DeWitt reunion

This is a submission for the #Spring2025 challenge

On the night of April 1st 1916, Jeff was just getting ready to close up his bar for the night. This night the kids decided to help out Jeff, as they had nothing else to do that night, plus they wanted to spend some family time together.

“Hey Seth, can you got get Sabria and Jack? I’m gonna need a little help washing the tables tonight. I’m going to go put the extra food and drink in the storage downstairs.” Jeff requested

“Sure thing pa!” Seth quickly responded

As the 3 kids started to cleaned up the bar, Jeff walked down to the basement and put away the boxes he needed to put away

“Well… that’s all of them, probably time to head home”

Right as Jeff turned to go back up the stairs, he heard a cracking sound, a kind he had never heard before, almost futuristic sounding in nature. When he turned around. There was a mysterious door that had appeared on the wall, one that hadn’t been there before.

Jeff cautiously walked towards it, then opened the door. Suddenly he was sucked into the door, like a strong wind pushed him in, slamming the door behind him.

Although dazed, Jeff got back onto his feet and started to look around. The scenery looked… similar, but a little different from the basement he was just in.

“What are you doin in my bars basement!” A stranger yelled from behind, in a thick Minnesotan accent

As Jeff turned around, he met eyes with the stranger, he shared Jeff’s hazel eyes and dark auburn hair, although he had a hairstyle that Jeff had never seen before, and a short beard.

“I was just walking through that door over there while puttin some stuff away in my bar, then I got pulled through… now I’m here…” Jeff looked around, still very confused.

“What do you mean your bar, this is the DeWitt bar, pased down for generations.” The stranger asked

“I am a DeWitt, Jeff DeWitt, and what do you mean ed down, I was just here…”

“Wait… your Jeff DeWitt, my great great grandpa who started this place…This is strange… I’m Elliott DeWitt by the way” Elliott stated “come follow me, why don’t we get out of this basement and get some fresh air.

Elliott led Jeff to the main room of the bar, which now looked a lot more modern, with flashing neon lights, although it still kept is rustic look in some areas, and was just as lively as before.

“This is surreal, what year is it? This don’t feel like 1916” Jeff looked around, looking at the tall buildings in the distance, they had to be a thousand feet tall, and the noise of the once small town of Blackwater was almost deafening.

It’s… 2025, and something tells me you weren’t lying about being my great great grandpa… I ain’t seen nobody look as out of place as you… and this is Blackwater.”

“Heh, I guess that will never change…” Jeff gave a small laugh

“Did you want to try and find a way back to the past or stay a little longer, it ain’t everyday that someone gets to jump over 100 years into the future.” Elliott said, looking back at Jeff.

“I could stay a bit, why don’t you show me around.”

Jeff said, starting to get his bearings again.

The two took a walk around Blackwater, now a suburban area with some farm areas sprinkled about, with a large city in the distance.

“So, who are your great grandparents if I may ask” Jeff asked, a big excited and nervous at the same time.

“If I can recall… there names were Jack and Sabria…”

“Sabria is my daughter, and Jack was a young man I adopted into the family after a very rough patch in his life… guess the two really are meant for each other.”

The two walked to Elliotts ranch.

“Well this is my ranch. From what I can gather it was yours at one point… we tried keeping the look, but we had to replace some of the plumbing.”

It was surreal, the barn, ranch, and silo were all standing, definitely with newer part to them, but in the same places as Jeff ed.

“You know… thanks for keeping this all maintained, as weird as this whole situation is, I’m glad my descendants kept the ranch and bar runnin…”

“No problem, say, why do we head back to the bar and see if we can get you back, I’ll even throw in the bars special drink before you go…”

“The Agarita Sunrise Special!” they both said in unison.

They both laughed

“A man after my own heart!” Jeff bellowed as he laughed

As the two returned to the bar, they gave each other their goodbyes, and walked back down the the bar basement

“Well it was nice meeting you Jeff, I’m glad I got to meet you… you take care alright?” Elliott said, with a little sadness in his voice

“Yeah, you too young one, maybe one day we’ll meet again!” Jeff gave his descendant a large hug before he left

Jeff opened the door that brought him to the future, and just line before it sucked him in like a strong gust of wind, though Jeff was ready for it.

When he got his bearings, the basket looked the same as when he started, he was back in 1916

“Hey pa, you alright? I heard some crashing sounds, and you didn’t respond for a good 5 minutes” Seth shouted from the top of the stairs.

“Yeah… I’m alright, just… think I hit my head a little”

“Why don’t we head back to the ranch, and you get some rest pa” Seth said a little concerned

“I think that sounds like a good idea, I think I could use some rest…” Jeff muttered, still thinking about his experience.

Characters:

Jeff DeWitt

Elliott DeWitt