Read this story in an anthology of not strictly science fiction many years ago. A man unhappy with his life is offered the opportunity after an interview to escape this world and live in basically a paradise. The person/alien who is interviewing him lets him know several famous individuals from the past have gone there. Judge Crater and Ambrose Bierce I seem to recall. He passes the interview, goes to the proper location, is in a room with other people and then decides cynically it is all a scam and he is being played for a fool. He leaves the room just in time to miss out and once he realizes he blew it he tries to re-interview and is turned down. Back to his doldrum life. Any one remember this one?
-
Does this answer your question?– BasyaCommented Feb 23, 2023 at 9:24
-
Yes and thank you. This site is so amazing. I have not yet failed to have the answer delivered. Much appreciated. That story stuck with me.– BobCommented Feb 26, 2023 at 1:59
-
If so, please accept the answer below. We also may mark this as a duplicate -- no reflection on your question; it is bookkeeping of sorts...– BasyaCommented Feb 26, 2023 at 8:40
-
1Does this answer your question? Short Story About a "Travel Agency" And A "Simple Life" Paradise - You already confirmed this above, but this comment is automatically inserted when we suggest marking it as a duplicate.– BasyaCommented Feb 26, 2023 at 8:41
Add a comment
|
1 Answer
Maybe Of Missing Persons by Jack Finney?
"Missing Persons" is a 1955 science fiction short story by American writer Jack Finney, which describes a burned-out bank teller named Charley Ewell living in 1955 New York City who receives a chance to emigrate from Earth to Verna, a lush, earthlike planet light-years away
And:
Over time the Vernans opened branches of Acme Travel Bureau in every major city and invited people from all over the earth, including Ambrose Bierce and, speculates Charley, Judge Crater.
And:
As he sits and waits in the dark barn, Charley descends into a rage after he concludes he has been played for a fool. He storms out of the barn, but just as he crosses the threshold, he looks back and briefly glimpses, in a flash of light, the planet Verna through the back window of the barn before the barn door slams shut. By the time he gets the barn door back open, the people he left in the barn are gone, taken to Verna.
Google search: Short story Judge Crater and Ambrose Bierce
answered Feb 23, 2023 at 4:52
-
If so, it has been asked, and answered several times. This example has an accepted answer.– BasyaCommented Feb 23, 2023 at 9:24