~ Tandem Tryst ~

by

Ralph E. Horner

“Marcy!” Jeff called out in his sleep.

She came to Jeff in a dream, like she had so many times before, wearing his favorite blouse. Her bare shoulders brought back memories of that first time they met, before the horrible accident took her from him. He felt a stitch of pain as he remembered the gentle kiss he bestowed on her sweet left shoulder because he couldn’t work up the courage to kiss her lips. The way she laughed. His awkward apology.

Now she hummed an indiscernible melody, amidst an army of multi-colored flowers. He drank in her curvaceous figure, her slightly pointed nose, her dark brown shoulder-length hair. She was as stunning as the day he last saw her.

“Marcy,” Jeff called out again.

She turned. He gazed into her green eyes as she flashed him her familiar smile. “Darling,” she beckoned, “come walk with me among these brilliant Saatsakis in this beautiful Japanese garden.”

As he approached Marcy, the scent of flowers became more powerful. He reached for her, but she backed away. “No! You are not allowed to touch me. I’m only here to show you where to find the enchanted ring.”

“A magic ring?” He felt dumb-founded. Why couldn’t he touch her? What was she talking about?

“Yes. It’s under the rocks at the edge of this waterfall.” She pointed to the exact location to her left. “When you find the ring, place it on your finger.”

“But where are we?” Jeff asked.

“Please find the location quickly. I have very little time…”

As he surveyed the area and searched for a landmark, the scenery already began to fade. But the garden in which he stood seemed to be on a small island. Looking through the haze, he thought he recognized a familiar Chicago landmark. Could that be the Museum of Science and Industry?

“I must leave you now, my love.”

“Marcy, don’t go. Please don’t go!” Startled, Jeff bolted upright in bed and his heart pounded from his dream. He was drenched in sweat. He looked at his alarm clock and was surprised to see it was time for work. It seemed as though he had just gone to sleep.

He forced himself out of bed. While he showered, the haunting dream preyed on his mind. As if in slow motion he dried himself, dressed and made a pot of coffee but he just couldn't get Marcy out of his head.

At the kitchen table Jeff peered down upon the busy street of downtown Blue Island. Still in a daze he ate his breakfast, sipped his coffee. The fatal car accident took Marcy, and happened only nine months after they were married. They were deeply in love and now three years later the grief of her death was still with him. Even moving from the home he and Marcy shared to the second story apartment he now lived in did nothing to ease his loss. He should find someone else and go on with his life. He was still young, only in his late twenties, but he couldn’t put the pain of losing Marcy behind him.

~ * ~

That morning Jeff took a map of Chicago with him to study on the train. He searched for an island near the museum. He found a small land mass surrounded by lagoons, just like in his dream.

When he got to the office and sat at his desk he couldn’t concentrate.

“Jeff, you busy?”

Startled, he glanced at his stocky friend who entered his cubical.

“What’s up?” Jeff asked with a smile and tried to pull himself back to the real world.

“Our double date is on for Wednesday night.”

For a minute Jeff couldn’t comprehend what Hal was talking about. Marcy and the dream still lingered. Double date … with whom?

“Remember yesterday, I told you about this divorcee that Lorain works with, who’s ready for romance?”

“Yeah, of course.” Jeff had forgotten all about Carol. Hal meant well, but Jeff didn’t know if he could endure another one of his friend’s blind dates. “The last two girls you fixed me up with were disasters.

“Not true. You dated Jill for six months.” Hal leaned on the side of the cubical. “Lorain says this one’s a knock out, Buddy.”

“I don’t know if Wednesday will work.”

Hal's smile faded. What else do I have to do? I can at least give it another try. Jeff smiled. “Wednesday it is. Thanks.”

“What are friends for? I wouldn’t have this job if it weren’t for you. I’ll give you the details tomorrow.”

Jeff tried to get back to work, but he wouldn’t be productive until he visited that site to determine whether a garden or a waterfall was on the island. He told his boss, Mr. Peters, he had a dental appointment, left around one and rode the train to the south side. Finding the ring would determine whether Marcy had actually contacted him.

