Visions [Three White Buildings]

Up until the age of 19, I lived on a Native American Indian Reservation in Northwestern Montana. The small town is named Polson, and it’s on the southernmost shore of Flathead Lake. Nearly 30 miles long and 400 feet deep, Flathead Lake, is a natural lake and born from the last ice age approximately 10,000 years ago. I miss its sparkling clear waters every day.

I try and visit whenever possible. I spent several months there during the year 2000. My mother was still alive back then, and I stayed with her. It was nice, sleeping in my old bedroom over the summer that year.

One particularly hot summer day, I had been visiting some old friends. I remember it was still day time, and I had blocked out the windows in my bedroom so that I could get some rest. The room was completely black, with absolutely no light penetrating from the outside world. Within a few minutes of lying down to go to sleep, something incredibly profound happened. Suddenly, I was no longer lying in my bed. I was standing outside in the brilliant Sunshine. The entire landscape had changed completely. Nothing of my hometown remained. I was standing on top of river rock, with small blades of grass poking through the gravel. Directly in front of me, stood three featureless white buildings. I don’t remember any windows or doors. The buildings were shaped like modular homes and arranged in a half-circle fashion.

The experience lasted for several minutes. I was completely awake and aware of my surroundings. I can remember thinking, “what the f**k is going on? Where am I?”

At some point, everything changed back to normal, and I had returned to my bedroom. I’ve talked with a few people over the past 20 years about the experience, and each person has given me a different hypothesis. I’m still hoping for an explanation. Welcome to my rollercoaster.

Joseph Shanklin

July 27, 2020