MIRACLE

Episode #242 · Written by Ray Cummings · Narrated by Scott Miller

A young man steps into a time machine, driven by an unshakable feeling that destiny is waiting for him centuries in the past. What he discovers in 1650 New Amsterdam is not just danger, but a truth that will rewrite his own existence.

Some stories imagine time travel as an escape. Miracle imagines it as a calling. Alan Dane doesn’t set out to rewrite history or chase glory — he simply can’t ignore the feeling that something unfinished is waiting for him in the past. That strange urgency becomes real the moment his grandfather reveals the truth: he has spent half a lifetime trying to discover how to travel through time, and now Alan is the one who must complete the work.

With the strange device finally ready — part science, part instinct, part destiny — Alan launches himself backward through centuries, landing in 1650, in the wilderness of what will one day become New York City. The world he enters is raw, dangerous, and on the brink of historical change: Dutch settlers defending their colony, Native warriors in the forests, a British fleet waiting to strike, and two young people whose survival will quietly shape the course of generations to come.

What begins as a mission of curiosity becomes something deeper. Alan finds himself in a moment history never recorded accurately, where fear, fire, and fate converge in a cave on the Hudson River. One choice — a single act of courage — will ripple through time and determine not just the future of a city, but the future of the woman he will one day marry and the child who waits for him in 1942. The past is no longer distant. It’s personal.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ray Cummings was born in 1887, worked with Thomas Edison, and later became one of the earliest architects of modern science fiction. His imagination helped lay the groundwork for everything from superhero time travel to multiverse storytelling. Cummings believed that science fiction wasn’t just about machines — it was about the hearts inside them, the wonder behind the theories, the people caught between knowledge and mystery.

His famous quote — “Time is what keeps everything from happening at once” — has been repeated by physicists, authors, and even Marvel characters, but Miracle shows the other side of that idea: sometimes time waits for us. Sometimes it needs us.

Blending adventure, history, romance, and metaphysical curiosity, Miracle is one of Cummings’ most human stories — a reminder that the past isn’t gone… it’s still alive, still shaping us, still asking to be understood. If you love vintage sci-fi that looks beyond gadgets and into the soul of time itself, this is a story that leaves an echo.

LISTEN TO THE STORY

Listen to Miracle by Ray Cummings — a vintage science fiction tale of destiny, time travel, and a journey into 1650 New Amsterdam where one choice shapes the future.

ABOUT THE LOST SCI-FI PODCAST

The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast is the most listened-to vintage science fiction podcast in the world. Ranked the #1 Science Fiction Podcast in 34 countries and heard in more than 190 countries, the show has surpassed 3.3 million listens.

Each episode features carefully selected stories from the Golden Age of science fiction, professionally narrated. Timeless storytelling the way it was meant to be heard.

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