[Critique Group 2] Fwd: Leonard's sub for Nov

[tuchyner5 at aol.com]

Hi group2,
Just a reminder that submissions are due today. Also see my own submission below.

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Fog World

 

I live with an interesting phenomenon. I call it my fogworld. A fog surrounds me  at all times.I don’t  mean a word bubble on a cartoon.Nor am I talking about a state of mind, like a foggy brain syndrome. Neither amI speaking of a mood of doom that surrounds some people I happen to know . Thisis an actual  white cloud that enshrinesme at all times when my eyes are open.

 

I can’t help it if no one else sees  it. Some people say I only experience it as aresult of my impaired sight. On the contrary, I believe I am blessed  with a super power that enables me to seewhat no one else can see.  Of course,there are some drawbacks. For example, at 10 feet, people disappear into thisfog. They don’t know they fade from sight, but they do. They go into the fogworld which separates them from me. They are at least one whole dimension away.I believe that time and space work differently for them when they enter thisstrange world. 

 

Sometimes I can still hear them, in the way that a ghost canbe heard  but not seen. Sometimes theirsounds are drowned out by wind blowing, or leaves  blowing, or even the sound of vehicles passingin a dimension close by, 

 

One must be very careful about vehicles which can’t be seen.They can become real as steel  when theypass the 10-foot border. They suddenly are right there  hogging the road where I might have beenstanding just a moment before. For that reason, I must not walk in the middleof streets, and I must listen very carefully for their presence.  You never know when one of these ghost cars,or trucks, or vans or what have you makes a sudden appearance which can bedeadly. Or maybe they would drive right through me without any notice. I havenever had the courage, or stupidity, to try it out  and stand my ground against one of theseghostly vehicles,  daring them to run meover. It might hurt.

 

This world is particularly active when I walk my dogs withmy wife.  She walks her dog and I walkmine, and we walk at different speeds, and stop, according to their whims, atdifferent times. So she frequently disappears into the fog. My wife is totallyunaware of this, and she is unable to tell me what happens  in the places she goes. Maybe this is afunction of amnesia  that does not allowsuch reminiscences.  The shock of goingin and out of those realms must be very strong. But I know she does, because Ifrequently look back and see nothing. Not a sign of her or her dog.  But when I am not looking, and completelyunexpecting, she is passing me on the right or left, or across the street. If Iask her what happened, she does not know what I’m talking about.  So I don’t bother to even ask. 

 

Other people walk their dogs in our neighborhood.  We have lotsand lots of dogs, so our paths often cross. But most of the time they are in afoggy dimension and are unaware of me.  Ican be walking along, minding my own business, when suddenly a  ferocious canine, straining on his tether, isyelping and foaming at the mouth trying to attack us. Barney, my dog, is oftenbemused by their antics. He just looks curiously at them  until they pass by. At other times , hestrains at his own extendable leash, trying to engage in battle. Why differentresponses on his part? I can only guess that he is aware of something I am not.Maybe he can tell if they are fully present and engageable, while others havenot made the transition from the fog world to the real world, my world, and so can be fought tooth and nail.  In any case, it is most disconcerting to besuddenly stuck in the middle of their transactions, trying to reel in anextendable tether. 

 

If this sounds a little unbelievable to you, I can prove it.The other day, a particularly vociferous cur actually walked out of hisconstraints  to attack us. Now I reasonthat the restraints were slightly out of synch with the dog in coming out of the fog, temporarily losing solidity and allowingthe creature to escape. The owner was abashed by what had just happened. Sheclaimed he slipped out of his restraints. Yes, but how? Unsynchronized materialization.That’s the answer. 

 

When he found himself running to the attack, I was able toget between Barney and his foe and get in a kick, which sent  him running back to get into his harness. Hewas depending on that harness not to let him loose. When it failed, he was assurprised as we were. But you never know what can happen when things are notsynchronized.  

 

Another time, I was walking alone, practicing mobility withmy white cane.  I went to cross the ruralstreet, where there is usually no traffic. I got to the other side, and my cane touched two soft objects. I openedmy eyes in surprise .  I  had just discovered two life entities that my cane was making contact with.One looked quite human, and the other looked like a small dog.  The one that looked human said he waswatching me, and I seemed to know what I was doing, and he was quite surprisedto be hit  several times by my cane.  The faux human continued  as quickly as he could get away from me.  I didn’t believe his story for a moment.  I think he knows about the fog world, and I  had appeared out of it to attack him with mycane.  So maybe that’s the way it is inthe dimensions of fog. I actually was in it, and materialized out of nowhere tostartle this  poor so-called mortal. 

 

I fully suspect that some day a creature from a dimensionvery foreign from the one I usually inhabit will make its appearance. It might have two heads, or maybe six legs. Itmight look like an insect. On the other hand, it could have seven fingers,which I would not be cognizant of unless I was really looking for somethingstrange. 

 

Or it could even be a Good Humor man in a truck.
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