Just My Thoughts
Page Two

By Christina M. Meide

A bit later, we went back together and The Night Watchman had me drive the identical path I had taken while taking photos. Upon reaching the mausoleum, I turned right on the dirt path and went straight to the entrance gate.

I would have had to turn left at the mausoleum, onto the paved path, to end up on the East end of the cemetery where I found myself and it would have only taken about 45 seconds to get there, but I had lost at least 5 minutes of time.

I've been back quite a few times to Riverside since that day, both alone and with The Night Watchman, but there have been no more time loss occurrences.

The second strange time situation happened about the middle of July. My alarm went off at 6:30 as it does on every work morning.

Now, my morning routine rarely varies. I take my shower, get dressed, comb my hair, let the dog out, make coffee, then sit down at the kitchen table to do my make up. By this time, it's about 6:55. When my make up is on, I let the dog in, grab a cup of coffee and go to the computer to take care of any emails before we have to leave for work. The Night Watchman rises about 10 after 7 where he'll find me finishing off emails.

On this particular morning, all went as normal until I sat down to put on my make up. I glanced at the microwave clock to see how I was doing on time, then went back to putting on my make up.

Suddenly, my brain registered that something wasn't right. I looked at the microwave clock again. It read 6:30, but that wasn't possible! I was nearly done with my make up and it should have been almost 5 to 7. My mind tried to tell me that the storm the night before had shut off the electricity, but I had to admit this was not the answer. If the electricity goes off, the microwave reads "RESET". It was also no explanation for my alarm clock as that is battery operated only.

Totally confused, I got up and checked the clock on the computer. It read 6:31. Something was definitely screwy. Assuming my alarm clock was wrong, I finished my make up, let the dog in, grabbed my cup of coffee and went to the computer to do emails while I waited to hear The Night Watchman's alarm clock and the shower start. It was a much longer wait than I was accustomed to.

At 7:00 computer clock time, The Night Watchman's alarm sounded. At 7:09, it sounded again and several minutes later I heard the shower. Once the shower stopped, I went in to brush my teeth, then went to the bedroom to see what time my alarm clock read. It was 7:20. I pushed the button to see the alarm time and it said 6:30 just as it was supposed to. I went back to the kitchen to check the microwave clock and it said 7:21.

Everything was as it should have been accept, somehow, I had gained a half hour of time that I could not explain. No matter what I did to negate the fact, nothing worked, and I finally had to admit that something very strange had happened that morning.

I do remember thinking it strange that my Schnauzer, who snuck into our room to sleep on the bed as she often does after we've gone to sleep, did not, upon hearing the alarm, hop down and start dancing to go out. I always have to tell her, "No, you have to wait until I'm done with my shower." On that morning, she raised her head up, looked at me and lay her head back down. I remember thinking it was odd, but it was just a fleeting thought. Apparently she knew that I was doing things wrong that morning and wasn't going to deviate from what she knew was the usual time for "our" routine.

The feeling of this second occurrence was much like the feeling of deja vu - a momentary pause as the realization that you've been there and done something before hits you. There's always a moment of temporary confusion too as your brain tries to sort out the odd information it is receiving. This was the kind of feeling I had upon seeing the clock reading 6:30 instead of 7:50 or 7:55.

How is it possible to gain or lose time like I did in these two experiences? And what causes it to suddenly happen? Did I go somewhere for those 5 minutes in the cemetery that I can't remember? Did I go somewhere on that strange morning where time didn't matter, causing me to gain 30 minutes?

Again, it's all a mystery, but I do know that each event gave me completely different feelings. Neither of them really caused fear, just a great deal of confusion, and my brain had a hard time registering the events as real.

So, there you have it. I can describe what happened, but I am helpless to explain. Maybe someday we will have a grasp on time and be able to determine these types of things as completely natural, but in today's world, where the clock reigns, there doesn't seem to be any explanation.

PAGE ONE OF JUST MY THOUGHTS

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