A bit of fun

It was only meant to be a bit a fun.


Richard was the 'mysterious' one in our group; no one was
sure what exactly he did for a living and, though it was fun sometimes
to try to tease information out of him, we just assumed he remained
tight lipped because he was actually dull. Don't get me wrong - he was
a brilliant guy; if you were ever in a spot, he would be right there
for you, day or night, you just had to call. But this only added to the
image most of us had of Richard sitting by the phone all day, nothing
better to do, just waiting for someone to call.


So, it was a Thursday night, we'd stumbled back to Paul's,
his being the closest to the pub, and we're all sitting around talking
crap, as usual. Richard, who was normally quite happy just to listen to
the rest of us, suddenly said that he knew how to regress people; he
could take you back to a past life. After we had all stared at him for
a while, then laughed at him for a while longer, he explained how he'd
'picked up' this technique; it was a bit like hypnosis.


Mikey, who was always up for anything, was the first to have
a go. Richard sat him down, told him to relax, picture a warm safe
place blah blah blah and after about five minutes of this suspiciously
hippy sounding crap I looked around and I realised that we were all
looking at Richard and Mikey with the exact same expression on our
faces; it was one of nervous anticipation. Or it was until we caught
ourselves then we had to do the macho bullshit thing and take the piss
but you knew we were starting to get into it because the laughs didn't
last as long as they normally would.


Eventually Richard told us, in a whisper, that Mikey had
reached the correct level of consciousness; we were ready to regress
the first subject.


We all lent in closer, listening as Richard described a long
corridor with lots of doors. He then asked Mikey to choose a door and
walk through it and then to describe what was on the other side. At
first Mikey just sat there, soundlessly moving his mouth, then he
started to talk in this high-pitched whisper, started to describe a
beach somewhere. Richard asked him what his name was and Mikey said,
"My name is Susan and I'm a pretty little girl?"


Well, we couldn't help it, we all started rolling around
pissing ourselves and this, in turn, brought Mikey back round. Richard
was dead serious though, he told us how dangerous it could be for
people just to snap out of a trance like that. We all apologised cause
we wanted him to do it again.


Paul was next to give it a go. Richard went through all the
relaxation stuff again and when he said that Paul was ready to regress,
we all shut up.


Paul began talking in this strange voice, saying that his
name was Frank and that he ran a pub in Devon. He went on like this for
a couple of minutes, all the time Richard was gently asking him
questions. Then Paul suddenly jumped up and said, "Sod this, who
fancies a drink?"


Richard did not see the funny side.


Three bottles of vodka later, Richard finally accepted Paul's
apology. Apparently, some people were more open to suggestion, which
led to us taking the piss out of Mikey for being a 'suggestive little
girl'. Then, for some stupid reason, I asked Richard if it was possible
to reverse regress; instead of going back into a past life, would it be
possible to go forwards into a future life?


"Might as well give it a go," said Richard, "it's only a bit
of fun."


So, I was sat there, eyes closed as Richard starts the
process, telling me to relax and open my mind. After what seemed like
ages, I was feeling really spaced out, I could still hear Richard's
voice but it sounded a long way off, like I was in a dream. Then he
described the corridor with all the doors and, I swear, I could see it;
my eyes were closed but I really believed I was there. I could see this
endless row of doors stretching off into the distance, then I heard
Richards voice again. He was telling me that the doors I could see all
led to the past, that I should try to turn around, see what was behind
me. So I tried.


At first it felt like I would never be able to do it, I was
telling myself to turn but nothing was happening. My muscles felt like
they were aching even though I knew that in reality I was just sitting
in a chair but in my head I was there, in that corridor, desperate to
turn around to see what was there. And then I did it.


It was like staring into the sun. A cold heat scorched the
flesh from my bones and I was pulled towards the source of the light,
screaming soundlessly as my lungs were ripped from my chest. The light
consumed me.


Then there was nothing.


For a long time I thought that I was dreaming. I was watching
somebody else living their life, everything that they did, said and
thought. I touched what they touched, smelt and tasted what they did
but I had no control over them. It took me years to even begin to
understand what had happened.


His name is Marc. He seems ok. Sometimes he hears a voice in
his head but he cannot make out what it is trying to tell him.
Occasionally he falls asleep at the computer and, if I concentrate hard
enough, I can take a little bit of control; not much, just enough to
move one hand across the keyboard.


My name is David Newbury. I was born in Taunton on the 15th
September 1952.


Please help me.