~ * ~

Jeff reached Fifty-ninth Street, the University of Chicago stop, before two in the afternoon. It was a beautiful June day, about seventy degrees with a slight breeze. Jeff walked a couple of blocks east past busy Stony Island Avenue into Jackson Park, but there were so many trees in the park he couldn’t see any island. Further along he spotted a pond and a bridge. Crossing it he felt a chill. This was the same place he had dreamed of. He stopped and turned towards an elderly couple trailing just behind him.

“Excuse me. Is there a Japanese garden on the island?”

“Yes,” the old man replied, “the Osaka. That’s where my wife and I are going.”

Jeff nodded. “Thank you.”

He followed the couple to the garden. On the right was a Japanese pavilion and next to that a small waterfall he’d seen in his dream. Jeff was elated.

“This garden’s been here since the eighteen ninety-three World’s Columbian Exposition.” The elderly man pointed north. “You see the Science and Industry Museum?”

Jeff turned. It was a couple of blocks away, peeking through the many trees that framed its front, the way he had seen it in his dream.

“That’s the only remaining building from the Columbian Exposition. At that time it was the Palace of Fine Arts.”

“I’ve never heard of the Columbian Exposition,” Jeff admitted.

“On the mainland, all around this island were buildings for science and manufacturing exhibitions. The carnival area, called the Midway Plaisance, was over there.” He pointed west. “Little Egypt performed with many other dancers from the far-east. It also housed the first Ferris wheel, which was as high as a skyscraper.”

“I’ve heard that over one-quarter of the world’s population attended that fair,” his wife added.

“That’s amazing. And this Japanese garden has been here since then?” Jeff rubbed his chin.

“In eighteen ninety-three it was called Ho-o-den. The garden was restored in 1983, and dedicated as the Osaka.”

“During the fair,” his wife continued, “Wooded Island was where fair goers went to eat their lunch and escape the crowds on the mainland.”

“How do you both know so much about that exposition?” Jeff frowned.

“My uncle was there,” the man said. “He’d tell us stories about the fair when my brothers and I were youngsters.”

“Don’t bore the young man any longer.” The woman touched her husband’s arm. “Hope you enjoy the garden.” With that, the elderly couple strolled away.

“Thank you,” Jeff called after them.

Having some idea now of the area’s rich history, Jeff approached the waterfall. He tried to remember exactly where Marcy had pointed. It was somewhere on the left. Jeff stood directly in front of the fall and noticed the pavilion in the background, just as he’d seen it when Marcy showed him the ring’s location. He bent down turning over some of the stones. After several minutes he still hadn’t found the ring. Sadness washed over him as he realized Marcy was just a dream. There was no ring. He tried some other rocks just outside of the area. As several people had entered the garden, Jeff felt self-conscious of his actions so he began toeing at the stones with his shoes.

Suddenly, he caught a glimpse of reflected light. Part of a gold metal object peeked out from under the clay. He bent down and frantically dug it out. To his astonishment it was a ring.

“Yes!” he whispered to himself and clutched the band. He needed to be alone and retraced the path back out of the garden over the bridge. There was no one nearby when he was back in Jackson Park so he examined the ring. Jeff had butterflies in his stomach as he saw five large diamonds as the points of a star, glistening on a band of yellow gold. Where did it come from? He didn’t care. He only knew that Marcy wanted him to wear it. She called it an enchanted ring. Perhaps it had some magic power. He debated whether he should take it home or place it on his finger here. He pondered the choice while walking west towards the train. Then he stopped.

“What do I have to lose? My life is in shambles anyhow,” he said to himself.

Jeff cautiously slipped the ring onto the middle finger of his left hand. The air suddenly became warmer, more humid. He heard music and voices. When he looked up the sight he saw knocked the wind out of him. The empty park had transformed into a busy fairground with huge white buildings in the distance to the north. There were fewer trees now, but the structures to the east by the lake were partially blocked by foliage. These gigantic constructions resembled Greek or Roman architecture with columns and archways. The place seemed unearthly.

“This can’t be real,” Jeff whispered. He held up his hand and stared at the ring again. “Am I going crazy? Have I actually gone back in time? Did Marcy really contact me?”

The sounds of German bands, far-eastern music and screams of laughter sounded to the west. In a daze Jeff wandered in that direction past several vendors’ stands. He was entering the Midway that the old man from the garden had told him about. At the entrance, on the other side of Stony Island, a barber shop quartet wearing straw hats and handlebar mustaches sang, ‘While Strolling Through the Park One Day.’

