A night to remember ......

 

It was August, 1965...a mid summers night and perfect weather for

young Donnie to pick up his girl Elaine and head to the local drive-in 

movie. But this evening would turn into a rather strange one as you 

shall see.  It's story number 6 in Tales Unleashed. Read it and 

experience for yourself.....a night of summer fun could into a most

confusing evening. 

 

A Night to Remember

It was late August 1965, and Donnie was thinking for sure this would be the last hurrah of the summer before Labor Day arrived. After that he was off to his first year at a two-year junior college, just ninety miles to the east. Thinking about going to college put a few butterflies in Donnie. It would be the first time he had really been away from home, except for a summer scout camp years ago.

It had been a fantastic summer, and Donnie and his girl Elaine had spent tons of time together. But as summer’s long days started to wane, and fall approached, Donnie was concerned about how his relationship would survive him going away in just a couple of short weeks. He and Elaine had gone together since 8^th grade, lived four houses away from each other, and were voted the Most Compatible Couple in the school. Donnie knew in his mind that Elaine was worried about losing him to some new college girl who could easily sweep him away from her.

They really never talked about what would happen as he neared college, and he knew that this might be the weekend the discussion would go that route.

But for now, it was time to relax. It was a perfect week, weather-wise, and Donnie decided a long Saturday night at the Starlighter Drive In would be in order. As Donnie finished up his part time job at the filling station, his boss Bill Whipple gave him a wave as he rushed out the door.

“Big night tonight, Donnie?”

Jumping into the ’59 Plymouth his dad had got for him, Donnie yelled back, “Oh yeah boss. Elaine and I are Starlighting tonight. Might be one of our last before off to school in a couple of weeks.”

His boss was a big happy guy, in great spirits all the time and he had been very generous with Donnie in his time and pay. Following Donnie out to his car, he grabbed his arm, turned him around, and said, “Hey, you two have a good night, watch the driving okay? There are a few maniacs out there.” And with that he tucked a ten-dollar bill in Donnie’s soiled work shirt.

Donnie grabbed the bill and said, “Bill, you’re the best, thanks.”

“Don’t mention it kid. Give my best to the little lady . . . going to tuck her into your bag for school in a couple of weeks?” and he started laughing loudly as he headed back into the service station.

Within a couple of hours, Donnie had a quick bite to eat, showered, put on clean clothes, and went out front of the house to check the car briefly. He wiped it down, inside and out, emptied the trash bag, and tucked a new air freshener under his seat.

All was ready.

Within minutes he was in front of Elaine’s house and up the sidewalk knocking on the big oak door. Elaine ran out quickly and yelled back through the doorway, “Don’t wait up . . . I’ll be here before morning.”

That brought a quick reply from her dad who appeared in a tee shirt right behind her saying, “That’s not funny young lady. No later than midnight, okay?”

“That’ll be fine, sir,” returned Donnie as he escorted Elaine down the sidewalk and into the Plymouth.

Donnie and Elaine were off for the night, each in their own mind knowing that a discussion of their relationship might come up before the night was over. But for now, it was time to enjoy the date, the clear sky, the fresh night air . . . all was well.

Donnie guided the Plymouth through the gate after the attendant collected a five-dollar bill for the night’s entertainment. He hated to be parked too close to the screen. Back was better . . . way back . . . and preferably towards the center of it all if he could find the right space. Ah, there it was. He eased the blue and white coupe into the spot, reached for the speaker and barked, “Let the fun begin!” This got a quick laugh from Elaine, who had already slid over to his side of the seat.

The pair watched as the giant screen previewed some of the upcoming attractions that would play before the theatre closed around Halloween. Donnie thought in his mind that maybe he could make it home in late fall and they could do this again before the snow started to fly. Oh boy, he thought, here comes that discussion topic again . . . what about our relationship . . . do we each want to date others? Do we stay true to one another? Too much pressure. For now, it was best to enjoy tonight’s movie, Thunderball . . . a 007 movie that he definitely had wanted to see.

The seat was adjusted back slightly, Donnie pulled up the lap blanket he had in the back seat and the two got snuggled in as the opening credits hit the big screen.

It was to be a long movie, and at about one and a half hours in, it was intermission time. A quick break to go to the restroom, head to the concession stand for popcorn, candy, a soda, maybe a hot dog. The drive in food was always fresh and hot.

