"This True Story Was First Told Around a
Campfire"
TRUE CAMPFIRE STORY #8
AN UNUSUAL FISH AND THE MISSING NIGHT
Sheila and I were in Hawaii, on the Island of Kauai. We were staying at
a nice
condo on the southwest shore, but we had a rental car and were able to
explore
quite freely. The first few days we found secluded beaches, non-tourist
restaurants, and local taverns that made our trip most enjoyable.
We attempted some surfing, but found we were better at boogie boarding.
We had
some experience with wind surfing and enjoyed getting better. I could
get the
sail out of the water better than Sheila, but Sheila kept making the
quick
turns much better than me; we decided that we'd explore other
adventures.
We decided that we'd try a bit of hiking and fishing, so we drove up
the east
coast; to the end of the road in the north.
There was a short hike
through
luscious fern and frond jungles that wended its way to the sea;
a
beautiful
cave awaited us. We were excited, as we knew that the tide would be
low, so we
could explore the cave, and even though it was late in the afternoon,
we would
still have time to return to the trail, before the high tide blocked
our path.
We partook of a short lunch with the meager
provisions we had carried
with us,
and then I took my small collapsible trout pole out of my pack. I made
a few
cast with a feathered-weighted steamer and was surprised at the
distance my
lure was propelled. After numerous casts, I finally felt a hit; not an
amazingly strong hit, but none-the-less a hit. The fish felt like it
was 2 or 3
pounds and I played it softly, as I would a trout. Soon, I was able to
pull my
mystery fish up the sandy beach. It was a most unusual fish; with huge
bulgy
eyes that seemed to hypnotize me as I gazed at them. I shook my head,
as if
trying to not fall asleep, and again I examined this most unusual
creature; the
eyes were mesmerizing!
I called Sheila over to see my trophy; she was not overly impressed,
but,
forever the artist, she did comment that the eyes were not quite
in
balance. As we discussed this most unusual find, we heard a whirring
sound;
actually it was more of a vibration than a sound. The air just seemed
to
vibrate with no sound, but we felt we should have been able to hear it.
The sun
was setting in the west, and the evening was quickly approaching. We
were up on
a small precipice, just above the cave and I remember Sheila saying
that we
should start back if we wanted to beat the tide.
I looked at the coming darkness and suddenly I was completely confused;
it
seemed as if the sun was rising, not setting????? I asked Sheila if we
had
fallen asleep and she said she was sure that we hadn't, but we
better
leave soon. Then, we saw the sun rising in the east! We were stunned!!
What had
happened to the evening and night? Did we both fall asleep, not even
aware of
our circumstances?
The tide was again low, so we made our way back to the trail; back
through the
jungle of ferns and fronds, back to our rent-a-car. I realized that I
had not
cleaned our funny looking fish, so I decided that I should clean it
there in
the parking area. I opened my soft creel and found it empty? I had no
idea of
where I had lost it, but guessed that it had fallen out of the creel
during our
trek through the jungle. We drove back down south and were both very
tired when
we reached our condo; we both decided to take a nap. We slept until
late
evening.
Through the years, we never really did discuss this missing
evening-night, but
I'm sure Sheila thought about it as often as I did.
When Sheila was examining meditation, Reiki, and self-awareness, she
told me
that she thought she remembered some things from that night, but she
was afraid
to discuss these memories with me openly. I tried to reassure her that
I would
be open and understanding, but she insisted that I meditate, and then I
should
inform her of my remembrances. Then she would inform me if my memories
coincided with hers.
As I reached an inner level of self-awareness, I knew that everything
had
stopped after we had heard the whirring that couldn't be heard. Then,
in
horror, I saw this face; it was grey, with little if any nose, huge
bulging
eyes, and a gigantic cranium. I didn't have a complete vision, yet I
felt that
I was inside some sort of stainless steel compartment; how I had gotten
there
was beyond my ability to recollect.
In the presence of this grey face, all I knew was that I was being
chastised; I
was not sure why. Sheila confirmed that my impressions were her
impressions,
but we agreed that they were too vague to fully comprehend.
Even with these moments of meditative awareness of that night's events,
through
the years the trauma abated, the urgency to understand disappeared, and
the
memories faded.
Many years later, as we were packing our suitcases for a new adventure,
I felt
a bulge in a side pocket of the suitcase. I found a roll of undeveloped
film in
its plastic container. Sheila dropped it off at Longs film counter that
day,
and we left on our new trip.
Months later, I was in Longs and the clerk informed me that I had a
roll of
developed film that had never been retrieved. I paid for it and brought
it
home; not remembering what the film was or where it came from. As
Sheila
and I opened the envelope and examined the contents, we simultaneously
let out
a lamenting wail; I think we both remembered the grey face at the
instant we
saw the photograph of our strange fish.
As our brains struggled to put our memories into a cohesive form, we
both knew
what had happened during our missing night. We had been confronted with
a
strange creature; one that did not communicate verbally, but through
our
thoughts and impressions. We were informed that our odd fish was not
simply a
fish, but it was, in fact, a genetic cousin to our grey captor. Our
strange
fish was a new seed and we must return him to the waters. At the time,
we
understood, and complied with the wishes of our grey host. We didn't
feel
threatened, rather we felt compliant to the inevitable.
Now, we think of the consequences of our folly; could it be the
annihilation of
the human race? Or, could it just be the necessary advancement of our
planet?
We don't presume to have the depth of knowledge required to make such
judgments.
Although it is never necessary to prove a campfire story, we felt
compelled to
present the factual evidence of its validity. We have our rental car
and hotel
receipts; we have our Longs photo; and even though we don't have an
actual
photo of our grey friend, we did find a representative photo on the
Internet,
to the best of our memories!
Copyright
2004, Carport's True Stories
Reproduction for noncommercial uses only is acceptable
|