Dreams

Posted on April 23, 2006 in Dreams

Dreams come in fragments, bits of cracked coconut shell held together by frayed fibers:

1. The first dream of the other night that I can remember has me destitute because those who support me have left. How will I survive until the end of the summer? I go looking for a job in a restaurant. Can’t decide what position to ask for. I don’t think I can make it as a waiter yet, bringing good stuff to tables and being kind to the babies. Perhaps a dishwasher? I leave the restaurant before I ask for a job. I go to a cafeteria to get something to eat. I get in line behind a whole party of Russians, member of a large Slavonic tribe who keep cutting in front of me, daring me with their eyes to call them on their rudeness. I finally get up to order. This might be the other job I want, I think. I order some fried spaghetti, but think about the job. The server prepares and dishes my order into a bowl that a Russian picks up, but that’s OK because there’s another bowl of fried spaghetti balls covered with gravy. As I pick it up, however, the server apologizes and tells me that it is his.

2. There’s a fire sweeping through the town. I leave the cafeteria and drive toward the fire. I park my car along a street. By means that I do not recall, I turn the car into an orange envelope about the size of a compact disc and walk towards the fire, joining a crowd of people who watch it engulf a hospital where my aunt has a room. They’ve evacuated her. The conflagration, I guess, is much bigger than the hospital. It is as if the whole world is going up. I turn back, pass a family who is going to see the calamity. I point to the flames darting up. Cool, they say.

I discover that an Asian thief has picked up my CD. I stop him, use my height to intimate him into putting the CD back down on the pavement and into giving me his ID card. I remove a gold ring mounted in the center of the card, tell him we’re going to the police. There are plenty of cops around the hospital. I’m going to let him explain what he did. As we approach the hospital, I look for squad cars. He suddenly breaks out in a run. I chase after him, then remember that I have the ring.