Your alternate ending

[Danpd66]

It would be interesting to know what other possible endings were tumbling around in King's head...I wonder if we will ever find out?

[onlyrichbyname]

My alternate ending would be this:

Jake is unable to remember Bonnie's name, and becomes hysterical when he is not allowed into the Book Depository. The commotion he causes attracts the police, who are particulary highly strung on this important day. When they see a man ranting and raving about the President being shot, they over-react and end up shooting Jake.

As Jake lies dying on the sidewalk, he hears the first shot ring out from the depository, and realises that his actions have distracted the police from doing their real job - i.e. noticing Oswald at the window with the rifle.

Jake dies horrified at the thought that his attempt to save Kennedy has actually provided the distraction that allows Oswald to assassinate him. He realises - all too late - that fate can not be changed, and the past can not be altered. Everyone is on a pre-determined path, and everything he has done, he was meant to do.

[jalexbrown]

Show Spoiler

Only seconds after stopping Oswald from shooting Kennedy, George hears a bang off in the distance and realizes someone else killed Kennedy. (Kennedy had lots of people that didn't like him, so it doesn't seem all that hard to believe especially since...)

...the past is obdurate.

[hossenpepper]

Jake/George opens a small burrito stand and also sells fried possum on a stick.

Later he buys a Trans Am and pretends he wrote all of The Doors music by giving them all of their songs in a notebook on Venice Beach. Jim Morrison tries to call him out...now you know why Jim died.

SPOOOOOKKY!!!

[scout66]

I just finished the book. Don't really have an alternate ending. I DID wonder if it would be possible for Sadie to go through the rabbit hole, if that's where they ended up. I also wondered if the rabbit hole really brought you back to the same "when" as well as the same "where" via some kind of "reset" or if it only LOOKED like the same spot and time. There were differences, after all. The same spot on the same merry go round, or the same spot on a different one?

[Ravel]

Hi all

I must say I was kinda touched by the ending. A man tries to make the world a better place, and he "only" ends up with less years to live and experiences no one is going to believe in. That's pretty sad, even for Stephen King.

But, I was just wondering: SK wanted to write the book in 1971. Let's assume that he would: Jake goes back to the past by only a couple of years. He could've discover what would happen if he'd change the past, but after he'd get back Sadie would be - more or less - at his age! This means that they could be together no matter what. I wonder if Stephen King planned to end it like that. Anyone knows?

I also wondered: Al got back from the past, but the world wasn't destroyed because of his actions. And he done much more than Jake planned: he saved lives, bought a lot of stuff there in just one timeline. So, technically, if Jake decided to stay with Saddie, it couldn't have been that bad for the world.

And: why killing her in the first place? Mike Noonan from "Bag of Bones" said that you only kill a hero if you don't have any idea what to do with him/her. Could it be the reason of such solution? "We would've get away with this if it hadn't been for you, Stephen King!"

[T4phage]

... A man tries to make the world a better place, and he "only" ends up with less years to live and experiences no one is going to believe in. That's pretty sad, even for Stephen King.

and the worst part of it..
he meets his soulmate
and share heartwarming/heartbreaking moments
with her
and in the end he sees her killed
and then sees her alive
but fated never to be together...

that is harsh

[tenngolfer]

I don't usually get "attached" to fictional characters, but Sadie is a very special gal. Too bad Jake didn't see it as strongly.

[tenngolfer]

I decided to jot down a few ideas, and one lazy attempt at an alternate ending for 11/22/63. As I have posted on this board before, the published ending is very classic Stephen King, and it is a great book. Why then write another ending? As I posted before, I don’t read books that have this good a combination of both character development and romance, which made me, want the romance to continue. All my divergent jots and my “lazy” written ending, all go the same direction, the same ending with the exception of when to divert the action path from the published ending. To someone who can actually write (not me) these could be a few more chapters or another book. I tried posting this once as a whole piece, but realized there were too many characters, so it will be in three posts.
Some thoughts on divergence from the published ending:

Show Spoiler

1. Jake argues with Zach Lang rather than take the all or none scenario. He tells Zach the past alters enough of itself to defend the future as needed. And he would not let Sadie go, and appeals to Zach’s “improved” historical knowledge/ perspective to find the least disruptive scenario to be with Sadie. The next step would either have Zack grudgingly giving Jake the info; or consulting with higher authorities before doing the same thing.
2. Rather than tear up the post card he almost send to Deke, he sends the post card. Now, Zach has the reason to reach out to Jake to let him know that he altered the future with the post card and must “fix it”. The easiest direction on this path seems to be, to have Zach tell Jake that Sadie was supposed to die at the hand of her husband, and her “good deeds” will also have some negative futuristic consequences. This would lead at least 2 different scenarios:
   
   1. Go back immediately using the rabbit hole save Sadie earlier and bring her back to the future where the timeline can better accept her existence.
   2. Stick with the published ending or a version of it, and add Jake getting the 80 year old Sadie to recognize him, then revealing to her Zack has contacted him and said he needs Sadie to write a note to herself of 1958 that would convince herself the deliverer of the letter was actually from the future and should be cooperated with at all cost. Then they could go to the future or Jodie of 1958, or another destination.

