Borrowed Time: Saving John Lennon - A Beatles Fanfic

Chapter 7 - DRIVE MY CAR

September 1, 1953

It was a full minute after the feeling of warmth subsided and the light show dimmed behind her eyelids before Holly dared to open them. When she did, she found herself standing in the middle of a corn field on a breezy, sunny day. Tall corn stalks stood in rows to her left and right and appeared to go on forever in front of her.

The blue sky was freckled with a few fluffy clouds floating slowly by. Holly looked down at her body and ran a hand over herself. She poked and prodded, checking to see that she was actually real and not just imagining herself here. She turned to look behind her and saw what looked like a barn off in the distance. Holly knew she was somewhere approximately one hundred miles away from New York City, but she had no clue exactly where.

It didn't seem like anyone was nearby, so Holly opened her bag and pulled out a black, palm-sized metal box. She lifted the metal latch and looked at the five marble sized spheres it contained. Only one of these spheres was needed in order to time jump, but Holly was given five as a safety net, should any of them stop working for some reason.

"Okay, well I made it," Holly said out loud, adjusting her pillbox hat, which was causing her scalp to sweat and itch.

It was then that she realized she could be wrong. Yes, she was most certainly transported to another location, but Holly had no idea if she truly had arrived in a different time. She closed the small box and placed it back inside her bag.

Holly started walking, hoping to easily find her way out of the corn field. "I guess I'll have to find someone that can tell me what year it is." After a few steps, Holly paused, "I'm going to sound like a complete idiot. 'Pardon me, do you happen to have the year?'" she laughed.

A dirt path ultimately lead away from the field and onto a paved road. Two mailboxes stood next to each other, rising tall in the carpet of grass, weeds, and wildflowers that surrounded them.

Birds chirped in the distance and a flock of geese flew overhead, honking as they glided through the air. It wasn't long before Holly heard the faint sound of an engine in the distance. She adjusted her hat again, wondering how girls made it through their days wearing silly things like gloves and hats. Soon, an orange pickup truck appeared over the horizon, coming down the paved road.

The truck slowed down and came to a stop next to her. Unless this man happened to be a collector of classic vintage vehicles, Holly had her answer about whether she was truly sent back in time. Its windows were down and she tried to give her most confident smile as the man inside stared at her.

"Everything okay, miss?" asked the stranger from inside the truck. He had a pipe in his mouth and looked to be at least 60 years old.

"Oh yes, sir. I just seem to have gotten separated from my brother," Holly lied. "We ran out of gas and split up to look for help."

"Well a pretty little lady like yourself shouldn't be out here on the side of the road."

"No, sir, you're right. My brother probably found someone to get him to a gas station and he'll be back around to look for me any minute now."

"Well hop on in, miss. There's a gas station about five miles up the road. That's where he'd be, if you think that's what happened." The man gave her a smile while holding the pipe between his teeth.

Holly stood frozen for a minute, questioning whether to get in the truck or not. Never in a million years would she even be debating this in 2020. Strange men in strange vehicles were an automatic no. But this was, hopefully, 1953

Please don't kill me, please don't be some crazy psycho. The phrase repeated over and over silently in her head as she clumsily tried to step up into the truck while holding her bag and keeping her hat from falling off

"Yes, thank you, sir. That's very kind of you," she said as she reached for the door.

"You certainly don't look familiar, Miss.... Miss?" the man raised an eyebrow as he spoke.

"Graham. Miss Graham," Holly declared with a smile. As a safety measure, she was using a fake last name during her time jumps. Graham was the surname agreed upon by her team.

"Well Miss Graham," the driver teased, "a lady as young and pretty as you is someone I would remember meeting before."

A line like that would set off warning bells in her time, but it was obvious that this man was not trying to be inappropriate.

"Oh, I'm not from around here. Like I said, my brother just ran out of gas as we were driving through." Holly looked out the window at the trees passing her, wishing the man would drive faster. Holly suddenly got an idea. "Say, this certainly is a lovely truck! Have you had it long?"

The man gave her a quizzical look. "Well, I suppose I've had it about 3 years now. Bought it brand new."

Holly felt a fluttering inside her stomach. His answer, along with the appearance of the gas station in the distance, confirmed it. This was 1953. It worked!

As soon as the truck came to a stop, Holly opened the door and hopped out with a quick "Thank you!"

She ran to the side of the gas station where she found the door to the bathroom. Once inside, she placed her bag on the sink and retrieved one of the orbs and her tablet. She opened up the special app on her tablet, synced it with the orb in her hand, and scrolled through the numbers on the touchscreen. She entered the first date of a long list memorized in her head: July 1, 1958 and the location of Manchester, England. John Lennon was the only thing on her mind.

Holly quickly tossed her bag over her shoulder. She placed her thumb on the flashing "engage" button on the screen, and the same warm feeling she remembered from earlier emanated from inside her. This time Holly kept her eyes open and found the same colorful waves of light dancing in front of them.