Page 1 - and the man who loved cats
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As he swam towards the drowning girl,
something peculiar began to happen. Instead of
progressing he appeared to be going backwards:
he did not seem to be getting any closer. But then,
he had heard that under such circumstances time
played tricks. Every stroke made itself felt, yet in
reality he knew he was covering the distance in
record time. When life and death were in question
time stretched as if it were elastic. But this feeling
of not progressing was accentuated by a deep
belief that something was pulling him backward. It
was not physical. And it seemed to have nothing to
do with time. He could not feel the progress of
time, but he knew that it was moving forward. He
could count off the units with the crash of his arms
in the icy water. It was his thoughts that seemed
to be reversing. As he moved onward his thoughts
went backwards. Huh, he had always believed that
during such times of stress the mind froze and one
had no thoughts at all. This was obviously not the
case. His mind was alive and his arms and legs
were thrashing.

   He could hear old Sultan barking at the lake-
side. His parents had often asked why he had

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