(Submitted by reader Michael Doyle)
In the summer of 1960 I was visiting my older sister in Rivertons, Wyoming, when a census-taker knocked on her door. Upon opening the door, the census-taker took one look at my sister and turned pale. It was obvious he was in shock.
He asked my sister, whose name was “Doris,” if her name was “Velma.” My sister told him no, but that we had an aunt Velma. He said looking at my sister was as if he had gone back 40 years and that he was looking at the face of Velma.
After discussing the coincidence, the census-taker told us that he was at one time engaged to Velma who turned our to be our aunt. But, he knew her in Vancouver, Washington, not in Wyoming. Kin always told Doris she looked like Velma. I guess this stranger proved it to be so.
[EDITOR: This reminds me of a favorite short story of mine, written by Mike Resnick, available on Escape Pod, titled Distant Replay. I won’t spoil the story more than what our story above might suggest about it. I strongly encourage you to give it a listen. Outside of that I can’t say much more about this one. It’s a startling moment in this strange world we inhabit. I can’t imagine just how shaking it must have been for the census-taker. – Jarrett]
