Lost in a 1950s Time Warp

Frank and Natalie were about to turn the TV off for the evening, when a news flash alert came on, reading: ATTENTION. DUE TO BLIZZARD, RIVERVILLE AND ALL SURROUNDING COMMUNITIES WILL EXPERIENCE A POWER OUTAGE, STARTING AT 12 MIDNIGHT. 

The news reporter appeared on-camera, confirming the announcement and adding that it was unclear how long the power outage would last during the night, but everyone must take precautions during this stormy night.

Frank shut the TV off and sighed in agony. He knew that Little Charlie was afraid of the dark, so he wouldn’t cope well with this. “We’ll all sleep together here in the living room,” he said. “So that Charlie and his sister don’t get scared.”

Natalie nodded in agreement. “I’m going to clean the baby up before we head to bed.”

It was 11:15, so only 45 minutes before the scheduled blackout. While Natalie was giving Baby Elana a bath, Frank and five-year-old Charlie were setting up the living room for a family sleepover in preparation for the blackout. Pretty soon, mother and daughter were ready and returned to the living room.

Cranberry-scented candles surrounded the coffee table, lighting up the room, in addition to the Christmas tree lights. Imagine that: a snowstorm on the day after Christmas. At least the candles were useful for radiating light in the dark, besides just being a gift to Natalie from Frank. Within minutes, the four of them fell asleep, and it wasn’t long until the clock struck midnight, and the whole town of Riverville experienced its first power outage from a storm.

By the time Frank woke up the next morning, it was 6:50. He offered to look out the window to determine how much snow they’d gotten over the night, but when he opened the door, he was surprised to see there was no snow at all. Natalie watched him go outside to ask the other neighbors what happened, but he saw that everyone else was dressed strangely, wearing attire that only people from the 1950s would wear. Also, the whole neighborhood looked suburban, with houses looking vintage.

Mr. Russell, who lived next door to Frank and Natalie, suddenly appeared to be a young boy, wearing black suspenders and a white t-shirt. When he smiled, he had a small gap in his teeth. He was tossing a football to his friends across the street. Those other boys appeared to be the same age and were not afraid to play on the streets.

Frank exchanged baffled glances with Natalie as she came outside to also check what was happening, before Frank asked the young Russell, “Who are you? And who are all these kids? What happened to all the snow?”

Young Russell grinned. “I’m James Russell, your next-door neighbor, of course. These kids are my friends from school, and what snow? Riverville hasn’t had snow yet this winter season.”

One of Russell’s friends called out to him from across, “Hey, Jimmy, toss us that football already, why don’tcha?”

“Hold your horses, Lionel!” Russell shouted back at his friend, who groaned in impatience with the other young boys. He turned to Frank and Natalie and smiled. “Sorry about that. We were just tossing the ball around.”

“It’s okay.” Natalie smiled. “It’s just… Everything looks so… What’s the word?”

“Different,” Frank replied.

“Yeah, different is an understatement.” She looked down and noticed that she was wearing a black vintage dress with white polka dots and a white ribbon, along with black heels, while Frank was wearing a white dress shirt with a black tie and gray dress pants with black dress shoes. Frank’s dark hair was neatly combed and parted to the left, which brought out the blue of his eyes. Natalie’s long, dirty blonde hair was pulled back into a neat, high ponytail and a black hair ribbon that matched her dress and shoes. She was speechless as she glanced at her clothes, Frank’s clothes, and the fact that their 80-something next-door neighbor Mr. Russell was now a young boy…

She turned to Russell, “Uh, I know this is a dumb question, Mr. Russell…”

“That’s Jimmy Russell to you.” Russell grinned.

“James Russell,” she said, “do you know where we are, exactly? This doesn’t look like the Riverville that we remember.”

“Oh, I grew up like this, and I remember Riverville like this,” he said. “That’s where you are right now.”

“But why does everything look so… So much like the fifties?” Frank asked.

Russell chuckled. “That’s because we are in the fifties. And I’m 12, and so are my friends up there. How old are you two?”

Natalie shook her head, partly in disbelief. “A woman isn’t allowed to reveal her age.”

“It’s okay,” Frank replied. “We’re only 26. This is all new to us. What are we doing in the fifties, exactly? And how did we get here?”

Russell gave them an incredulous look. “You mean you don’t know that you’ve always lived your lives like this? Are you from another planet?”

“No, we’re not,” Frank said. “Natalie and I are married, and we come from a time when cell phones existed. Wait…” He frantically searched through his pants’ pockets, as if trying to see if his phone was there. “Where is it?”

“Where’s what?” Russell asked.

“My cell phone.”

