by C Davison

All my life I've had random instances of that feeling that I've done something or been somewhere before. It started very young, but I paid attention to it much more when I was a teenager (and much more reckless), and let these random feelings take a more active point in guiding my life. We've all been there, when life is going so bad that you just know you must be on the wrong track.

A personal theory of mine is that when you stray too far from 'your path' everything you do just turns to crap. It's like trying to put a round peg into a triangle hole. When I was younger, and perhaps had a little more courage and a lot less responsibility, and I knew I had to make a change but didn't know what, I came home from work and found a letter in the mail from a friend of mine who now lived several hundred miles away. We hadn't seen each other since, but the letter was an invitation, and suddenly I knew where I was going. I packed and ten minutes later with less than $20 dollars in my pocket and more faith than most I was on the freeway with my thumb out.

All the way there, I felt great. I can't explain it. I'd left everything behind. A note on the table explained to my landlord I would not return and two hundred dollars covered the cost of getting rid of my junk. I was fearless but happy. It took a day and a half to get there and I never so much as called to say I was coming but I knew it wouldn't be a problem. I arrived at 2am, and as we entered the city, my generous driver asked me where in the city I was headed. I handed him the address which was on 23rd St.

"Which one?", he wanted to know. Then he explained that city center was zero and that the streets counted out from there 1st Avenue E or W and 1st Street E or W and counted all the way up. "Are you sure it's a street? Usually those are industrial areas."

I wasn't sure but my good Samaritan took me to three addresses before finding the right 23rd Avenue. It was dark. "Do they know you're coming?"

"No, but friends don't care, do they?", I asked him. I think he probably wondered if I was all there, but I didn't care. I told him to come back and have coffee with me if he was in the neighborhood again and got out of the car.

"Are you sure? I could take you to a hotel until tomorrow." I was sure. I went up to the door and began ringing the bell, and just when I thought I might have made a mistake, a light came on and a face looked out the entrance window. The expression was worth the surprise trip, and I was glad I'd gone. Five minutes later I was drinking hot chocolate laced with Kahlua in the living room, and the whole time I was there I had the weirdest feeling. We talked, and my friend kept shaking her head. I can't believe you came.

"Well, when your letter came, the invitation said come anytime..." She laughed and it all just felt like I'd been there forever. Finally she told me she had to go to bed, and to work in the morning, and got up to show me where the spare room and bathroom were and I told her not to bother, I already knew. I could have told you where absolutely everything was. It was like I had lived in her house for years. Judy, if you're out there.... remember how weirded out we were? I even knew what was in the cupboards. It was the strongest Deja vu I've ever experienced, and it went right beyond strange.

I stayed there two years, and still see it as one of the best experiences of my life, remembering it fondly to this day.