Second Chance (Details)
citation: Good Housekeeping, April 1956, 142(4):66-67, 190-199
alias: None
teaser: Set aside an early spring day or evening. Give yourself a carefree hour: half of it for reading this, the other half for pondering
summary: The narrator, unable to explain how he
got to a time and place no one else in the world even remembers,
explains
how he bought a 1923 Jordan Playboy automobile. He goes on to explain how
he restored the car; how it became his passion.
The Jordan had been struck by a train, and the people in it at the time, killed. By writing letters, advertising, and word-of-mouth, the narrator restored the car in great detail, even reattaching its original 1923 Illinois license plates. Finally finished — still wearing his father's old clothing, and without any money in his pockets — he takes the Jordan for its first drive in 33 years.
Other drivers and pedestrians don't seem to appreciate the worth of the restored Jordan. The narrator's date, Naomi Weygand, now won't go out with him; doesn't want to be seen driving around in the Jordan. The narrator drives alone onto the old Cressville road, rather than the more heavily-traveled new highway.
He drives along singing old songs like Avalon, and Japanese Sandman. Suddenly, he recalls having seen Jack Dempsey at his restaurant in New York, remembering Dempsey not as the man he saw, but as young boxer who beat Tom Gibbons. He feels the Dempsey-Gibbons fight was just weeks ago.
He realizes there are more cars on the road than he expected. The headlights of oncoming cars are unusual, only dimly lighting the road. He recognizes one of the oncoming cars as a 1922 Moon roadster. Other cars are likewise antiques: Model T Fords, and Stanley Steamers, and a 1921 Pierce-Arrow.
He recalls how time can be compared to a winding river, and existence as a boat on that river. Even though past and future may be hidden around bends, they are still there nonetheless. What bars us from the past for example, are enumerable links to the present. Because the narrator and his car had been rejected by the present, they naturally drifted into the past.
He drives into Hylesburg, a town little changed since the Civil War. He parks alongside the Orpheum movie theater, where the Jordan seemed to settle itself a few inches forward, among other pre-1923 automobiles.
As he walks about, he see people coming out of the movie theater. He hears his Jordan start up, then sees a young man drive the Jordan toward him. He yells at the driver, who skids almost to a stop, then swerves to avoid him, driving off with a girl in the passenger seat. A voice in the crowd refers to the driver as Vince.
Unable to report the Jordan stolen, he walks the streets, avoiding his grandmother's house, and the boy living there who will become his father. He passes a house where there is a party, music coming from a hand-cranked phonograph. By daylight, he is home in his own time.
Missing the Jordan Playboy, he's eventually able to locate another one through
a girl, Helen McCauley, he meets in school; a girl he could fall
in love with, and marry, and be happy with.
Helen understands his interest in old cars. In fact, her father has a Jordan Playboy in their barn. Mr. McCauley, who'd owned the car since he was young, gives the car to the narrator, who discovers Mr. McCauley's first name is Vince.
Vince explains he and his wife, who were dating at the time, were almost hit by a train one night while driving the Jordan. Only a few seconds indecision saved them.
Although there's no proof, the narrator believes his trip with the Jordan to the past gave it, and the future McCauleys — his future in-laws — a second chance.
words: 6,555
genre: Time Travel
similar: None
people: Unnamed Narrator, Naomi Weygand, Jack Depsey, Ray Dorset, Ed Smiley, Jim Clark, Helen McCauley, Vincent McCauley, Mrs. McCauley
places: Hylesburg, IL: Poynt College , J. C. Penny's, Main Street, Cressville road, New China restaurant, Gill's restaurant, Orpheum, Prairie Avenue; Cressville, IL; New York, NY: Empire State Building, Rockefellar Center, Jack Dempsey's (restaurant)
comments: Forthcoming