Russell shrugged. “We’re living in 1954, sir. We don’t have any cell phones or whatever the heck you just said. Those things didn’t exist back then. Can I go back to playing with my friends now, or do you have any more strange questions for me? I’m just a normal 12-year-old kid who can’t answer all of your questions today. You’re probably better off just reading about what your life is like in the fifties. I think if you read something, it’ll tell you how to get back to your own time period, but for now, welcome to Riverville in the fifties.”

Natalie asked, “But how did we get here in the first place? The last thing Frank and I remember… There was a snowstorm, then a blackout at some point during the night.” Her eyes widened as she reached the inevitable conclusion. “The snowstorm… It must’ve transported us back in time to the 1950s!”

Frank nodded, agreeing with her. What other logical conclusion could there be?

But Russell shrugged again. “That’s possible. All we have to do is wait for another snowstorm to get here, and if it does–not sure when that’ll be–I think it’ll get you guys back to your own time period. But I think for now, you just have to stay stuck here. I don’t know anything about time travel. I’m sorry, but I’m just a 12-year-old dumb kid.” He gave them a gentle smile.

Frank and Natalie realized that they ought to get used to seeing James Russell as a lively, free-spirited young boy instead of as the boring, often grumpy old man they already knew him as, living next door to him. They shook hands with him and thanked him for his time before he continued playing football with his friends.

When Frank and Natalie returned inside, they realized that the TV in their living room disappeared. Apparently, in the 1950s, not every household owned a television set–only radio–so their only means of receiving news was through radio instead. Little Charlie stretched as he woke up, and Baby Elana began fluttering open her eyes. Now that the kids were up, Natalie wasn’t sure how to tell Charlie about the bizarre experience.

Frank turned on the radio, but it only gave out static, indicating that it wasn’t working. He groaned in frustration. “Great. How are we supposed to find out where we are?”

“I’m up,” Charlie said as he walked up to Frank and gave him a hug. “What’s wrong, Daddy?”

“I don’t know, Buddy,” Frank said softly. Even Charlie had his hair parted to the right, just like other young boys during this time. His blue pajamas remained the same. “I think we all need to take a quick little family trip around town.”

Charlie’s eyes lit up as he jumped around. “Oh, boy, I’d really love that! That sounds real neat, Daddy.”

Natalie smiled. “‘Real neat, Daddy’? What kind of language are you picking up on, Charlie?” She couldn’t help but wonder if her five-year-old son was starting to pick up on 1950s slang. Hopefully, that wasn’t a result of the time travel.

Charlie shrugged innocently. “Aw, gee, I don’t know, Mama. I’m so sorry… It’s just the first words that came to my mind.”

Natalie caressed his hair. “It’s okay, sweetheart. Why don’t you go up and get yourself cleaned up? Your father, sister, and I are planning to grab some breakfast somewhere around town.”

“Oh, yes. I’m starving,” Charlie replied as he ran upstairs to take care of his morning routines. In the meantime, Natalie busied herself with taking care of the little girl and Frank went through a phone book to search for some restaurants where the four of them could go out for breakfast and in the process, try to get some answers as to how the snowstorm could’ve transported them back in time to the 1950s.

Eventually, Frank found a restaurant where they could dine: Riverville’s most popular diner, Sal’s Diner, which opened up just four years earlier when the owner, Salvatore, was only 30. The restaurant still remained popular, even after his death years later.

When the four of them got to Sal’s, everything confirmed that they were living in 1954: the diner was packed, as it always was, even on the weekends. For teens, it was a popular hangout location where they could grab a soda or a milkshake, do homework and study with each other, all the great stuff.

The waitress, Sharon, was assigned to serve Frank, Natalie, and the kids at the booth, which was located across from a booth of five teenage girls, gossiping and laughing loudly with each other. The overall loudness of the cafe drowned out the radio that was playing soft music in the background, along with small announcements at intervals that mostly had to do with Eisenhower’s plans for the country. Frank wished they were sitting by the radio so that he could pick up on some news on how he, Natalie, and the children should return back to the 21st century.

Pretty soon, they received their orders, and Sal–just as he’d always been known for doing–came to each customers’ table to ask everyone about their overall service. It showed you how friendly he was toward his customers and how he made everyone feel like family. He came to Frank and Natalie’s table, grinning at them as he asked, “So, how was your breakfast?”

Frank and Natalie smiled as they each gave a thumbs-up. “It was really keen, Sal,” Natalie replied, trying her best to speak in 1950s slang. “Thank you for checking in on us.”

“No problem; it’s what I do best.” Sal gave them a wink.

“We know.” Frank smiled. “We’ve been here dozens of times, and we know your service very well.”

Sal smiled graciously. “Well, I don’t know your names, but I’ll let you know right now that my door is always open, so you all feel free to stop by whenever you want. I’ll also be a listening ear, whenever you need me.”