Watching all the people who roamed the midway, Jeff felt as if he were looking at ghosts from yesteryear. Merchants in derbies and wearing large mustaches and beards talked business. Men wearing straw hats strutted along the grounds. Women were in dresses so long that Jeff thought surely they’d trip on them. Happy young couples meandered around. A group of five older women in dark clothes had expressions on their faces as if they'd just eaten lemons. A woman with three small children sat examining her purchases. On another bench a shy-looking young couple appeared to be on their first date. The huge Ferris wheel sat straight ahead. Horse-drawn carriages rolled by on fifty-ninth Street, just outside of the fair grounds.

The sound of Arabian music filled the humid air as Jeff entered an area with mid-eastern structures on either side of the walkway. To his right a carnival barker introduced a dark-complected woman who raised her arms over her head and began to sway. Behind her a man in a turban played a flute. To his left a crowd of men watched a female contortionist.

The giant Ferris wheel marked the middle of the midway and stood in the center of the thoroughfare. The old man hadn’t exaggerated. It was as high as a skyscraper, but there were no cars on it. Jeff figured that it wasn’t finished in time for the fair. As he gaped at the sight, some people walking by frowned at him and a middle-aged woman wagged her head at him in disgust. He realized it was because of his clothing: dark blue dress pants, striped light blue shirt and a tie.

“They probably think I’m from one of the side-shows,” he murmured to himself.

A hot air balloon came down from the sky and landed behind some buildings to his right. He continued on strolling past various ethnic sights. Ahead he heard the gallop of horses and Indian cries. A sign said ‘Bill Cody’s Wild West Show.’ What a sight to behold. Chicago in eighteen ninety-three; the way no one in his time had ever seen it.

Marcy must’ve wanted him to go back to see the old fair, but why? Was there something else he should be doing? He half expected her to be there.

Heading back east again he noticed the time on one of the buildings: two forty-five. His watch said two forty-six, but it was a minute fast. The time here matched his own.

Suddenly, he panicked. Was he trapped in this era? Without thinking he pulled the ring off and found himself back in the quiet empty park of his own time. The humidity was gone and the cool breeze brushed across his face. Cars whizzed by on a one-way street which had once been part of the midway. Jeff felt relieved, but he put the ring on again to see what would happen. Instantly he was back in time to that hot day in eighteen ninety-three. His watch said 2:50 and the building clock 2:49. He was gone four minutes and four minutes had passed in eighteen ninety-three. Time continued here at the same pace as his own. When he did this time-travel thing again, he’d have to hide behind something so no one would see him disappear.

Jeff searched for a newspaper to find the date. He spotted a portly man in a black derby sitting on one of the benches, smoking a cigar while reading the front page of his paper. Jeff stood in back of him and peered at the date. The strange face of Lizzie Borden was there, with the caption, ‘Borden Trial to begin today.’ The date was Wednesday, June seventh, eighteen ninety-three. In Jeff’s time the date was also June seventh, but nineteen ninety-three. One hundred years to the very second. Jeff had seen enough. He stepped behind a building, took off the ring and the building disappeared with the noise, the heat and the rest of the fair. The only sounds now were from kids playing soccer in the distance. In shock from his eerie experience he headed east on the sidewalk back to the train station. When he reached the intersection the street sign said E Midway Plaisance. After one hundred years this area remained named after the fair. The Midway Plaisance had been a strip between Fifty-ninth and Sixtieth Streets that ran two miles, from Stony Island west to Cottage Grove Avenue.

On the train ride home Jeff was thrilled that Marcy had actually made contact with him, but why did she want him to go to the world’s fair? They had never even talked about it when she was alive. Was that the only place where the ring worked, or was its magic good anywhere?

When Jeff returned home he parked his car behind his apartment and circled around to the front. He decided to try the ring, while facing the street. With trembling hands he took it out of his pocket and carefully placed it on his middle finger. Bustling Western Avenue remained as it was. He took the ring off and put it back in his pocket. The magic didn’t work everywhere. Jeff pondered this as he opened the outside door to the stairway that led to his second floor apartment.