His appearance seemed innocent. He wore the kind of extra large grey trench coat with the huge collar  you would see in one of those old gangster movies from the 1920’s. He was also very scrawny and was about in his mid 40s. The strange part was that he just appeared out of nowhere. One second he was not there, and the next second he was.The strangest thing happened next. Like a madman, he started to run into the middle of the freeway while cars were zipping back and forth. He dodged the cars and lunged towards a small object gleaming like a diamond in the moonlight. The trench-coat man then snatched the small quarter-sized object in the air. I was not quick enough to reach the brake pedal. His whole body then slammed right through the front window of the car. The glass shreddings pierced through the leather seats.
I swerved my car over and found the man groaning next to me in the passenger seat. He then raised his left hand, and in it was a silver dollar. He let out one breath and fainted. The coin was in mid air giving out one quick ring sound and then plopped on my lap.
I found him in the ER wing. He was fast asleep. Or so I thought. I still had his coin. I was about to give it to him until he lurched forward and seized my arm.
“You do not want the coin,” he whispered in a firm tone.
“Good day to you, too. So, I just want to say, ‘hi’ and see how you are doing. Obviously, you seem better from the last time I saw you. Which was approximately...5 hours ago when you went through my car window. Anyways, ta-ta.”
“No. I cannot stay here. I’m not in this time period--”
“Sure you are. Unless you were from the 20th century. Which you are not. However, your clothes do--”
“You like to talk,”said the trench-coat man.
“You like to interrupt.”
There was a brief pause until the strange man spoke.
“Listen. That coin got me into this time period- I don’t know how -but frankly, I do not want to be here. From the looks of it, I won’t be able to get back to 1922 which is where I am from. I need to adjust to this time period by staying with you. ”
“One, impossible. Two, even if you were from 1922, I would not help you. I already have my own problems.”
“What if there was a sizeable reward?”
“What kind of ‘sizeable reward’?”
He rubbed the tip of his index finger with his thumb and had a sly grin on his face.
“Money?”
“What else?”
I was having a hard time paying off my bills. I could not resist.
“Deal.”
If only I knew what would happen next.

Two years later

Charlie had adjusted to his new time period quite well. He found a nice house along the river in Manayunk, Pennsylvania. A few times, he told me what life was like in the 20th century and how he fought in The Great War. He eventually found out about other things like the smartphone and modern day cars.
“You know. This is the life. Way better than my old life. So many more places and so many more things to do. Get this, there is a television set 50” wide! Isn’t that incredible!” And Charlie had even more to learn.
As it turned out, Charlie was actually a part of a wealthy family. He gave a large percent of his fortune as the sizeable reward to me for his care. Charlie eventually forgot about the coin; however, I still had some questions that were bothering me. “Why did he grab it from the middle of the highway on that cold Sunday night?” I just had to ask him.
I walked to his house and gave one quick knock meaning “Hey it’s me. Open up!”
I hear a faint “Come in.”
I walk into the house greeted by the kitchen with the linoleum floors and neatly stacked plates and bowls in the glass window cabinets. I start the interrogation. 
“Charlie?”
“Yeah?”
He was staring intently at the screen with his thumbs shuffling across the ps3 controller.
“Um...I never really asked, but...what's the deal with your coin?”
His fingers stopped. It became really quiet. He eventually responded with a serious tone like the last time he spoke of the coin.
“That coin is dangerous. It can take you anywhere in time. The problem is you can’t go back to your old life. It can only be activated if you flip the coin three times and it lands on heads in a row. Personally, I was lucky to end up here.”
“So you just said aloud, ‘I want to go to 2016.’?”
“Not exactly. If the coin lands on tails 3 times in a row, it will take you anywhere it so desires.”
“This kinda sounds like those movies where there's an old wise guy who has a dangerous weapon and he teaches his apprentice how to use it. There’s always a bad guy who wants to use it for evil.”
“Fortunately, there is no bad guy in this case.”
“Another question, how do you know any of this?
“It’s really complicated.”
“Right.”
I take the coin out of my pocket. Charlie’s face became pale white and utterly shocked.
“Let’s see if you’re telling the truth.”
“No. Don’t do it.”
*flick*
It landed on tails.
“Stop!”
*flick*
It landed on tails again.
“As a friend, I’m telling you to think of what you will lose if that coin lands with tails up. You won’t have it easy if you land in a time where there’s war or a severe drought throughout the world. Just please, don’t flip that coin again. Please.”
*flick*
The coin landed while tails facing up for the 3rd time. 
The heat started from my hands. It felt like I was burning yet freezing cold. The burning sensation spread rapidly throughout the rest of my body. I quickly grab the coin as my last moment in the this time period.
I woke up to a music band beginning its opening. I was in-between two huge walls until I realized they were the sides of  houses. There were cheers and streamers everywhere. I saw tons of  houses crammed on top of one another on a hill. Then I saw a flag on one of the houses. It had red, blue, and white colors each in 3 sections. No, it was not the American flag.  I knew instantly where I was. I was in France. I guessed the place was not so bad after all. I just did not realize what time period I was in.
A marching band came down the street, but then they broke out into sprints.  Whirring  from above stopped me in my tracks, and tanks rolled up the hill. There were foot soldiers wearing red bands on their arm. They took the marching band members into their trucks. The cheers were drowned out by the sounds of screams and gunshots. Someone hurled me into a lorry and then I was knocked out.  I eventually woke up in a cot in a freezing cold shack.  There were other people there, too.  I looked at the soldier’s uniform closer. It wasn’t just any red band. It was a Nazi swastika band.
I frantically dug into my pocket for the coin which was not there.  I looked over and saw a soldier flick the coin.  In a split second, he was gone.