The Lakes of Time.(Kevin Hughes) I saw her jump into the Lake of Forgetfulness. I waited just a few seconds before I followed her in. I had on my “time suit”, which kept me anchored to the shores of Time. She did not. I had only a few moments to bring her to the shores of Time…or she would forget even how to survive. I dove and got her hand in mine.

When we got to shore, the kind people of Time Shoals, took a quick inventory of her situation. She was lucky. She still remembered basic skills: Toilet Training, how to feed herself, and even bits and pieces of the alphabet.The Kind People of Time Shoals would care for her as she built up a new life, new memories, and no past life to dwell on. She wouldn’t remember her name, where she was born, or why she jumped into the Lake of Forgetfulness. There had to be a reason.

Usually that reason was they just didn’t want to live anymore. Most who jumped into the Lake of Forgetfulness, had memories they didn’t want anymore. Some were merely impulsive reactions to a broken heart, missed promotion, or lost job. Those usually jumped in right in front of someone like me. A “Time Saver.”
Our job is to get to them as quickly as possible and bring them to the Shores of Time. If we get to them soon enough, they are still pretty much themselves.

Of course, they have no recollection of jumping in the Lake…nor do they remember why they did. It only takes a minute or so in the Lake, to forget you were even born. So we move quick when we have to. Sometimes…well, there is no one left to save. Their own cells will have forgotten they were once a part of a Human Being. Leaving behind only a smudge of bacteria wandering aimlessly on the surface of the Lake.

At least those of us who are Time Savers, are anchored to the Present moment. There are people who Guard the Lake of the Past. Many many more people try to jump into that lake. Hoping to go back to a past that they thought was better than the present moments in life. The challenge with jumping into the Lake of the Past is twofold: One is the past is rarely the way you remembered it…and secondly…well, you can’t control how far into the Past you will go.

If that particular branch of the “Time Savers” doesn’t get you out soon…well, some have gone back so far they weren’t even Human anymore. The Pen next to the shores of the Lake of the Past, is filled with creatures that seem melancholy as they munch on plants unfamiliar in Modern Times. They seem to know they were once something more…but what? With their tinier brains, and loss of human form…they just kind of graze and gaze. Who knows what they are seeing in eyes that evolved eons before upright stereo vision was necessary?

Entire herds of those kinds of animals exist in the Pens. It takes a special kind of person to care for animals that were once Human…and won’t ever be again.

The Lake of the Future Time…nobody jumps into that one. It has no "Time Saver" Guards. How could there be? Nobody knows what the Future holds. Nobody. There is no way to go to a Time where you aren’t in it yet. When people jump into that Lake…and there are always a few…they just become a shadow, then a mist, then…they are gone before they are even fully submerged. Like watching smoke from a dying fire disappear in a light wind.

It is the only Lake where you can’t come back at all. Ever.

The Future is unknown. And always will be. The Past can change, the Present can too…but the Future? No. Not at all. You can’t change things that haven’t happened yet, because you don’t know what will happen. People often like to just look at the Lake of the Future…sitting on the shores of Time wondering what would be. Perhaps they hope to catch a glimpse of some future self, or a future partner…or even just a glimpse of what the Future might look like.

But they don’t see anything. They never will. You can look in the mirror of Time, but it will only reflect what was…or might have been. But never what is, or might be.

I know my Future. It is another few eons of being a “Time Saver”. But maybe I am wrong. Maybe tomorrow some panicked jumper into the Lake of Forgetfulness will pull of my Time Suit, or dislodge my link to the Shores of Time…and I will drift right along with them until we both forget everything we ever knew…and were. People on shore will be stuck with the memories of us as we forget how to swim and disappear under the waves of Time.

I know you are wondering why I haven’t mentioned the Lake of the Present Moment. It is because it is so fleeting that there is no “Time Saver” who could move fast enough to help you catch it. The Lake of the Present Moment is the biggest Lake in all of Time. We are all in it together. And like most folks, we have no idea how precious it is. Or…what to do with it.

The Time Savers have a saying about it: “you want a better tomorrow, or a more pleasant past, make each moment today…count.”

Some do. Some don’t. Some move around the present moment without ever knowing the power of a single second to alter your life, or give you a memory. Others are keenly aware of the Present Moment. Those are the people who never need the Lake of the Past, the Lake of Forgetfulness, or the Lake of the Future, for they are swimming in the joy of living time.

These are the people who embrace their Past, as it was. They don’t need to forget, for they have forgiven. They aren’t worried about the Future for they are to busy living in the present. The present moment…for them…is right where they want to be. Many of the “Time Savers” are recruited from just those sort of people. People who are happy to be here…now.

Now is a wasted moment for so many….and the beginning of the next for everyone. That is why the Lake of the Present Moment has no Guards. All the other Lakes feed of it. Time is either lost, wasted, or enjoyed in a single moment of Present Time. And it is unguarded.

So be on your guard…or you will end up in the Shoals for Time, washed up on a reef in your past, or pulled out beyond the breakers of tomorrow.

I will be watching.

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