Free A Brief Moment in TIme by Jeane Watier Page A

think you are those things deep down inside, and I think you need to let that part of you out once in a while. Kathryn has a certain elegance and sophistication to it, but it also feels somewhat cold and unapproachable, contrived somehow, like you’re pretending to be something you’re not.”
    The candid remarks stunned Kathryn. Adele was straightforward when it came to her opinions, and Kathryn wasn’t usually offended by the things she said. This time Adele’s words hit a tender spot, and Kathryn realized she had some work to do.
    Adele quickly responded to Kathryn’s silence with an apology as she touched her arm lovingly. “I didn’t mean that as an insult, sweetie. I know you’ve been through your share of rough times. But you deserve to feel good. Maybe it’s time to admit that it’s okay to feel good again.”
    Kathryn looked at Adele with tears swelling in her eyes, but no words would come. Her friend was right; she could feel it.
    “Kathryn, maybe Gavin can read you. Maybe he calls you Kate because he can see that hidden part of you. The Universe uses all kinds of people in our lives to teach us and remind us. No labels, remember. He’s your teacher as much as you’re his.”
    “You’re right,” Kathryn said, blinking back tears. “You’re absolutely right.”
     
     
    GAVIN WAS GLAD to have someone unbiased to talk to about what he was experiencing. He’d found that person on a social networking site, and “Retro57” was now his cybernet friend.
    He’d come across the site as he browsed the Internet, looking for information. Interacting that way was new for Gavin, yet fun in a strange, delusional kind of way. He’d created a persona with a name, a job, a belief system, even a love interest. It was nice to feel like an ordinary person, talking about ordinary things with another guy. They talked about extraordinary things too. Retro had some deep questions, and he liked to hear what Gavin, or “Free2B,” as he called himself online, had to say.
    His friend had some great advice. He was supportive of Gavin’s ideas and encouraging when Gavin felt down. Because of their shared interest in the paranormal, many of their conversations dealt with that subject. They both loved reading and often posted what they were learning.
    “Hey F2B,” Retro typed. “Just finished a book by a guy named Scheinfeld. I think you’d like it. It’s mind blowing. Get this: ‘Everything you perceive with your five senses is an illusion—all props and special effects designed to create an alternative reality that allows you to play the human game.’ Shit, man, what if that’s true? What if it’s all an illusion? I’ll send you a link to his website 1 . Check it out.”
    “I know those kinds of ideas seem far fetched,” Gavin replied, “but I’m starting to believe they’re true. Thanks for the link; I’ll pick up a copy of the book.” He made a mental note to request the book from the library. “The part about our five senses being an illusion, that’s interesting. Deepak Chopra says it a little differently: ‘Only the present, which is our awareness, is real and eternal.’ He describes everything else as a field of possibilities. He says that in our willingness to step into that field, we surrender ourselves to the creative mind that orchestrates the dance of the universe.”
    “So what’s real then?” Retro asked.
    “I’m beginning to think that ‘real’ is whatever we want to define it as,” Gavin replied. “Personally, I like the idea of calling something real. If you think about it, it’s our awareness of something that makes it seem real. But like Deepak says, that only exists in the present moment. The past doesn’t exist at all, except in our memory, and the future…well, that’s a little complicated.
    “There’s power in the moment that doesn’t exist anywhere else,” he continued. “So the present moment is real in that sense. We just have to stop limiting the term real