After about three months, the painful effects of the head injury I had sustained when I tripped over my grandson’s toy and hit my head on the coffee table had gone away. The more bizarre things I'd  experienced were still with me, and if anything, they seemed even more acute.

I had mentioned some of the side effects to my doctor, such as the feeling of being disconnected  from reality and seeing things that no one else was able to see. His response was that injuries to that part of my brain was unusual, and as far as he was aware, there had been no in-depth scientific studies. He explained that hallucinations weren’t uncommon, and he suspected that is what I was likely experiencing. He suggested he would like to run some tests, and that he would be able to give me something that would counteract the disconnected feeling.

I asked him to let me think about it. I didn’t dare go further. I didn’t want to risk becoming a guineapig while someone in a white coat ran tests on me to determine what kind of drug might work best. I certainly didn’t intend to reveal anything about the man who had appeared in my bedroom at night silhouetted in a brilliant light. He would be sure to think I was hallucinating if I’d revealed the man had told me that the injury had caused a portal to open in my brain, allowing me to be able to communicate with people who lived in a parallel universe.

So far, I had told no one, not even my own children. The shadow man had suggested I keep a diary, and he had warned me that not all of those who lived in his universe were benevolent. He had told me I could be led astray, because those of his world, who were enemies of mankind, were very clever and were anxious to deceive.

I had immediately gone out and purchased a journal in which I was recording anything unusual. Some days, I felt I was being pulled away from our present world. I found myself yearning to escape into the other universe to see for myself what this place, which coexisted alongside our world, might be like. In spite of the desire to see the place, there was the fear that once there, I might not be able to return. At times when I felt myself drifting and about to lose consciousness, I fought against being pulled into this place because of the possibility of never again seeing my precious children and grandchildren. That, for me, would be unacceptable.

At times when I was out driving, I felt a presence in the car with me. I could see no one, and I kept telling myself it had to be my imagination. Then one day, I was driving on the highway when a car involved in a high-speed chase suddenly came across the median and swerved into my lane. He was coming straight toward me. I braced for the head-on collision, knowing there was no way to avoid it. Suddenly the wheel jerked from my hand, and my car instantly came to a stop on the shoulder of the road. The other car had missed hitting me by inches. I know there was no way I could have gotten onto the shoulder that quickly. My hands were no longer on the steering wheel which I had gripped so tightly earlier. My mind couldn't process what had happened.

I remembered the man had told me I was always visible to him. He'd said he was a watchman, and in times of crisis, he was authorized to act. It reminded me of stories I had heard of guardian angels, and I wondered if those stories could be true. Perhaps, this man was an angel assigned to me. It was a very comforting feeling of awe which followed me the rest of the day. The high-speed chase had ended when the other car had collided with a bridge abutment. The driver was badly injured, but thankfully, no other cars were involved.

In dreams at night, I sometimes felt I had moved past the confines of this world and into another reality. I had never had such vivid dreams in the past. The colors surrounding me were like none of the colors I had ever seen on our earth. I couldn’t even begin to describe them. They were more than fluorescent. It was as if they were alive. I felt as though they were embracing me and moving around me and through me. The first few times this happened it only lasted seconds, and I found myself awake in bed. I switched on a light, but this reality seemed so dark and depressing, I cried out in anguish as I tried to stop the flow of tears.

One day in late fall, we had an awesome day when the temperature, which had been on the chilly side, suddenly slipped back into the seventies. The sky was a brilliant blue, and it felt like the perfect day to take a walk in the park. After walking for a bit, I sat down on bench facing the mountains. I was enjoying the peaceful feeling of being alone and out in nature with squirrels and birds all around. The sun felt warm and pleasant on my shoulders.

I’d closed my eyes for a second feeling totally relaxed. I was on the verge of dropping off for a quick nap, when a deep resonant voice broke the silence. A man asked if I would mind his sharing the bench. I was startled when I opened my eyes. I found myself looking into the most intense and mesmerizing pair of eyes I’d ever seen. The man looked to be around my age. He had dark hair and a black neatly trimmed beard. He wore what appeared to be an expensive well-tailored suit. He had a very dignified persona. There was something vaguely disturbing about him.

“Excuse me, I don’t mean to invade your privacy, but if I could just sit down here for a moment and catch my breath, I’ll be on my way. I was supposed to meet someone here, but I can’t seem to find them. I’ve been walking around looking for a while, and I seem to be a bit winded.”

