The panic attack brought on by my low energy crisis had gotten me thinking. Was a ghost really much different from a human after all? Like most people, I’d been scared of dying because I didn’t know what lies beyond death. During my lifetime, I’d been frightened by stories of ghosts that were said to haunt various places and probably thought of them as the dead who for some reason were unable to rest in peace. I had never heard of the idea that a ghost could be afraid, much less that one could die. Had a ghost ever died? I realized that this was a question that I hadn’t asked Patrick John, nor had he or any of the speakers at my graduation mentioned it. Determined to find the answers, and remembering a legend I once heard, I decided to travel back in time to the days of ancient Egypt and wished that I had paid more attention to this particular part of my education. The notion that I’d ever want to do this had never entered my thoughts, also Patrick John assured me that the question had never been asked in an exam and it was best to stick to the basics. Ghosts, it appeared had never taken an interest in time travel, probably because it was much more fun to scare people that you knew while living. If scaring people wasn‘t your piece of cake, it gave more satisfaction to help your friends and family instead of exploring ancient history.
I felt that it would be too risky to attempt the venture without honing up on my understanding of the proper proceedings and incantations. Supposing I got stuck in the time of Noah, when water covered the whole earth, and I had to stay on the ark with him, his family and all those animals – and no toilet facilities! With my luck, I’d have to clean up the mess. Anyway, I’m sure you could never scare that old man, after six hundred years, he’d probably seen everything. I decided to check out the library at Oxford – the ghostly one that is – bet you didn’t even know it existed? I was impressed from the very beginning, ghosts of all shapes and colors floated around and through every corner and wall, all without a single boo. In a matter of minutes, I’d found the section I wanted, no one else was there in fact the place looked neglected, but I was soon engrossed in my studies. Satisfied at last, I thanked the librarian and excitedly began my exit not only from the library but from the century itself.
Time travel I soon discovered was exciting but tempting and more than once I wanted to stray from my original intent. Who would not want to linger with Robin Hood and his merry men in Sherwood forest or with King Arthur and his knights of the round table? The Roman Empire held little that I fancied, except perhaps the chariot races, but I made a mental note to return to Greece and it’s golden age of art, philosophy and architecture.
It was however to Egypt with its pyramids, great sphinx and valley of the kings that I was determined to travel and chose as the time of my entry the year 2000 BC.  The legend I recalled was that the great Sphinx had once killed a ghost for not being able to answer it’s riddle, just as it had hundreds of humans, I not only made sure that I knew the answer but was determined to discover the truth about the ghost as well. The sights were breath taking and my first thought as I looked around was, “You ghost of little Patrick Riley of eighteenth century Ireland, sure what are you doing here?