David looked at Janice, and then around the coffee shop. Everyone had gone back to their business, despite how strangely they were all dressed - and a few not even dressed at all. Janice looked at him expectantly, hopefully. He sighed. Whatever Gilmore was doing, there didn't seem to be any point in trying to reason with anybody.
"Listen," he said firmly to Janice, "I'm going home. And I'm just going to stay there until whatever the hell is going on here is over." He turned and started walking to the door, without giving Janice a chance to respond.
FLASH
David suddenly found himself seated at his kitchen table, with his family. He looked around. They all looked at one another, then themselves. David gave a sigh of relief to find he was back in his jeans and t-shirt. The rest of his family looked equally relieved.
"Thank god that's over," his Dad said. "My boss was trying to breastfeed me!"
The rest of his family stared. Then Andy noticed something.
"Hey, it's dark out. Wasn't it afternoon just a minute ago?"
Gilmore's voice came back. "Sorry folks, that last glitch caused a bit of a time rift. No worries, though. It seems to have stabilized the system."
"Let us go, you monster!" his Mother screamed. The rest of his family looked just as frustrated - at least they were coming to their senses, David reasoned.
"Now now, I know you've all been put through the ringer. I've really gained quite a bit more data than I expected. So, I'm prepared to make a deal with you fine folks."
The Watsons waited, suddenly feeling a faint glimmer of hope.
"Tomorrow morning," Gilmore continued, "I'm going to give all of you a choice. Choose correctly, and the program will end. Choose incorrectly, and the program will continue."
"And how do we know you're not just going to keep messing with us!?" David shouted. There was no answer for a moment, then the voice came back.
"The choice is yours! Good night." Suddenly, all four family members stood up together and walked to their respective bedrooms without uttering a word. David crawled into his bed and drifted off into a dreamless sleep.
