chapter:2 The Hidden Door
Charley could hardly concentrate on anything after reading Sam's letter. The words kept echoing in his mind. In his letter Sam told Charley that he visited third level. Then he also told that he visit Galesburg which is a wonderful town. He listened from his grandfather that Galesburg is a wonderful town. The old frame houses, huge lawns and tremendous trees whose branches meet overhead and roof the streets. In summer, evenings were twice as long, and the people sat out on their lawns, the men were smoking cigars and talking quietly, the woman waving palm leaf fans, with fire flies all around. He also told Charley that he took old currency already with him. He told that he was invited over for lemonade. He also told that he took 800 as there was not a good business of psychiatrist, so he started to hay feed and grain business.
The third level is real.
For days he had questioned himself, wondering if everything he had seen was just a trick of his imagination. But now the letter had changed everything. He think about letter very deeply for so much time.
If Sam had truly reached the past, then the mysterious third level was not an illusion at all. Charley thought it was real!
Yes....!!!
It was real!
And somewhere inside Grand Central Terminal (station) , the hidden passage to another time was waiting.
That evening, Charley returned to the station once again.
The moment he stepped inside, the familiar noise surrounded him. People hurried across the marble floors, trains arrived and departed, and announcements echoed through the large hall.
Everything looked ordinary.
But Charley knew that somewhere beneath the busy station there was a secret that very few people had ever discovered.
He walked quickly toward the staircases that led to the lower levels.
His heart beat faster with every step.
"Tonight I will find it," he whispered to himself.
Charley moved through the corridors carefully, remembering every path he had taken before.
First he reached the second level.
Passengers stood near the platforms, waiting for their trains. Bright electric lights shone from the ceiling.
Nothing looked unusual.
But Charley did not stop.
He continued walking deeper into the station.
The crowded hallways slowly turned into quieter tunnels. The noise of the trains and passengers faded behind him.
Soon Charley found himself standing in a long corridor that looked strangely familiar.
The lights here were dimmer.
The walls looked older.
Charley's heart began to race.
"This is the place," he whispered.
At the end of the corridor stood a narrow staircase.
For a moment, Charley simply stared at it.
This staircase looked exactly like the one he remembered.
Slowly, he began walking down the steps.
Each step echoed softly in the quiet tunnel.
The air felt cooler.
And with every step, Charley felt as if he was moving further away from the modern world.
When he finally reached the bottom of the staircase, he stopped.
What he saw made his heart skip a beat.
The bright electric lights had disappeared.
Instead, the hallway was lit by soft yellow gas lamps.
Old wooden benches stood along the walls.
And the air carried a faint smell of coal smoke.
Charley's eyes widened in amazement.
He had found it again.
The mysterious third level.
For a moment, he simply stood there, trying to absorb everything around him.
People walked slowly across the platform, dressed in clothes that looked like they belonged to the nineteenth century.
Men wore long coats and hats.
Women wore long dresses with wide skirts.
Everything looked exactly as it had the first time he discovered this strange place.
Charley felt both excited and nervous.
He slowly walked toward the ticket window.
Behind the counter stood a man wearing an old-fashioned uniform.
The man looked up.
"Yes, sir?" he asked politely.
Charley took a deep breath.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out the envelope containing the old coins he had collected.
"I'd like to buy two tickets," Charley said.
"Where to?" the ticket clerk asked.
Charley remembered the town mentioned in Sam's letter.
"Galesburg," he replied.
The ticket clerk nodded and began writing on two small pieces of paper.
Charley could hardly believe what was happening.
If everything went well, he and Louisa could leave the stressful modern world behind and start a peaceful life in the past.
Just as Sam had done.
The clerk handed him the tickets.
"That will be two dollars," the man said.
Charley carefully placed the old coins on the counter.
The clerk examined them briefly and nodded.
"Thank you, sir."
Charley picked up the tickets.
They felt real in his hands.
For a moment he stood there, staring at them.
Two tickets to the past.
His dream was finally becoming real.
But suddenly, a strange thought crossed his mind.
What if he never returned?
What if leaving the modern world meant losing everything he had ever known?
Charley looked around the quiet platform.
The peaceful atmosphere felt comforting, yet unfamiliar.
For the first time, he realized that traveling to another time was not just an adventure.
It was a life-changing decision.
He took a deep breath and placed the tickets carefully in his pocket.
"I should bring Louisa first," he thought.
He turned and walked back toward the staircase.
As he climbed the steps, the soft glow of the gas lamps slowly disappeared behind him.
Within moments, the bright electric lights of the modern station returned.
The noise of the crowd filled the air once again.
Charley stepped into the busy hall of Grand Central Terminal.
For a moment he simply stood there, holding his pocket where the tickets were.
Now he knew the truth.
The third level was not imagination.
It was real.
And soon, he would return with Louisa.
Together, they would step through the hidden door of time and begin a completely new life.
Charley smiled quietly.
The secret of the third level had finally revealed itself.
And the greatest journey of his life was only just beginning.