As soon as  those words were out I thought, “I might live to regret this, but what the hell? I have no ties here, no family left, and no real friends. All I have is a lousy apartment, a lousy, boring job with little or no chance of promotion, so why not?”
 
 ”Right now I want you to come with me to meet the others and learn what you’ll need to know in order to help us.” Catherine said.

 ”Okay” I said, “but I just have to go home so I can get cleaned up and change out of these muddy clothes.”

 ”That won’t be necessary” she said, “We will see that you have everything you need.” With that, she raised her arms and suddenly we were in a different place, a place that was like nothing I’d ever seen.  We were standing in front of a building that was blindingly white in color and only about two stories high. There were a few strange looking vehicles on the street which looked a little like over-sized, enclosed golf carts, and didn’t seem to make any noise. Even when they passed just a few feet from where I stood on the sidewalk, the only sound was a slight hiss from the tires. 
 There were no horns honking, no traffic lights, and the air was amazingly clear and fresh-smelling for a city of any size, and this place was huge! I couldn’t believe there was not more traffic in a place so big, the city stretched as far as I could see in every direction, yet there were very few cars or people on the streets. As I looked around, I realized that all the buildings looked the same, they were all the same brilliant white and all no more than two stories high.

 I turned to look at Catherine, and again she was just standing there watching me with that little smile.  She raised her arms again, and suddenly we were in what looked like a motel room. “I wish you’d tell me before you do that.” I said to her. “I thought you said no more tricks.”

 ”It’s not a trick this time.” she said, “It’s for real now. This is August of the year 2120, and we’re here so you can get cleaned up and dressed properly, and we are actually in a motel room on the outskirts of a city named New Age, the city we just left. We just stopped there so you could get an idea what the future looks like.” She started to raise her arm, but I grabbed hold of her hand and said “Not again, not without warning like that!”  Then she laughed and said “I was just going to show you where the bathroom is. There are clothes in the closet for you, and everything else you’ll need is ready for you in the bathroom.  I’ll return after you’ve had your bath.” With that, she raised those arms and I suddenly found myself standing there alone and wondering, “How the hell  does she do that?”

 I started to sit on the bed to take off my boots, then thought better of it, remembering that my pants were still covered with mud from landing on my butt at the lake, I thought, “Mom would have a fit if she saw me…….”

 But Mom would never see me again under any circumstances, especially not at her house, all dirty after a fishing trip. I’d never again get to hear her good-natured fussing at me the way she always had done. Mom, Dad, and my sister Carla had all three died a little less than a year before in October of 1978 in a mysterious fire that had totally destroyed the house and darn near the neighbors’ house along with it. The fire chief said he’d never seen a house fire that hot before. The sheriff and the fire chief questioned me for hours that night.  I had been  miles away when the fire had to have been started, but they still asked what seemed like a million questions. All their questions didn’t help with the guilt I felt then.  I felt that if I had been there, maybe I could have prevented what happened, or maybe saved them from the fire. We never did find out what caused the fire,  they said it was suspicious because it looked like some kind of accelerant had been present, but it was impossible to tell what it was.

 Thinking about all those things while I striped off my muddy boots and clothes in the bathroom sent my mind drifting back to the night of the fire……

  I’d gone off in my old pickup that Saturday morning right after breakfast. I told Mom and Dad where  I’d be and not to expect me back till after dark.  I spent the whole day fishing some of my favorite spots on the St. John’s, and ran into my old school friend, Randy at the marina just when I started home. It’d been a few years, so we decided to have a couple of beers for old time sake. That’s why I didn’t get home till almost midnight to find the house burned down to smoking embers and surrounded by cops and firefighters with the whole neighborhood looking on. I figured I’d never find out what really happened. I miss them so much.  Even almost a year later I sometimes catch myself heading home to see …….. 

 Finally undressed, I shook out of my reverie and went to the shower and turned on the tap, only to face another surprise. The water  spraying from the shower head was blue! Damnedest thing I ever saw in a shower! Pretty pale blue water! I watched it for a minute then stuck my hand in and caught some of it, it seemed normal except for that strange pale blue color. It didn’t hurt my hand or anything and I really needed a shower, so I gingerly eased myself under the spray.  It felt great, just like a normal shower would. It was kinda weird, showering in water that looked  like that, but it felt right and it got all the mud and grime off me, so I was okay with it.

 Finished with the shower,  I went to the sink and found a toothbrush and paste, a  comb and hair brush which all seemed to be perfectly normal. The hair dryer and razor were another story altogether. When I picked up the strange looking hair dryer and pushed the only button on it, nothing happened. I thought the batteries must be dead, so I laid it down on the counter  and picked up the razor. It looked normal except for the fact that I couldn’t see any blades. Where the blades should have been,  there was just a smooth white strip about a quarter of an inch wide. I lightly scraped the thing on my forearm and all the hair it passed over just disappeared. It didn’t fall off, It totally disappeared! Amazing! “This is great.” I thought, as I tried it on my cheek. “Best razor I’ve ever used, no more nicks and scrapes, and  no more  blades to buy!”

 When I got done with the razor and laid it down, I felt hot air on my hand from the dryer. I picked it up again and put my hand in front of it. Hot air! Just like any normal hair dryer! Except it didn’t make a sound.”All right!” I thought, “A noiseless hair dryer, neat, works great too.”  

 Next, to the closet. There on a hanger I found what looked like a one piece jumpsuit with a zippered front. It was solid black with wide gold stripes on each side. On the floor under that was a shopping bag about half full. I took everything to the bed and emptied the bag onto it. The contents of the bag turned out to be normal looking underwear, socks, and a shoe box. The shoe box had a pair of black boots that seemed to be nearly weightless. The underwear and socks fit me perfectly, so I tried on the jumpsuit. When I pulled up the zipper, it all disappeared except for the little zipper handle. Perfect again! The boots!  I walked around the room a couple of times in the most comfortable, best fitting boots I’d ever worn, then I headed toward the door. Just as I reached for the doorknob, I heard Catherine’s voice behind me.

 ”Well! Looks like you’re ready to meet some of the others.”

  I turned just in time to see her raise her arms…………