“As for me, I only wish the former Christy Epping had been correct. I wish I had been emotionally blocked, after all. Because everything that followed—every terrible thing—flowed from those tears.”

Jake begins his story by saying that he is not a crying man, based on accusations made against him by his wife. However, as he reads Harry Dunning’s essay, he sobs like a baby. His emotional reaction to this essay leads him on the path that will eventually end in his tragic relationship with Sadie Dunhill.

“I was no longer in the pantry. I was no longer in Al’s Diner, either. Although there was no door from the pantry to the outside world, I was outside. I was in the courtyard. But it was no longer brick, and there were no outlet stores surrounding it. I was standing on crumbling, dirty cement. Several huge metal receptacles stood against the blank white wall where Your Maine Snuggery should have been. They were piled high with something and covered with sail-size sheets of rough brown burlap cloth. I turned around to look at the big silver trailer which housed Al’s Diner, but the diner was gone.”

Jake goes through the rabbit-hole for the first time and has a surreal moment. The experience is disorienting and confusing because Al did not tell him exactly what was going to happen. This wonder and disbelief will stick with him as he discusses time travel and the possibility of changing the past with Al.

“You can change history, Jake. Do you understand that? John Kennedy can live.”

When Al discusses with Jake the implications of the rabbit-hole, this is how he begins. It is clear Al is excited by this idea. He sees only the good in time travel and the benefits of what they might be able to do. He does not focus on the side effects that could potentially cause trouble. It is this enthusiasm and the idea of becoming a hero that inspire Jake to take on Al’s mission.