Lost In Time

Stars were seen clearly in the sky that night, a quarter moon shined next to them. The Choptank River was clear and dark, with a few sparkles of light shining off its surface. It was the first weekend of October. The humidity of the summer was finally dying down, making the nights more tolerable. We sat together by the campfire enjoying the beauty of it all.

My boyfriend John and I were camped along Barker's Creek, his uncle owned enough property to camp there without anyone intruding. We had both worked long hours all summer. It was the busy season for tourism, we both needed a chance to unwind. We spent the night under the stars, a bit of peace and quiet away from everyday life.

We were camping near the site of the abandoned colony of Dover. The colony was deserted sometimes after 1796 but no one knew why. Some say it was an outbreak of smallpox, others said there was a storm that destroyed most of the town and many of its townsfolk drowned. Of course, everyone had a story that was passed down to them from family folklore, but who really knew? Whatever it was, people loved to speculate about what happened to the little town.

We sat together by the campfire talking about the future. The holidays were coming soon and we were thinking about buying a house together. We had a great connection between us and I hoped we would be together for a long time.

“ So, what are we getting your mother for Christmas?” I asked him.

“Oh my god Dina, do we have to start thinking about that now?”

“Well, it's not that far away”, I gave a slight smile and shrugged my shoulders.

“I don't know, I guess find something you think she would like and let me know how much it is.

“ You always have me buy the mom gifts.”

"You know what they like."

"Well, you never have a problem picking out gifts for our nieces and nephews."

"That's because it's fun shopping for kids."

"I think you just like to look at toys."

We both laughed, John had a small smile on his face and quietly said “I do”.

John loved kids. One day we hoped to would have our own.

We continued to talk about plans for the future. It was getting late, we could see the traffic dying down on the nearby Dover bridge and decided we had better try to get some sleep.

The sound of rain and wind woke us sometime during the night. John sat up in the tent looking like he was trying to identify the sound. “Is it raining?” I asked.

He looked outside, “No,” he said, sounding confused.

“What on earth is that? There should be nothing around this time of night.”

I was still laying down half asleep.” It’s probably traffic from the bridge.”

The Dover bridge was off in the distance, I was sure that he was hearing the echoes from vehicles traveling over it.

John wasn’t satisfied” I’m going to see what’s out there.”

I then sat straight up and instantly awakened. “ What? Not without me, you're not.”

I wasn’t about to be left alone in the woods, I followed him out of the tent.

Making our way across the field a thick fog covered everything around us. A roar of wind came through the field, almost taking me off my feet. John grabbed me, trying to help me stay on my feet.

“I thought it wasn’t supposed to storm tonight,” said John

It wasn’t, the news forecast called for clear weather all weekend. I didn’t know what to say.

“ Don’t know, it’s just wind I guess.”

Another wind came thru, stronger than the first one. I’m not sure what happened exactly but I felt like the world moved. When the gust stopped we were somewhere else.

I looked around, trying to understand what just happened. We were in the same field, but it was different. The grass was taller and there were trees everywhere.

We turned back in the direction that the noise had come from. John and I jumped at the sight of a child who came from nowhere and was now standing before us. She looked maybe age 7, with long golden brown hair, wearing what looked like a colonial dress. I bent down to try and comfort her.

“ Hi, are you alright?”

“I can’t find my mummy, Have you seen her?”

The girl spoke with an accent I could not place, maybe British but I was not sure. I thought the best thing to do was comfort her.

“Oh, you can’t find your mom? We will help you.”

The girl seemed relieved to find help, even though her facial expression still seemed apprehensive.

“Were you camping? asked John. "Maybe you can show us where you last saw your mom?”

She looked up at us with wide eyes” all right, I’ll show you.”

The girl turned her back to us and proceeded across the field. We followed behind.

As we walked there was a strange feeling filled the air. It feels like a great deal of electricity in the atmosphere. The hair stood up on the back of my neck as I followed him toward the river. The noise became louder and the feeling of walking into another world came over me.

The wind picked up again, only stronger this time. Large drops of rain began pouring from the sky. We walked into a great storm.

Before us was the small town of Dover. Houses stood beaten and torn by the rain and wind. A lighthouse stood near a small pier where the ferry transported people on their daily business, but now water flooded onto the shores spreading quickly into the village. Colonists were huddled into the buildings still standing, others were trying to get boats into the water. Rain poured without end, the tide overtaking the ground turning the whole town into an extension of the river. Terror was everywhere as people were struggling to find safety in this scene of chaos. John and I just stood there, shocked by what we were witnessing.

"Please, help me find my mum." a small voice came from next to us. The girl was still there, soaked by the storm, an urgent look in her eyes. John took her hand and began to walk off. "John what are you doing" I panicked when I saw him leave me. " She needs help, you get somewhere safe," he said before he disappeared into the rain and wind.

Sunlight was resting on my face, so was a toad. The little green fella made a large leap off me once I drew a deep breath. I was at the campsite like nothing had happened, but John was gone. No sign of him anywhere.

I walked back to where the town once stood, there was nothing there, only the grassy shore of the river and the gentle breeze. On my way back to the campsite I came across an old graveyard. Walking through I could barely see the names of those resting on the gravestones. Time had taken their names but not their souls. They were still here, just in another way, one none of us alive should be able to reach yet. Among the gravestones, I found a legible name. It was faint but it read: One only known as John. Perished in the storm of 1796.