Green Carpet and the Hospital Badge

Green Carpet and the Hospital Badge

I got off the bus outside my apartment building, but the street names were slightly different and the grocery store on the corner had been replaced by a dry cleaner's that felt like it had been there for thirty years. My key still worked in the front door, but when I walked inside, the hallway carpet was green instead of gray. My partner came out of the kitchen and asked me how my shift at the hospital went. In real life I work in IT, but in the dream I had a badge with my photo on it saying I was an ultrasound tech. She was completely normal, setting out plates for dinner, while I stood in the entryway clutching my backpack with this heavy, creeping panic that I had stepped into someone else's life by accident, or that I had made one different choice years ago and was stuck here. I wanted to ask her what year it was, but I was terrified of how she'd look at me.