A Chance to Change

"And, the winner is...... JOSHUA BARKLEY!"

The crowd cheered and boomed as the contestant stumbled off of a pedestal, down the stairs, and fell face flat into the terrazzo floor surrounding the podium.  Minutes later, an ambulance arrived and took the unconscious man to the hospital.

The cheers were deafening. Nobody knew how this game show worked, but they still loved it.

"Look at that Darren!" Joe piped. "That guy just sparked out right there on the game show floor!"

"Yeah, I know" Darren murmured. “People almost always seem to fall out after one of these stupid game shows finishes. It probably has to do with the stress of competing in it.”

Anyway, he didn’t have the luxury of spending any more time staring at the all the shrieking fun.

"Okay, that’s it.  I’ve got to head to work”

"See ya man," His room-mate remained glued to the TV.

Darren quickly changed into his business suit, opened the door, and resumed what he considered, in even his best moments, to be his daily fiasco.

The drive to work was not that bad, but the traffic, as usual, was pretty dense.

"You have reached your destination!" The GPS perkily assured him in the British-accented woman’s voice he had selected.  Darren smiled. He called her “Dora”.

"Thank you Dora” Darren sighed “Yup, here we are, just like every single, goddam day."

He turned off the ignition on his 2019 Nissan Armada, said a pointless goodbye to Dora, whom he fantasized was in reality a tall, somewhat dangerous brunette, and trekked toward another dull day in the same dull office building.  As he approached the entrance, an elderly man waddled toward at him at a worrisomely rapid pace.

"Hey!" Darren shouted involuntarily.

"Hey yourself! “Listen man, lemme tell ya somethin'." The old man quivered with excitement.

"Huh? what? Darren shivered, this was no ordinary clueless bum.  He was shocked by the old man’s ferocity.

"You know dat game show right? That one called Secon' Chance, or

whatever.  Was on de Tee Vee dis morning?."

"Y-Yeah, I know it. Why?"

"Dat game be de real ting, yeah I know from de title man!" The old man yelled in what seemed to be a strong Jamaican accent.

"W-What do you mean?" Darren stuttered.

"I’m gonna tell you somet’ing.  I see you come in and out dis place every day and I say meself: “Dis look like a smart guy.  He de man to do somet’ing.  These other peoples, dey look like robots, but you look like you always t’inking something man.”

Darren now remembered that he had seen the old guy panhandling his office mates on occasion.

“Okey, look, Jah love me, I going tell you a secret.  When dose guys go to dem cubicles, deys don’t just play de game.  Deys get sent someplace.  Dey get to reverse somet’ing dat happened…in da past!"

"What a-re you talking about? That’s not possible!" Darren said."

"IT'S TRUE!" The old man persisted.  "I know ‘cause I used to clean up dat place.  Wit’ my own eyes I SEE DEM DISAPPEAR AN' COME BACK LATER ALL TIRED AN' STUFF!"

Rattled, Darren could only manage "S-sorry, I don't believe you," He excused himself and walked briskly to the entrance.

“OK man, but I see you later.”

Throughout the work day, Darren couldn't get the old man’s words out of his mind.

"Is that really possible?" Darren wondered. Could you actually go back in time to help or save someone?

"No, its nonsense; that's impossible" Darren thought. That guy was just an old man who probably lost his marbles 15 years ago.

His mind wandered.  The possibilities were fascinating.  “What if I could save Mia?" Would I have done it?”

Mia is…was his wife. She had died in a car crash a few years ago.  He had been impossible that day, had asked her to go out for beer.  She had.  She had never returned.

After the long day of work was over, Darren exited the building to go home. The old man was no longer there.

After a brief drive home, Darren, like he did every day, trudged back to the apartment and opened the door. Joe was snoring.  Everything was quiet. As he walked into his room, he saw the picture of his beloved wife, a few

years before the crash.

Too much pointless dreaming today "I miss you." Darren thought.

Darren flopped on the bed, worn down by a long day, and immediately fell asleep.

"Darren... are you there?"

"Huh? Who said that?"

"It's me," A female voice said.