[tenngolfer]

Part 2.

Show Spoiler

Okay, now similar to the thought or two above, my thoughts on keeping Jake and Sadie together. It starts at the end of the book as it was published (why mess with the art created by Mr. King anymore than necessary?). To repeat the last lines of the book:
She speaks in a voice almost too low to be overheard by the music, but I hear her-I always did, “Who are you, George”?
“Someone you knew in another life, honey.”
Then the music takes us, the music rolls away the years, and we dance. How we danced! At first slow and gentile, then with each touch, with each handhold we moved as no years existed between us, our bodies moving to the beat, slow or fast, in perfect harmony with each other, as it was always meant to be.
Then suddenly she steps back from me, stops, and stares, then whispering to herself low again she calls me “Jimla”. A chill runs up my spine, before I can fully stammer out “what the …:” she whispers, “residue resides on true loves kiss” she steps forward in one big motion, and kisses me, long, sweet, passionate, most of all, energizing. I felt the energy build, then “explode” in a pulse that caused me to open my eyes, I could not be sure but I thought I saw reality itself ripple with a wave extending out from us.
I feel Sadie start to buckle in my arms, I hold her and she struggles back to stability. “Honey, are you okay”, I ask. She looks up slowly, and her eyes look at me knowingly, I’m seeing my Sadie in those eyes, the Sadie of 1963. My heart is beating fast, and I noticed her anxiety as well. “I love you” is the first words out of her mouth, continuing “I do not remember why or how, but I am drowning with feelings and emotions. I know I love you, I know you took care of me, you protected me and nursed me, and I nursed you. Where, how, and why, I do not remember. We had a life together, didn’t we George?”
“Yes Sadie, we were engaged, and very much in love”, I say never letting my eyes leave hers. She looks down, then up again in my eyes, and asks “George, do you still love me, why are you here, how can you love this old woman standing in front of you. I feel we knew each other in our youth, or at least young adulthood? How can I not remember being engaged to you, after all I still I remember the address of the house I lived in at age 5?”
“Yes I love you Sadie, now and forever, through decades and timeline strings, old age and youth, I could never forget you” I attest, then add “what did you say before you kissed me?” Her eyes light up, a memory, I realize she now has a memory. “I remember something, something that you need to see” she says, then she follows, “this body can’t take dancing for very long, would you like to go for coffee and dessert? Do you like poundcake?” With a grin wider than the Cheshire cat I say “yes… I do”.
Not being a writer, and for the sake of brevity, time now to skip ahead after Jake and Sadie have spent more quality time together.
Sadie brings out a lock box from the bedroom into the living room where Jake is seated on the sofa. She rummages through the contents and pulls out an old letter and hands it to Jake. The letter was postmarked Lisbon Falls Maine 1958, and addressed to Jimla Jake Epping in care of Deke Simmons, Jodie, Texas. “Deke gave this to me a few years before he passed. He held it for a long time, and told he wondered if he should have tossed it years ago” Sadie said, and adds “I know you said your name is George but I know you are more, and I think this letter is for you”. Jake holds the opened envelope and pulls out a one page letter and another sealed envelope. Jake notices the envelope is addressed to “Jimla”, and the letter itself is in two parts, the first addressing Deke:
Mr. Simmons,
This letter is of crucial importance to two people you cared for very much in the past; and potentially, ignoring it can shake the world if you do not help. Please heed my warning and deliver this letter as instructed. A librarian named Sadie will come to work for you in the next five years. Give this letter and the sealed envelope to her. Jimla, the second and true Jimla, will find her eventually, it is destined.
I scan on down to the second half of the page which addresses and instructs Sadie.
Sadie,
You have no doubt read Deke’s instructions and hopefully you now understand the gravity of the situation. Reach out with your feelings and you will know my words are true. Jimla is coming for you, again. Can you feel him now as you read this letter? Know truth, residue resides on true loves kiss. Jimla must read this letter, make sure he does. He will ask you for something, please give it to him. Search your feelings; you will know it is right.