Courteney and the cast of Friends. 

'What was that?' Courteney asks, a raised eyebrow as she takes a seat next to Meredith. 'Oh, I said, anything for Courteney and the cast of Friends.' She smiles warmly but Courteney does not answer that smile.

'My name is not Courteney and we're just a group of friends, not a cast. My name is Monica.' Her jaw drops and she wants to say something but the rest of the group is now gathering around and asking who she is and why she is sitting at their spot.