A Rope of Chalk

A Note from the Editor

It looks as though this account will finally be published in 2020, not long after the ninth anniversary of the incident in question. You should expect some explanation for my having taken so long, especially considering how insufferably coy I've been about the story's "imminent release" on so many occasions. I have no grounds to blame any of my informants for the delay; neither can I produce any excuse for my own negligence. So all I can give you is an apology:

Sorry.

As I took my sweet time compiling my notes, and the incident itself became more and more obscured in the fog of the past, a vague niggling concern grew more and more distinct: The accuracy of my report was becoming vulnerable to lapses of memory, misinterpretations, and transcription errors of the mind—My own mind, and those of my informants. I began to second-guess all my data, searching for corroborations that did not exist, or else finding the verification I wanted and then doubting my secondary source. I became discouraged. I did that thing you see in movies where I shoved all my papers off my desk in a rage. I stared down from my window at a rainy city, and I contemplated the nature of reality.

I couldn't continue my work until I had made a deal with myself: I would set aside any commitment to recreating these strange events as they had really happened. I would concern myself only with faithfulness to the statements of my informants, to the facts of their experience rather than to the truth. Now my path was clear; now my goal was attainable.

As I said, I can offer no excuse for this extremely overdue publication, and the preceding statements should not be so construed. I only wanted to tell you all that so I could tell you this:

The narrative compiled here purports to reflect only the recollections of the individuals involved. By continuing, you concede that I, the editor, bear no responsibility for the felicitous representation of any objective fact associated with this narrative; furthermore, you swear or affirm that you will not issue to the editor or publicly report any corrections or recriminations concerning this narrative's accuracy—Geographical, historical, medical, meteorological, or otherwise.

Do you consent to this?