I’ll admit I found the intrusion irritating, but if he needed to sit, it wouldn’t do to be impolite to say no, so I nodded. “Sure, it’s okay. The sun was getting to me. I think I was about to nod off. I didn’t see you walk up.”

“Do you live around here?” he asked.

“A few blocks away. I walk here sometimes when the weather is pleasant.” I’d hoped he wouldn’t try to start up a conversation. I had no intention of giving him any personal information. The world in which we live had left me very untrusting of strangers.

“I’m not from around here. I just got into town today. I was dropped here by an Uber driver. I don’t know the area at all. I will be around working here for the next few months while setting up some venues and doing some motivational speaking. I hope to be able to arouse some interest in very lucrative new business venture. It is the top of line future of this country. Those who attend will be getting in on the ground floor.”

His voice was hypnotic as he droned on. I felt he was trying to get into my brain. Something seemed to be warning me that if I didn’t make my escape soon, I would be trapped under his spell.

I stood abruptly. “I just remembered I need to get back home. I have an important zoom call to make at two.”

He rose to his feet as well.  “Let me walk along with you. I think I have something you’d find fascinating. You are just the kind of person we are looking for. I can tell you some things that can turn your life around.”

“No, I’m sorry. I need to concentrate on this call I have to make. I wish you luck with your endeavor, but I have enough things going on in my life right now, without getting involved in anything else.” 

I walked away quickly, but I couldn’t resist looking back to see if the man would sit back down on the bench. To my surprise, he simply wasn’t there. He had disappeared completely. I remembered the warning I’d been given that night by the man in my bedroom. ‘Be careful who you trust. There are others from our world, who appear like us, but who are evil and out to destroy mankind. They will now have access to your brain the same way that we will.’

I heaved a huge sigh of relief. I felt as though I had escaped something very dark and sinister.

That night the bright light and the silhouette of the man appeared again in my bedroom. This time I wasn’t as startled as I had been the first time. I sensed he was not someone I had to fear.

His first words were “You have been tested, and we feel we can trust you. You have a strong sense of right and wrong and an aversion to evil. You know how to resist it.”

“You sent that man to test me?’ I asked indignantly. “Why would you do that to me?”

“No. We didn’t send him. He was from the dark side. We just watched your reaction.”

“What if I had gone along with him?  Would you have stepped in and stopped him?

“No, it isn’t allowed. You have free will. The decision to walk away will always be up to you. You are stronger than you think you are. You are someone we may be able to use in the future.”

“I want to see your parallel world. Will you take me there?”

“No, not now. Your body isn’t designed to be there. You would have to be recreated and could never return here. You may be allowed to see glimpses of it in your dreams. Stay strong. We’ll be in touch.”

The light faded and he was gone. I was left with a deep sense of longing for something I couldn’t be a part of.

I expected that another sleepless night lay ahead as I processed everything that had happened, but I was wrong. I fell asleep quickly, and again, I found myself in what I now assumed to be only a glimpse into the parallel world that I wasn’t designed to be a part of in person. This time my virtual visit lasted longer. There were people all around that I was only able to see as shadows moving within the swirling colors. There were open fields of unfamiliar vegetation. The trees towering above me were magnificent. I assumed there had to buildings, but I didn’t see them. Once again, I was sad and depressed when the dream left me in a dull and colorless world compared with what I had just seen.

My friends felt I had changed and wondered if maybe the brain injury had left me with a different personality. I had withdrawn and wasn’t so interested in going places. I tried to act as normal as I knew how, but even my children were concerned that something was different about me.

As the weeks passed, I got used to being able to know what people were thinking. It wasn’t easy to be around people who were convinced I’d been left with mental problems. When the television was on, I was positive, no matter what was being said, that I knew whether it was truth or complete fabrication. I had no way of proving it, so I kept my thoughts to myself.

When time went by without any further interaction with the man I had seen twice in my bedroom, I started to question my own sanity. I began to wonder if I had managed to create something in my mind that had never really happened. I was sure if I told any of it, people would shake their heads and say that the injury has left her mentally incapacitated.

Still, I often wondered what the shadow man had meant when he said they might be able to use me in the future. The day would come when I would learn how my head injury had given me an extremely useful gift.