Moments in Time

Kat sat up in bed, trying to get the vivid details of her dream before it vanished from her mind. It was always the same dream, yet so incomplete. It was that unfinished part that gave Kat that strange feeling you get when you know your forgetting something.

In the beginning it was so simple to just brush it off and go about the day. After twenty some years of that same nagging feeling it just wasn’t so easy. It crept up in the back of her mind much more often as time went on.

At thirty-two Kat’s life was full of soccer, baseball and basketball games, not to mention track and Pony Club. With Three kids, a husband and a dog she barely had time to sit down. Not that she was complaining, she loved being able to stay at home and do the little extra things for the kids.

Kat had done daycare when her children were younger. She thought it would be easy enough, and of course give the kids’ the social skills they would need before starting school. It was an overall joyful expierience that lasted until the kids were all in school.

After that, Kat found other things to keep her busy, the yard and garden. She was a fanatic when it came to cleaning, not the details every sees but the little things like behind the stoce the hand prints on the doors even inside the fawcets. The little things Kat obsessed over dailey. Athough mostly unnoticed she knew and that’s what mattered.

Through the years Kat even learned to be more expierimental with spices improved on her cooking. Baking was her favorite, there was nothing in a desert book Kat didn’t like to try.

Two of the children were still in grade school, Kat was always there, always at home when the kids got off the bus. So that was it, and this was her life and a fortunate one she thought.

They were a happy family with the normal ups and downs, disagreement and minor crisis’ but for the most part she thought that they were lucky.

Kats husband Chris thought pretty much the same way. Well if you asked him he would probably say that Kat was lucky that she had him so that she was able to stay home. Which is true.

Kat would say that he thought she simply napped, watched TV and read books all day. Kat loves to read, if someone asked her hobbies that would be it. Years ago she could buy four or five books a week at the used book store and then exchange them for new ones a week later, if they were good they didn’t last twelve hours. Now if they are good, they last a month.

Kat slowly got out of bed, grabbed a pair of socks out of the drawer and headed for the kitchen as she knocked on doors and yelled down the hall, “time to get up, come on, lets go.”

That dream was bothering her still. It was a white house with a wrap around porch, tall, really tall. There was a very big yard, lots of grass and a big tree, probably an oak. To the left of the yard was a lake or a pond.

Why was it always the same?

Why just that little scene?

It was like a commercial that zooms in slowly on this beautiful country home and then she instantly there, standing on the porch looking out at the lawn and the water, and then its gone. The same exact dream, every month or so for as many years as she can remember dreaming. It was too strange.

Maybe it was the dream that was so strange; maybe it was that feeling she got everytime she woke up from it.

That feeling used to last an hour but it seemed that sas time went on it lasted much longer each time.

Kat looked at a book once in a store that was supposed to ‘define’ your dreams, it just sounded to silly. She looked up lake and house and even the tree, but to put them all together there was really no sound explanation.

Kat shook her head, no more I’m not going to analyze this again, she though. She grabbed the pancake mix and the mixing bowl and started to tackle breakfast.

“Mom I don’t feel good.” Zack said sleepily as he walked into the kitchen. Zack, her seven year old was the baby of the family. His bright blue eyes and blonde hair like both his sisters is such a contrast to Kat’s dark Auburn hair and green eyes.

"Sweetheart, just lay down for a few minutes and watch TV, when you wake up a little bit I am sure you will feel better.” Zack walked into the living room giving her an I don’t think so look.

About that time Breane came in already dressed but not quite awake, mumbling about lost homework. Breane is one of those nine year olds that age way too quickly. Kat is positive that the influence of her seventeen year old sister Maggie had a lot to do with that.

Kat put the pancakes on the table, found Breane’s homework and finished up the morning routine. As she watched the bus drive away she grabbed the morning paper and poured her second cup of coffee.

Kat sat down on the couch and her mind brought her right back to the dream. Why is this bothering her so badly? Why cant she just shake it off like she used to, there had to be more to it than she was willing to think. Life is normal, except these crazy feeling I have about this damned dream she thought.

Kat had watched that one guy on TV once, she couldn’t remember his name, but she had watched as he would say “I feel a man coming through his name starts with a B”.

Then someone in the audience would nod and say Burt or Ben.

“I feel tightness in my chest” he would say and then the person from the audience would say he died of a heart attack. He was always so accurate, or very lucky.

Chris would always say, that “he generalizes things that are more than likely.”

It is one of those things some people believe absolutely or they think it’s a complete crock. Kat was somewhere in the middle, she wanted to believe, but she wouldn’t bet on it.

Then there is the neighbor lady Cindy down the rode who has parties where they do the taro cards and séances. She is so carefree and ‘spirited’ although there are some people who simplify her with words like weird and freaky.

There was one time Kat went over to visit and Cindy said she sensed a red aura around Kat, that there was much sadness and danger.

Okay so there was a little bit of weirdness, but for the most part Kat liked her. Cindy was happy and positive about everything. Kat liked that quality in people.

Kat picked up the phone and called Cindy. What’s the worst that could happen, she thought.
Of all the people that she knows, Cindy was the last person that would think she was going out of her mind with this crazy feeling she had about this dream.

Cindy told her to come over and they could have tea. Kat poured some more coffee in a mug and jumped in the car, she wasn’t a tea person.