“I’ll go get some stuff babe. Keep my spot warm for me.” With that, Donnie was out the door heading about fifty yards to the cinder block concession stand in the rear. It was a great night, and the sky was clear with just a few light clouds. The crowd was good and there were only a few parking spots left that Donnie could see.

After grabbing two hots and two drinks, Donnie headed back towards the Plymouth, thinking more about the possible upcoming discussion than the rest of the movie. We’ll see how it goes, he thought. As he balanced the cardboard container with the hots and the drinks, he looked intently ahead trying to spot the Plymouth’s tail feathers which were quite remarkable, even in the dark.

He didn’t see the electrical cord that was stretched across a driveway and only partially covered. His left foot caught the cord and sent Donnie tumbling to the ground.

As the food and drink hit the road, Donnie’s last recollection was the pavement coming up quickly to his face, his forehead striking firmly and seemingly in slow motion, and then, all went dark for Donnie.

The next thing Donnie remembered was his eyes opening slightly, and seeing a middle-aged woman kneeling over him gently patting his face.

“Are you alright young man? Can you hear me young man?”

Donnie opened his eyes wide, taking in the surroundings. He was circled by about twelve people, many on their knees looking closely at him . . . the others clustered around tightly looking down at him as he laid on the ground.

“That’s a pretty nasty bump on your forehead young man . . . perhaps we should take you to the hospital to get it looked at.”

Donnie reached up with his left hand and felt the large lump on his forehead, feeling about half the size of a golf ball . . . and it hurt big time. His eyes weren’t quite focused as he sat up with the help of an older gentleman positioned behind him. Who were these people? They all looked older, well over fifty . . . there wasn’t a young person among them. And their clothes. Many of the women had blouses with sweaters over them, and others with old looking dresses with big flowers on them. The men were sporting sport jackets, some with shirts and ties on . . . what was going on here? Two fellows helped Donnie to his feet and the crowd around him started to disperse. The bigger mystery was yet to come.

Scanning ahead of him he didn’t recognize anything at all. Where did all these old cars come from? He could see old Hudsons, Pontiacs, Dodges and Oldsmobiles, but they all looked thirty years old . . . or older. On the screen, there was a war movie of some kind playing, with which he wasn’t familiar at all.

“You’re kind of young to be out this evening by yourself young man. Are you with your folks?”

Donnie looked at the man with the question who stood to his right. “Uh, no, just me and my girl Elaine. What’s this movie playing?”

“Opening night here for Back to Bataan. Actually it’s premiere night. That’s why there’s such a big crowd tonight . . . great movie so far.”

“I need to sit down for a moment,” Donnie said, as the man next to him took his arm and assisted him in getting to a nearby bench.

“You okay son? I think you look a little bewildered. That hit on the noggin’ must have been a good one.”

“I’ll be fine. I just need to rest for a bit.” With that Donnie folded his arms and put his head in his lap, trying to comprehend what was going on around him.

He wasn’t sure if five minutes, ten, or twenty passed by. But within a bit Donnie lifted his hand to examine his bruise. It was still there, and would be a fine color of black and purple by morning. As he raised his head and opened his eyes . . . the people in funny clothes and the old cars were all gone. In front of him he could see the parking area as it was just a little bit ago. He got up and headed to find his Plymouth and his gal Elaine. He spotted the car immediately and pulled opened the door, sliding in next to his gal.

“Where’s the food Donnie? Oh my God, what happened to your face? Did you get in a fight or something?”

“No, no,” replied Donnie. “I had some stuff and was on the way back, but fell down and . . . well, I really don’t know what happened after that. But I was gone from here for a while.”

“What do you mean you were gone for a while?”

“Well, I was here at the drive in, but it wasn’t today, it was a night like tonight a long time ago.”

Donnie and Elaine’s last night out of the summer had turned into something that was not of the ordinary.

A couple of days later, Donnie’s quiet demeanor got the attention of his father. Sitting on the front stoop, his father asked him straight out, “Are you okay, son?”

“Yep, fine Dad. Did you ever hear about a movie called Back to Bataan?”

“Why sure, son. It was huge, a big war movie, think John Wayne was in it . . . believe it was made back in the mid 1940’s.”

It was a lot for Donnie to contemplate. He knew the bump on his head was real. He also knew the people who attended to him in those old funny-looking clothes were real. And the movie on the screen? Yeah, it was real too.

He’d rent that movie on his first break from college. After all, he had previewed it, all on a summer’s night at the Starlighter.