Natalie smiled; that was the Sal she and Frank knew, loved and remembered so fondly. Then she cleared her throat, taking a chance by asking him the most important question. “Sal, would you mind giving us some directions to the public library?”

“Of course!” he replied instantly. “Just let me tend to a few more orders and I’ll get back to you.”

“Thank you.” Frank smiled. He and Natalie found it amazing that Sal didn’t recognize them, but they certainly recognized him as a younger man during this time: tall, thin, and attractive for a man of Italian ancestry. Everyone loved Sal, and it wasn’t only because of his amazing restaurant business. He actually served in World War II, and to all the locals of Riverville, he was a community hero who fought for his country. That’s the best way Frank and Natalie remembered him. He was their key hope in helping them get back to the future without interfering with past events that might impact their future.

After he finished tending to his other customers, Sal came up to Frank and Natalie’s table and gave them a piece of paper where he wrote out the directions to the Riverville Public Library. “Thank you very much,” Frank said.

“No problem.” Sal smiled. “I hope you all stay safe on the road.”

“We will, thanks,” Natalie said as she and Frank gathered the children as they exited the diner.

Pretty soon, they arrived at the library, and Frank asked the young librarian, Jeanne, about books on time travel and space. She led them to the section, and Frank and Natalie began checking out books that pertained to time warps, time loops, and the like. After they found two books that piqued their interest, they checked them out and headed back home so they could read each book thoroughly for specific information on how one should return to their own time period without interfering with past events.

But the books came up with nothing useful. Frank then turned on the radio, and suddenly, it was working properly again. The news announced that there was going to be a thunderstorm in the area later tonight, at approximately 11:30, along with a warning of a possible blackout. Frank and Natalie listened in awe, realizing this was their only chance to get transported back into the 21st century.

“We should certainly prepare for tonight,” Natalie said. “Just like we did for the snowstorm and it brought us back in time.”

“Yeah, I’ll start getting out all the candles when it’s time,” Frank said, “but for now, let’s make the most of our time here. Let’s have Little Charlie play with the other kids and the baby with a babysitter, and you and I can mingle with other kids our age around town.”

Natalie smiled. “Sounds like a great idea.”

The young family spent the rest of the day interacting with the other neighbors, most of whom were dead by 2023. Little Charlie was at the playground, playing with other five-year-olds on the swings and slides. Natalie dropped Baby Elana off with a woman named Mrs. Beverley, who had three children of her own. Frank and Natalie spent the rest of the day exploring what the town looked like back in the 1950s, going to social clubs and events that catered to young adults such as themselves.

By the time it was 8:00, it was dark out and they knew it was time to return home so that the town could prepare for the incoming storm that evening.

After completing all their nightly routines, Frank, Natalie, and the kids gathered in the living room, just as they had done the last time with the snowstorm; only this time, it was a thunderstorm. The scented candles were placed around the coffee table to light up the room in case the power went out as predicted.

And then the thunderstorm began, thunder booming loudly as rain poured down like a waterfall. The storm was peaceful enough to cause a power outage in Riverville at the designated time, 11:30.

Hours later, Frank and Natalie woke up at 7:50. This time, things were different. Their TV set was back, and their cell phones were on the coffee table. That meant they were back to the future now… It’s 2023 again.

Frank got up to check the windows and saw that there was a thick blanket of snow on the ground, indicating that the snowstorm had taken place yesterday. It had stopped snowing now, but that was more than enough proof that they were no longer living in the 1950s. To their knowledge, Sal was long gone and Mr. Russell was back to being his old, 80-something grumpy self again, not that same energetic little boy they’d seen him as, while in the time warp.

Natalie gasped with awe. “So, are we back to our own time period now?”

“Yeah.” Frank nodded eagerly. “And I couldn’t have been more relieved. Come look at all this snow.”

Natalie came over to check the snow. They saw that Mr. Russell, along with a few other neighbors, were up and about, trying to make their way through the snow by shoveling it out of their respective driveways.

“Do you think we should give some of them a hand, babe?” she asked Frank.

“We will.” Frank held her hand. “As soon as we’re done with our own morning routines. We want the kids to be up first.”

“Of course.” She smiled, then she sighed with relief. “God, it feels so great to be back in 2023 again. I don’t want to take anything for granted with you, Frank.” She gave him a kiss on the cheek. “I love you so much.”

“I love you too, Natty,” he said, then they became caught up in a passionate moment with each other, Frank holding her in his arms, the same way he did on their wedding night five years ago. It felt like a long time since they said “I do”, but that moment was worth it. They traveled through time together–with the kids–and they made it out, safe and sound. Here’s to hoping there would be a lifetime of more journeys ahead of them.