TRUE CAMPFIRE STORIES

campfire.jpg

Proprietor
Glenn Pamfiloff


"All stories told around a campfire are true!"


"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.

North Coast

There was a short hike through luscious fern and frond jungles that wended its way to the sea;

Jungle

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.

Cave

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.

Odd 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!

Grey

Copyright 2004, Carport's True Stories
Reproduction for noncommercial uses only is acceptable


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