Tim Pratt's "Impossible Dreams": A fairy tale romance for grown ups

Reading this story as sf will likely be disappointing. I liked it when I looked at it as a fairy tale. Even though the fairy & her wand are invisible.

The story uses the device of parallel universes to build up the plot. Since they don't mean anything to me, I look at them as just constructs of magic.

Full text of this story is available online.

Story summary.
Pete is a movie buff. One night, he discovers a video rental store called Impossible Dreams in his neighborhood. Intrigued he had not noticed it before, he enters.

Thus begins his romance with the store clerk, Ally - also a movie buff. He finds familiar movies in store that are not quite familiar, movies made by directors after they were supposed to have died, etc! And his Visa card is unfamiliar, his money is unfamiliar, ...

Through the story, we learn this shop is actually in a nearly similar but parallel universe. And because of some unexplained phenomenon, it has been appearing in our universe between 9 & 10 pm! And this window of appearance is shrinking with passing days.

The story has a happy ending - with Ally entering our universe before disappearance of the shop at appointed hour.

Fact sheet.
Impossible Dreams, short story, review
Rating: B
First published: Asimov's July 2006
Winner of Hugo Awards 2007 in short story category

Also see.

1. All Hugo Award stories.
2. All stories involving a parallel universe