Arabian Night

Dream last night: here’s what’s left in memory. I was in desert terrain, war terrain. There was a feeling, however, that this terrain was not current in the midst of the violence and evils of war, but rather long afterward; nevertheless, a violent, evil energy hung over the place. I was at a park in this desert. I was at the edge of the park. I was supposed to meet Melissa and Kate for dinner. They were about to leave for some other place. There was the sense that I was going, too, but the fact was that I wasn’t going. I waited at the park and ended up at a family Italian restaurant and ate alone, then went to my aunt and uncle’s house to check on things. Later Melissa, Kate, and I found each other. They had decided to go to the Olive Garden, which I thought was weird since we’d decided to meet up for dinner before they left. Then things became more fast-paced…

I was a family. I was each the husband, the wife, and the son. I had about 70% of the consciousness of the wife, about 40% of the husband, and about 10% of the son. We had been running from evil forces: black evil forces, not the evildoers that Bush speaks of. This was sinister. We were chased to the roof of a boxy adobe structure. There were faceless people wearing tan military-wear and dark black guns. We saw a way down: slip down off the top of the roof, down in between two metal fences, under a piece of wood supporting one of the fences, which was two inches above the ground, and behind the fence. The plan was to be in between one of the fences and the adobe wall, closed in. This was considered a way out. The wife saw this and slipped down. It was tight, but she made it. The son slipped down. It was easy for him; he was small. Then the husband slipped down. Anxiety built. The enemy had caught on. Whew! The husband barely made it under that piece of wood; he was bigger than the wife and son.

Still in the evil desert, I was with Melissa and Kate. There was a fair of some kind going on in the town center; in the air was the feeling of needing to escape from the enemy continued. We weren’t having fun at this fair. We were being forced to participate in games. This was our ticket out. One of the games struck similar to Candy Land. Finally we were sitting at picnic tables with 15 or so other people. Kate looked to her left. Spotting a sign for discounted margaritas, she said, "Enough of this. I want a margarita" and laughed in a way that said she might not really go. I looked and saw the sign and said, "Yeah, let’s go. I want a margarita." Melissa didn’t seem interested. It was, after all, risky. Then there was beeping, and I began looking around to see whose digital camera was signaling that its battery was dying.

I woke up. My cell phone was signaling that its battery was dying. Damn thing. I’d charged it a bit in the car on my way home from work.