A Trick of the Mind

Like you, I do not believe this. A more plausible explanation likely exists, what I saw something other than reality. I talked about telling the future using reflection from polished objects such as crystal balls. I suggested that veils, fractures and inclusions of other minerals might affect the transmittal of light through this media such that a person trained to do so could “see” into a different dimension. The last time I visited my father in the reminiscence center where he lives, I witnessed something that lends credence to such claims.

I arrived late, Dad eating dinner, so I waited for him outside on the enclosed patio. The patio is on the east side of the building. I sat in a lawn chair, facing west so that I might see my Dad walking past when he finished eating. It was early evening, the sun shining at an oblique angle through the windows behind me.

Several more windows separated the facility from the enclosed patio, light striking them such that I could see hazy movement from where I sat. I was doing other things, reading a letter and thinking about the events that had occurred that day when I saw, or thought I saw the almost translucent figure of a man strolling down the hall.

I stood and put my face against the glass to negate the glare coming from the window behind me. Even though my actions took less than ten seconds, it was not fast enough to get a look at the man. There was simply no man there. It was a trick of the mind, I thought, caused by the low angle of the sun shining through the window behind me, and then reflecting off the windows in front of me.

My Dad is usually a fast eater but that evening he had not finished even after thirty minutes. During that time, I saw a procession of reflections walking down the hall. Even though I tried my best, their images disappeared every time I put my face to the window.

My Dad has resided at this facility since January 2007 and I have visited him at least once every week since then. Many of the people in the facility when I began visiting are no longer there – the Walking Woman, the Roamer, and many other nameless individuals. It is likely that dozens, maybe hundreds of former inhabitants have died there. Maybe an essence of their souls remains and I was able to see them because of a perfect combination of reflection and refraction.

Like you, I do no believe this. A more plausible explanation likely exists, what I saw something other than reality, or unreality, and nothing more than a simple trick of the mind. Well, maybe!

Louisiana Mystery Writer