W
ell be with you, my
carbon-based com-
padres! Today I come
before you bearing a mystery.
An enigma if you will, a cog-
nitive conundrum that has so
far evaded my every attempt at
comprehension. I will share this
riddle in the hopes that doing so
may shed light on something that
is - quite literally as you will see
- sheathed in darkness.
themselves? Is 4:44 exigent, or
is it just the numeral 4 that has
significance? Perhaps the repe-
tition itself has a symbolism of
which I’m not yet cognizant. The
mind boggles at the implications.
The fate of the human race could
rest on my ability to discern the
meaning of this obscure twilight
communiqué!
Or... maybe not.
The human critter is, by its very
nature, hardwired for pattern
recognition. A casual examina-
tion of our seemingly random
world reveals a myriad collection
of patterns, many of them vital to
our daily lives. Getting to work
on time is the result of recogniz-
ing patterns in your daily com-
mute and responding to changes
in schedule and traffic. Diagnos-
ing an illness is often the
Every morning for the past three
weeks I have woken from the
deepest sleep at precisely 4:44
AM.
Ok, I grant you this may not be a
puzzle worthy of the Sphinx, nor
would it likely tax the grey cells
of the great detectives of history,
such as Sherlock Holmes, Hercu-
le Poirot or Nancy Drew. Howev-
er, these nocturnal interruptions
in the blessed suspension of my
consciousness represent a riddle
that weighs heavily on my mind.
Like Lewis Carroll’s famous
brainteaser in Alice’s Adventures
in Wonderland: “Why is a raven
like a writing desk?” the solu-
tion is unknown. This is in spite
of many attempts to solve it, for
example: “The notes for which
they are noted are not noted for
being musical notes,” as puzzle
enthusiast Sam Lloyd has... um...
noted.
What’s so important about 4:44
AM? Am I telling myself some-
thing? Is this a desperate mes-
sage from my future self, warning
me of an impending catastrophe
where alien invaders threaten
the human race with subjuga-
tion, death and reality shows like
“Celebrity Iron Talent Survivor
Chef?” And what of the numbers
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