Prologue to a lost tale.

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It was the sound of water that made me realize that I was onto something. It was just an ordinary pan, non-stick I suppose, but as I was swirling away water inside it, taking away the remains of the day's food, it made that sound. How would you describe it - like something was hovering, magnetically drawn to the kitchen sink, watching my every action. At first I didn't believe it, of course, and thought it was just that I had been staying at home too long. In fact, I hadn't ventured out of the house the entire weekend, even though I had my best shirt on. I didn't consciously think that I would do this in the morning, because then I would have surely saved the shirt for a better occasion - but still, it just seemed right at the time. Just seemed right at the time. That's as good a justification as any for the tale I have to weave. When I heard the water making that noise, I knew that there was really nothing else for me to do.

I tried filling the pan with more water, and excitedly stirred it around. I was doing it too quick, because now I could hear nothing. Eager not to lose the opportunity, I took a firm breath and steadied myself. With a slower swirl of the pan, I could hear the sound again. It was like nothing else I had ever heard in my life, and nothing that I have heard since. Now convinced that it was not my imagination, and that the sound was real, I had to think about what it could mean. Why was there this magnetic voice that was speaking to me? What could it possibly mean?

These are questions that you will be impatiently asking yourselves as you read it. I wish that the answers were simpler, but as it turns out they are not. To address them requires nothing short of an old fashioned story, replete with the nonsensical and unbelievable. But you must believe me, all of it is absolutely real.