Cindy lived about a half mile down the road, although she was the nearest neighbor a cornfield separated the properties.

Cindy met Kat in the driveway wearing a long multicolored shirt and tye-dyed t-shirt. Her long chained necklaces hund down as long as her waving blond hair about to her waist. She reminded Kat of a modern day gypsie.

Kat liked the free spirited look but never could she imagine getting away with that fashion trend herself.

“okay I know there is something weighing on your mind, I can sense it, lets sit by the creek and you can tell me.” Cindy stated matter of factly as she led Kat to the two chairs near the water.

Kat decided to tell Cindy all about the dream. She knew that Cindy would be delighted to delve into this kind of thing. And at the same time Cindy was the only person that she knew that wouldn’t look at her like she was out of her mind.

Kat started from the beginning, she told her that she has been having the same dream for at least twenty years. Cindy listened carefully, although there wasn’t much to tell, it was a short dream that never altered.

“How large is the lake” Cindy asked after pondering the story for a few minutes and sipping her tea.

“I don’t know,” Kat thought that was a strange question, the lake was such a minor detail in the dream, the backdrop really.

“I have never givin the lake much thought, I think the water is blue but I really have no idea. The entire lake or pond or whatever it is, its only a corner I see, I don’t really see the whole thing so I guess its large."

“Hmm. Well that is very interesting. Very interesting. This is going to surprise you. I will try to explain it. This lake you see, that’s the most telling part of your dream. I know this is all new to you. The best way I can try to explain it to you you is still a little complicated.” Cindy obviously sensed the sceptisism Kat was feeling.

She gently took hold of Kats hand and started to explain. “Go back in your mind as far as you can reach. Think of the time you blew out the candles on your first birthday cake, rode your first bike, or even took your first steps. Having a hard time remembering even that far back?”
Kat and Cindy both nodded at the same time in agreement that those memories were definitely not reachable. Although Kat had never givin it much thought.

“Past Life Regression isn’t so very different from trying to remember events that took place during your early childhood. At first the memories may be dim and few, but each event remembered sparks another memory and other until they become clear in your mind.”

Kat interrupted, “I never thought of dreams as memories”

“Many people have recurring dreams, there have been documented cases of people who have these dreams and then research only to find out that the names and places, even tragic events have really occurred sometime in the past.

I guess that’s the one thing our internet has going for us, you don’t have to be a rocket scientist anymore to do historical research well, you only have to know the key words.” They both laughed.

Kat was actually feeling very conmfortable and enjoying herself. This was the first time she had opened up about these feelings and her dream. She didn’t feel as self-conscience as she thought she would. She also felt horrible for always thinking of Cindy as the weird neighbor lady.

“When our dreams contain the image of water we have to realize how powerful it is, in any of its forms, like the power of the ocean.” Cindy looked at Kat for confirmation.

“I understand you so far I think, but the water wasn’t moving, it was just there.”

From the beginning of time even the caveman must have known learned that water was the central ingredient of life. We die of thirst much more quickly than we starve. More importantly, to know where the water was meant knowing where the food was.”

“I understand now,” Kat said smiling, this wasn’t as hard as tshe had thought it would be, this was actually fun.

“As we evolved water became an evil that harbored unknown dangers. Water travel was dangerous and uncertain storms, and rough seas claimed numerous voyagers. Polluted water affected livestock and spread disease that in early history became epidemics that claimed thousand of lives.” Cindy paused

“ To give you the elementary level here, seeing water, looking at water, like you were in your dream happens very rarely. It is a big red flag if the water is positive, if its not controlled .” Cindy all of a sudden had a more serious look about her as if she didn’t really want to tell Kat something.

“What do you mean controlled, how do I know if it was controlled?” Kat was feeling lost now, is this really a path she wanted to go down?

Cindy smiled, apologized and continued, "Water that is controlled, or positive, is water that is contained. A creek running within its banks, a lake within a shoreline. They represent feelings of renewal, new life, positive."

“Uncontrolled water will often create a sense of unease.” Cindy looked at Kat.
Yeah, Kat understood that, she basically explained those feelings earlier, but where was the proof the water in her dream was “not controlled’?

Cindy must have known what Kat was thinking because she very quickly answered that question.
“The Ocean, raging rivers, rapids, and lakes without borders often reflect being out of control of one's circumstances. In your dream, your lake has no boundaries, there’s no edge. It’s how should I say it, mysterious, unknown. If you put that together with these feelings that you have.”

They both knew and for the first time both wemon were on the exact same page.

“I feel a great importance, something, I just cant seem to completely understand.” Cindy was sayind, although Kat had the feeling that she was hesitant.

“ The Water is your key. I feel as though this is something that you will have to figure out in this lifetime. Kat ,” Cindy had a new expression, one that was almost daring, challenging.

“This is a mystery you alone will have to figure out, your dream is just the first step. You need to find the second. I honestly think that if you do not, it will somehow carry on with you into the next life.”

That made Kat very uneasy, she so desperately felt like this was a real delimma, something unfinished. Yet to try to solve this, she would have to believe that we had past and present lives. This notion wasn’t one that she really wanted to tackle.

Kat was such a thorough person and this meant time and soul searching. Time wasn’t one of those things she had a lot of. And soul searching scared her to death, she preferred ignorance.