Three on a Match

Three women who went to P.S. 62—Mary, Ruth, and Vivian—reunite as young adults in New York City. They light a cigarette from the same match and debate the superstition that the last to light will be the first to die. The moment reinforces their shared history and foreshadows a fateful turn.

Vivian, married to a successful lawyer named Robert Kirkwood and mother to Junior, grows unhappy with her life. She decides to take a trip to Europe with her son to seek change. This decision sets the stage for the events that follow.

Shortly before departure, Mary boards the ocean liner with two men to attend a bon voyage party for friends. She remains unaware of Vivian’s decision as others plot their own paths. The ship’s impending departure frames the looming choices of the characters.

Gambler Michael Loftus flirts with Vivian and convinces her to run away with him. She is smitten and gathers Junior, choosing to disembark the ship before it sails. The trio—Vivian, Junior, and Mary—leave the voyage behind.

Vivian and Michael drift into a shabby, dissolute life, alarming Mary with Vivian’s neglect of Junior. Mary grows increasingly worried about the boy’s welfare as the situation spirals. The looming crisis binds Mary to the past she tries to outrun.

Robert proposes to Mary and hires Ruth to look after Junior. On the same day, Mary and Robert marry as his divorce from Vivian becomes final.

Vivian’s finances have collapsed; she is penniless and dependent on Michael’s schemes. Michael owes $2,000 to gangster Ace, who demands payment. He tries to cover it by threatening to expose Mary’s past to the press, but Robert refuses to pay.

To satisfy Ace's debt, Michael kidnaps Junior and holds him for ransom. Ace’s thugs locate the child with Michael and Vivian in their apartment, and Junior remains with his mother during the ordeal.

Ace’s gangsters demand a much larger ransom of $25,000. Vivian overhears the plans to kill Junior and realizes she must act to save him.

Vivian tells Junior to hide under the bed and scribbles a lipstick message on her nightgown revealing his location. She remains determined to protect him as the gangsters close in.

When the gangsters reach the bedroom, Vivian leaps from the fourth-floor window to save Junior. She dies in the fall, but Junior is rescued. The act marks the emotional climax of the story.

Back home after the dramatic events, Mary and Ruth light their cigarettes from the same match to honor their shared past and the life they’ve avoided. They drop the lit match onto the hearth, and the flame goes out, signaling an end to the danger.