On the edge of the trail sat a fat, five-foot long alligator. My eyes widened and I glanced at it again with my headlamp to reveal rocks and sticks. Of course there was no alligator, I was running down a mountain in western Virginia and it was below 50-degrees outside.

“Terry, I’m hallucinating,” I said.

“What?” he replied without breaking stride.

“I just saw an alligator on the side of the trail.”

“Well, at least you know it was a hallucination,” he chuckled.

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