The Third Level by Jack Finney

Story in Simple Present Tense

Protagonist: Charley

Other characters 

Louisa, Charley's wife

Sam, Charley's friend

One day Charley gets late in his office so to reach home fast he decides to take train. He goes to New York Central Railway station. He gets lost in subway as it would often happen to him. When he comes out of the subway, he finds himself on a different level of the platform. He finds everything old and unfamiliar to him. He sees flickering gaslights, wooden assistance counter, smaller tickets window and funnel shaped steam locomotive. He looks in his surroundings and notices fellow passengers in old dresses and faishon. He goes to a newspaper boy and looks down to the news headlines. He sees a news regarding president, Cleveland ( after coming out he goes to the library and gets the date of newspaper.) 

Charley goes to the ticket window and demands two tickets for Galesburg, Illinois. he wants to go there with his wife, Louisa. He has fascination of a peaceful countryside in old days. To his surprise, he has no currency of old times. So realising his situation there, he runs away because he doesn't want to spend his time in jail in old days.

The narrator withdraws three hundred from the bank and buys old currency because he wants to the third level again to buy tickets but he fails to find the third level again. His wife, Louisa gets worried with this act of Charley. Both goes to their Psychiatrist friend, Sam. Sam feels that Charley's experience is a waking dream. He affirms that the narrator is unhappy because of modern life insecurities and worries and he wants to get away from it. Sam further correlates Charley's stamp collection hobby as a temporary refuge from reality. Charley does not agree with Sam's interpretation but he stops looking for the third level and again resumes his hobby of philately (stamp collection).

However one day Charley finds a first day cover in his list of collection, which contains a letter from his friend Sam. Now Charley and Louisa start their search for the third level because Sam confirms the presence of the third level and suggests the narrator to keep looking for it. Sam says 'It's worth it.