Huliau 2022

Here's a time slip story from a very unexpected place.

Downtown Honolulu, specifically the corner of Merchant and Alakea. Creighton Iha worked in the American Savings Bank building. One day on a lunch break, he walked down to the old store in the Podmore building. Today, that store has since become a restaurant whose name reflects the building itself. Podmore. Very creative. Creighton always bought a few char siu bao, a couple of hot dog spam musubi, and a few drinks for lunch. That was his daily routine. One day, while leaving the old store, Creighton stepped out onto the street and, as he put it, was transported back in time. The high-rise buildings were gone, and in their place were the Hawaiians of ancient Honolulu, or Honokaupu as it was known. Nearby was a smattering of hale pili and what looked like a pond. On the opposite side were men who had set about carving wooden images from long thick blanks of wood. The air was fragrant with the smell of it. Creighton said he blinked once and was right outside the old store on the corner of  Alakea and Merchant as if nothing had happened a second before.

"I never went back to that store again," Creighton told me. "I started going to the 7-11 on Bishop street, it's packed, and there are strange people in there all the time, but at least it's not a time portal."

If he only knew.