and a jaw that was just strong enough to look manly, but not chiseled and movie hero-like, his angular features made him look strong, but not too hard. His penetrating gray eyes were intense but expressive, if others were to be believed. His mouth, which liked to wear a lopsided smile that made him look like he was up to something, had slight lines on the edges, probably because he smiled and laughed so much.
His body was fit, slender but still a bit more muscular than the average guy on the street. People remarked on his perfect posture (mostly his mother), and his coordination was good so he moved with a certain grace and agility. Overall, he liked how he looked. He didn’t think he was anyone’s dream guy, but a few girls over the years had told him he was “very desirable.” Whatever that meant.
Why had he never acted on that, the girls who told him of their interest? He’d had some girlfriends, all briefly, but it never really seemed right or comfortable for the long-term. He just figured that they would move on when they tired of him, and he was mostly right, though perhaps it was simply a self-fulfilling belief. Anyway, that was neither here nor there. He had some experimenting to do, so he’d better get to it. Winking at himself in the mirror and chuckling at his antics, he headed though the door to his meditation room. Even if it all ended up being some kind of dream, at least he would become more relaxed so he could sleep.
After more than an hour of trying to recreate exactly what he did before he found himself in the other place, Sam started to get frustrated that nothing seemed to be happening. He was sure he would know by the strange feeling he had if he had succeeded in his traveling, but he still went to the front door, opened it, and peeked out two times, only to be disappointed at the sight of his familiar quiet, dark street.
What was he doing wrong? He had done the same thing, from the total relaxation to the controlled breathing, to the specific atom image he pictured. He just wasn’t able to do what he did before. What was he missing?
Did he actually do it before? He started to doubt himself. Maybe he was going insane after all. Head down, he sighed. Just then, he noticed there on the floor, right next to where he was sitting, several long reddish brown hairs. Though he had a cat, the feline spent most of his time outside. He was not allowed in the meditation room at all, and his fur was short and gray in any case.
Sam picked up one of the hairs, rolling it between his thumb and forefinger, considering. He jumped to his feet, sped across the hall to his dirty clothes hamper, and pulled out the pants he was wearing earlier. There, on the right leg of the pants, were many more of the reddish-brown hairs. Right where the creature he met had leaned against him and slept.
Aha! , I’m not crazy. I actually did go to that other place. So, not insane. That was good. But he still had a problem. How would he get back there? He returned to his meditation room to think.
O k, Sam , let’s just go through this problem logically. You did the same things as before, but they didn’t work. What has changed? Can I recreate the earlier procedure exactly?
Thinking it through, Sam finally admitted that he didn’t have enough information to figure out what was going wrong. So then , what I need is more information.
“That’s it!” he cried out loud. “I need to do some research!” He looked around to make sure no one was there to see him talking to himself. That’s what living alone with only a cat for company will do to you.
Happy with his momentary resolution and being relaxed from his hour of meditation, he switched the light off and headed to bed.
Sam slept soundly except for a couple of dreams in which he relived watching the scientific lecture so many years ago, the one given by that unkempt man. It was the one that started him thinking about vibrational energy and how ancient civilizations may