My name is Anonymous, and my lifetime elapsed in your very distant future. The exact distance is of no importance to anyone but me, as my safety is in direct proportion to its magnitude. Placing a premium on my protection, I placed a considerable quantity of time between us, with countless generations thrown in for good measure. And thus, I landed on a date in your lifetime for this volume’s publication1.

There are actually two reasons I chose to publish outside my place-time. The first, we have covered: my safety. In the following pages, I will disclose my most carefully guarded secret, and I prefer that it be uncovered when and where I am squarely out of the picture.

Second, what I document here would be lost on my contemporaries—like serving water to aquatica. I have reason to believe that they would not be lost on you. Our respective place-times have enough contrast in form to create high relief, to pique your interest. And interest helps sustain attention, that essential ingredient for reflection. But please beware: there is nothing more seductive than form and phenomena. You will not be misled if you recall this as you read: however exotic or bizarre, all things described herein are mere ornaments of a culture that is, in essence, identical to your own. These talismanic words will ward off confusion.

As ethnographer in the City of Sonhe, I bear witness to the human experience there, of those beings known as the Sonhein2. Their reflection I beam back to you via this work, a mirror less distorted than most. Do not be distracted by my scholarly station in life; scholarship is not the driving force behind my work. If my writing helps clear but a modest few snares on a single reader’s path back to Love, it will have served its purpose.

Together let us cast off with this authorly prayer:

May strangeness capture interest,

May interest prompt reflection,

May reflection reveal distortions,

May light shine them away!

With tender care for my kin across time,

Anonymous (A. Nym)