The Time Lord is pleased to continue his saga of Lisa's Time Machine. For those of you who have lost track, and for those of you who DON'T have short attention span, my last installment is on page 5 of the boards. You might have to scan back to get to the very beginning. Like we care.:rolleyes:

The next several days were hellish. I realized that this "fasting" stage which brought me the asnwers I sought had now become full-on famine. I had now begun this menatl capitulation where a lot of my thoughts were garbled. I struggled to keep things in perspective, but for all intents and purposes, I was GONE. This was because of a lack of food intake, basic nutrition. I was totally unable to look for work to acquire food money, since I was severely weakened. My sleep patterns were also disrupted, I felt hallucinations pass before my eyes on occasion. I knew something was very wrong, but had no idea how to deal with it.
People at church and elsewhere were concerned, if not aggravated. I had LOST IT, suprising my sanity was not posted on milk cartons already. People at this nice, wonderful church complained that I hung around too much, mooching for doughnuts
a little too often. I was a general nuiscance to them. I certainly didn't intend to do that, I just had no other alternative. What could I do? I was recommended by some to go to the church office to get food, which I did reluctantly. The pastor with whom I seemed to be on good terms, gave me a few coupons for a restaurant stand next door where they served Chinese food. So that helped for a while. I was careful to ask for UNSWEETENED iced tea, due to my unpleasant experiences a short while before:
someone had given me a sugared doughnut hole, and once I ate it, my head just BURNED and ached in pain! So I found that sugar, in my depleted state, was bad for me. Avoid it!! I told myself. That weekend, I found myself fortunate enough to find small change for a single bagel at the store. That small sustenance was able to move me--at a certain point, I realized that I did not even have strength enough to move. I was so weak. It was very bleak. The only thing bleaker were thoughts of--WHAT WAS HAPPENING TO MY POOR, DEAR LISA IN THIS BLACK HOUR?

The days that followed were very discomforting--no sign of her at church. Was she all right? I was determined to find her there, put my arm around her, and say, "Lisa, I know...It's gonna be okay..." But no such luck. I could only hold on to the hope and pray... The next Monday evening, I was so caught up in my thoughts and concerns that I decided to take a walk. I walked... for blocks...then for miles... along Vanowen Blvd...from Van Nuys to Burbank into the night. My mind was so full and I was drained of sleep. I was fully awake, pondering the situation with her, what might have happened, what she must be doing right now.
I contemplated the thought of her midnight blue Maserati cruising by at this Witching Hour, maybe she was awake, unable to sleep, wanting to talk to someone as she made a coffee run. The night remained chilly, still, and gloomy. As I ventured further into the environs of Burbank, I came across a cheap motel I think I had heard about earlier...

Flashback to a month earlier. One September Saturday morning,
while sitting in the park, a slighty unkempt though not- unattractive woman with dark brown hair came up and made conversation with me. I noticed a trace of alcohol on her breath as she told me about her various problems. She seemed to have her wits about her, though she admitted having a drinking problem and was trying to overcome it. She related stories of cruel roommates and of the friends she had met along the way, and she seemed pleased with my sharing her concern. I told her I wasn't in the best situation either, and that I would pray for her.
She brightened up at the mention that I believed in Jesus, and said that she had been told He was the solution, that she had to just trust in Him. So I began to pray and she rested her head on my shoulder. When I had finished, she kissed me...and I was drawn in... "Maybe if you meet me on Monday," she softly told me, "I know a motel where we can go up in Burbank..." For the rest of that weekend, I was on edge, not able to take my mind of this woman's enticements...but I just had to say NO to myself. I was a Christian, I couldn't do something like this. But how...INVITING...it seemed. I wished that I could go up to Lisa at church and tell her about my struggles with temptation just right around the corner. But nothing ever came of it. I was only left to wonder, then forget about it.