“Dora?” He mumbled figuring he was still dreaming. Then, he saw her. Standing right in front of him. He couldn't believe his eyes.

"MIA?" Darren yelled aloud.

He sprang out of bed, started running toward the apparition.

"IT'S REALLY YOU!" He murmured happily.

“Son of a bitch!”  It was Joe in the other room.

The dream faded and Darren woke up. Too much.

"I have to save her."  It was morning.  7:15 AM.  Just getting light.

With determination, Darren shoved some clothes on and busted out of the door, sweating as he sprinted down the stairway.

Joe had downloaded material from the damn game show.  He knew. He shuffled through the papers on the messy kitchen table and found the sheet.

"SECOND CHANCES GAME SHOW - TAPING LIVE AT 8:00 AM EVERY DAY"

He wasn’t completely certain he wasn’t still dreaming, but he knew he needed to get there as soon as possible. Miraculously there was a taxi just killing time on the road in front of the building. He forgot the Nissan, too slow.

Darren barged into the back seat, pushed 20 dollars into the driver’s hand, and said "Second Chances."

Somehow the driver knew what he was talking about.  The game-show was on everyone’s mind. The taxi sped down the highway as the clock ticked away.

"Thanks mister. Have a nice d-" Darren slammed the door and rushed to the entrance of the television studio.

As he plunged the door, a guard tried to stop him but failed to do so. Darren sped down the hallway until he reached the main entrance and plowed through the entry. There was some elevator music playing and people were starting to gather. He saw the 2 cubicles on the stage.

"Let's do this." Darren thought.

Darren sprinted onto the stage, heard the tech calling for Security, but he shoved the contestant out of the cubicle, closed the door, and pressed the button. There was a smell of maple and oak. Lights seemed to flash. Purple, green, red.  Silence. Then a bird twittered.

"Where am I?" Darren mumbled. He lifted his face out of the leaves and looked around. It was fall. Darren luckily had a wristwatch on, and checked the date. It was October 22nd.

"THIS IS THE DAY!" It was 6 years ago but Darren remembered. Darren then jumped up, and ran down the street. About 500 feet away, Darren saw her. For real this time.

He knew what he had to do.

Darren’s heart pounded in his chest as he dashed towards her at full speed. She was walking across the road toward their old car.

"WAIT!! STOP! GET AWAY from that car!!!" Darren yelled. He was almost there.

"Darren honey? Is that you?" It was Mia.  He could see the blue Pontiac, some dumb kid at the wheel, weaving down the road toward them

"GET. OFF. THE. ROAD!" Darren yelled as he tackled Mia from the

back, and the couple went flying to the sidewalk.  He barely heard the smash as the two cars hit, and then blue and red lights and…

"So, the winner is...... The announcer seemed confused, but got a signal from the floor and shouted out somewhat doubtfully, “A STRANGER!"

The crowd yelled as Darren stumbled out of the cubicle, wavered down the stairs and fell flat on his face.

Twenty minutes later he woke to see the faces of the paramedics.  There was someone with them.  Someone achingly familiar.

"He'll be okay Ma’am." A voice said. Darren blinked, slowly opened his eyes again.

"How do you feel sir?" A doctor asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Darren mumbled. He saw the cops waiting in the doorway.  “I’m an idiot”

“Sir, you’ll have to come with us.” Darren looked down, He retrieved his shoes and accepted the handcuffs in a daze.

The day was very clear, and the sun was shining brightly.

Darren stumbled to the sidewalk, saw the police cruiser, and blacked out again.

This time he awoke in a prison cell.  There was some commotion and discussion outside, then a guard walked in, opened the cell and said, “You’re free to go, your bail has been paid.”

As Darren collected his things he saw something that almost made him lose consciousness again.

A female figure was walking towards him.

"Hey Darren my bad boy!  Now that I’ve taken care of your bail, let's go to the ballgame.  The Tigers are playing at Corley Field tonight!"

"Mia?” His knees buckled with the shock.  He was speechless. As his wife helped him down the steps he saw the old man again, smiling, winking and after giving Darren a thumb’s up he put his hand to his belt, and he vanished.