When A Bad Dream Is A Good Dream
Celeste was in a hurry walking up the hilly street with its nearly completely decomposed asphalt. She was not wearing the right shoes to be walking on a street this bad. She was not wearing the right clothes to be walking in a neighborhood this bad, especially since her black evening gown was all droopy and misfit. She had to keep one hand on the front part of her dress so that she wouldn't step on it, again, as she trudged up the hill. The street lights seemed low as if on some kind of dimmer switch she had on her bedroom lights in her plush apartment 57 blocks to the north. She gave brief thought to the irony of having to walk so far south in order to get the chance to go back north. Funny the little thoughts that fly through the head when one is on a mission, another thought.
The hilly street seemed to have no end with its dilapidated buildings and poor conditioning. Her ankles were getting tired of having to hobble over holes and rocks of asphalt. It reminded her of the caliche roads she had walked a long time ago way down in Texas. Black caliche road with no barbed wire fences, but fences of worn out buildings with dated graffiti.
When she heard the voices she was looking down so that she could step carefully and observed her hand's grip on the dress in her periphery. When she looked up, she could see two men arguing. They looked as if they were on the verge of violence. Their collective energy was scary to Celeste. They were pretty far away and so busy with their dispute they weren't even close to noticing her. She thought that there was no way in hell she was going to try to walk past them in her condition on this night in this place. She would rather go through the alley even if it was full of a pack of dogs than to walk by those two men. But there was no alley, on either side of the street behind those crazy old buildings.
These men, they were dressed funny. Long robes, sandals, and big hair, like Bozo hair. No way was she going to walk by them. It was a trap of some kind she thought. The picture was too weird. She had come a long way to just give up and go back. There's no turning back she thought, at least she had more thoughts she thought.
Another noise was reaching her now, but she couldn't tell where it was coming from. For one thing she was not even paying attention to the noise. Quite the opposite in fact, she was trying to ignore the noise because she had plenty to concentrate on with maneuvering through the streets, not stepping on the front of her dress, and those awfully violent men. But the noise was winning over as it kept getting louder. She closed her eyes to think just one more time about filtering out that extra noise. But that was doing no good so she opened them again and found herself in another place and time. Now she was laying down in her nice bed in her plush apartment. At the moment she opened her eyes, Sonny's eyes were watching her, as if he had just opened his eyes too. Face to face he on his right side, she on her left, he smiled. She tried to smile, but it was forced and he knew it. Part of her was still back on that street, but more and more of her was now at home, waking to the new day.
"Sleep good?" he asked. "OK" she said with a trail that left it open for discussion. "Why don't you go back to sleep for a while, I'll get the coffee going and get ready while you catch another 40 winks or so". His voice was compassionate and understanding. She reached over his shoulder and pulled him toward her. "Yep, another 40 winks is what I need, but you're staying here withe me".
The hilly street seemed to have no end with its dilapidated buildings and poor conditioning. Her ankles were getting tired of having to hobble over holes and rocks of asphalt. It reminded her of the caliche roads she had walked a long time ago way down in Texas. Black caliche road with no barbed wire fences, but fences of worn out buildings with dated graffiti.
When she heard the voices she was looking down so that she could step carefully and observed her hand's grip on the dress in her periphery. When she looked up, she could see two men arguing. They looked as if they were on the verge of violence. Their collective energy was scary to Celeste. They were pretty far away and so busy with their dispute they weren't even close to noticing her. She thought that there was no way in hell she was going to try to walk past them in her condition on this night in this place. She would rather go through the alley even if it was full of a pack of dogs than to walk by those two men. But there was no alley, on either side of the street behind those crazy old buildings.
These men, they were dressed funny. Long robes, sandals, and big hair, like Bozo hair. No way was she going to walk by them. It was a trap of some kind she thought. The picture was too weird. She had come a long way to just give up and go back. There's no turning back she thought, at least she had more thoughts she thought.
Another noise was reaching her now, but she couldn't tell where it was coming from. For one thing she was not even paying attention to the noise. Quite the opposite in fact, she was trying to ignore the noise because she had plenty to concentrate on with maneuvering through the streets, not stepping on the front of her dress, and those awfully violent men. But the noise was winning over as it kept getting louder. She closed her eyes to think just one more time about filtering out that extra noise. But that was doing no good so she opened them again and found herself in another place and time. Now she was laying down in her nice bed in her plush apartment. At the moment she opened her eyes, Sonny's eyes were watching her, as if he had just opened his eyes too. Face to face he on his right side, she on her left, he smiled. She tried to smile, but it was forced and he knew it. Part of her was still back on that street, but more and more of her was now at home, waking to the new day.
"Sleep good?" he asked. "OK" she said with a trail that left it open for discussion. "Why don't you go back to sleep for a while, I'll get the coffee going and get ready while you catch another 40 winks or so". His voice was compassionate and understanding. She reached over his shoulder and pulled him toward her. "Yep, another 40 winks is what I need, but you're staying here withe me".
Comments