Every word you will read here is true. I started writing poetry and short stories in a creative writing class in high school in 1976. When school ended, I threw my writing in a trash can and graduated. It wasn’t until the late eighties that I felt the need to write again. I spent a year or so working on a manuscript of poetry. I sent the manuscript to a publisher. When I got it back from the publisher, they said they liked some of it, but did not feel it was worthy of publication. Again, I threw away the manuscript.

I joined a rock/acoustical band in the early nineties. I was the lyricist and lead singer. We wrote and recorded over two-hundred songs. Some where really good, others were not so good. Our drummer got an offer to join a popular band in our town and left us. The band slowly dissipated. I did not keep any of the lyrics, although our guitarist still has them on tape. He ended up going to the same band as the drummer to become their sound man.

I ended up moving from Ohio to Texas. I got a good job and stayed there for ten years. During the last five years of my tenure, I started writing again. I felt I was getting decent at poetry and short stories and put them all on a floppy disk. I met a girl and fell in love. I decided to move in with her in another town about twenty minutes away from where I was living. Somehow, during the move, the disk was lost. I was devastated. I quit writing again.

Then in late summer of 2005, I was in bed one night and fast asleep. Suddenly, I felt the poke of a finger on my back. At first, I thought it was my wife until I opened my eyes and saw her sound asleep. I sat up in bed and standing there, not two feet away was the transparent outline of a man. He was of normal height and was smiling at me. I was immediately terrified. I sat up in bed and stared at him. He said, are you ready? Ready for what, I replied. Then he said, “I have frightened you.” I will return when you are ready. I held out my hand to try and touch him as he disappeared. I woke up my wife and asked her, did you see that? See what, she asked. I told her what had happened. She said I must have been dreaming. I was definitely wide awake. I had trouble going back to sleep. I kept looking for him for several hours until I finally fell asleep.

In late 2006, the same thing occurred. The figure poked me in the back. This time I was amazed, but not as afraid. He asked me again if I was ready.

I said, will you please tell me what I am supposed to be ready for? He said I was not ready and disappeared again.

He finally returned in early August of 2008. The familiar poke in the back did not frighten me. He asked me again if I was ready. This time I knew what he meant. I asked him who he was. He said, I am you and you are ready.

The next morning, I felt an uncontrollable urge to start writing again. I started slowly, threw a few bad pieces away, until I felt I was again capable of writing something meaningful. I searched and searched the internet until I found Triond. I decided to join and start submitting my work. Much to my surprise, I began to get published. I cannot stop writing now. I write every day and I cannot seem to write enough. I would wake up at exactly 3:10 every morning with something creative in my head. Some days I remembered every word and some days I forgot what I had been thinking. I bought a digital mini voice-activated recorder and kept it beside my bed. Now, whenever I wake up, I record what has come to me. I have found that I use it quite often. I use it whenever something pops into my head and it has become an invaluable tool. Now I am writing endlessly and it feels so cathartic. It feels like a blessing from God. That is my story. I would swear to this being true in a court of law. It just goes to show you, you never know what will happen in life.