The Assassin
The view from the sixth floor window of the Texas School Book Depository was brilliant, and the atmosphere in the room now used as a museum was amazing. As I looked out onto the Grassy Knoll, I sudden't felt a hand on my shoulder.
"Is anything wrong, Josh?" my boyfriend Dave asked.
"No, why?"
"It's just that you seem a bit quiet today."
"Nothing's wrong, don't worry Dave." I replied. "It's just us being here in this room, and with us doing the show and everything. It makes you wonder if it really was Lee Harvey-Oswald who shot JFK."
"What does it matter now though,"he asked. "Whether Oswald shot Kennedy or not. We're not going to find out the truth now, for God's sake. It happened over 30 years ago."
"I know!" I interrupted, glancing at my watch. "What time are we meeting Mel and Phil for lunch?"
"One O'clock, why?"
"Well, we'd better get going. It's a quarter past twelve now."
"Yeah, okay." Dave sounded distracted, but I assumed it was because of the disagreement we'd just had, so I didn't really take any notice. "You go on ahead, I'll be with you in a minute."
"Fine!" I said and started towards the door.
As I reached the door, I felt a sudden compulsion to turn back and look at the room one last time. It was amazing. It was if we'd been transported back in time. All the exhibits had disapperared, and instead the room was filled with packing cases. Dave still stood at the window, he seemed to be looking out for something, and there was a radio in the room, announcing the fact that President Kennedy's motorcade would soon be passing the School Book Depository.
"Dave!" I called quietly, but he didn't hear me, so I tried louder. "Dave!" It was then that I realised that something was really wrong. Either Dave was ignoring me; or else it wasn't Dave anymore. I mean it was Dave's clothing, Dave's appearance. But I had this niggling feeling that maybe, as a result of this time warp we seemed to have slipped into, Dave had become, in spirit, Lee Harvey-Oswald, and that the date was the 22nd of November, 1963. The day that Kennedy was assassinated.
I watched in horror as Dave, or Oswald, turned off the radio and opened a long flat box. From this he removed a rifle, and as he did this, two spent cartridges fell out of the box and onto the floor. Then, as I heard the cheers of the crowd outside getting louder, he took aim and fired a single shot.
"Damn, I missed." Oswald...Dave...whoever it was spoke. But I had a feeling that it wasn't Dave. He'd never been quick at picking up accents, but the accent in which those words were spoked seemed to be a cross between an American accent and a Russian accent which I had never heard anybody use before. Then, he simply turned and walked out of the door.
I was standing still with the shock of what I had just witnessed when Dave suddenly turned and spoke, and I was sure that it was Dave this time. "Jocelyn!"
"Yes?"
"I thought you were going on ahead. Come on, we'll be late."
"Okay, I'm coming." I glanced at the room again, all the exhibits had reappeared and when I looked at my watch again, barely a minute had passed since I had last checked the time.
"Come on Jocelyn!" Dave sounded impatient.
"Alright!" I called. It was obvious to me from his manner that Dave was oblivious to what had just happened.
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That evening I was sitting in the dressing room getting ready for that nights performance of Sondheim and Weidman's Assassins, in which Dave was playing the part of Oswald, when I suddenly felt that I had to tell someone what had happened. I told my two good friends, Melanie and Charlotte, who I was sharing a dressing room with, and after I'd finished describing the afternoons events there was silence.
Suddenly Charlotte spoke. "Have you taken anything, Josh? I mean, do you really believe this or are you just making this up?"
"No, I haven't taken anything, Charlie." I protested indignantly. "And I'm not making it up. It really happened."
"I believe you Josh," said Melanie. "Heck, I've seen ghost's and I've had premonitions. I mean, you believe me, don't you Charlie, so why shouldn't you believe Josh, it's a similar sort of experience, it seems."
"Thanks for believing me, Mel." I said. "But I just want to know why it happened, and why me?"
"I can't help you there, Josh." said Mel. "It's a personal experience, you'll have to figure that one out for yourself.
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"After the performance that night, we had to travel to another town. As I was falling to sleep on the bus, resting my head on Dave's shoulder, it suddenly struck me. When Dave had said that there was no way that we could find out the truth about Oswald and Kennedy. He had caused something to happen, so that there would be one person in the world who did know the truth about what happened on that day in November 1963. As I fell to sleep, I got a feeling of warmth in my stomach, as I realised that now I knew the truth about Oswald's innocence, maybe the spirit of Lee Harvey-Oswald, which I believe was responsible for what happened to me and Dave, would finally rest in peace.