Lost

There are alligators lurking beneath bridges that leap into meadows that hold a time in the past when people road in horse-drawn carriages. I am lost and frightened. My cellular phone does not exist, so I cannot tell you that I am hungry and cold. I cannot explain to you how luminescent the grass and flowers are here. I have fallen in love with the past and lost my way. Death awaits me. It lingers in muddy waters with the cloying sweet breath of honeysuckle. I look up at the sky and hope that you are looking up at the same time thinking of me beyond the aftermath of a well-planned party.

I feel damp. I wish I could hold your hand and walk down this dirty path with less fear. If you were here I would not be frightened. I would already be home in the palm of your warm hand. I would be safe.

It's closer now: the dark green scales hover inches above the water and I must cross the bridge on tip-toe. I must divide time in half and hope that it does not swallow me with large sharp teeth and whipping speed. The dew on the grass freezes and I can hear my mother humming lullabies in the distance. The sweet tunes calm me like chamomile. I trip and fall into the icy water and wonder if this is the moment when the world collapses in on me. Every sound ceases to exist and darkness holds me in a chilly embrace.

I struggle free and the sun points daggers of light in my eyes. I look down at my path and it is dry. It winds up to the home I left hours ago seeking an adventure that would change me just as much as it would help me to remain the same. I am on my way. I will be there soon.

It's Catching

I am learning that the more people who discuss their dreams the more dreams people around them remember. Case in point: my boyfriend Anthony seems to be recalling his dreams more vividly and frequently since I started sharing mine. The trick is to wake up and immediately talk about them.

I hope he doesn't mind me retelling his dream last night...

He said we were out at the movies and I got up to go to the bathroom and never returned. He searched for me in the theater and then in a mall. He was really worried about me and finally when he almost felt like giving up he came to my apartment and found me curled up in my bed. When he asked me why I didn't come back to my seat I nonchalantly said, "I felt like coming home."

I didn't get a chance to tell him my dream last night...

I dreamt that we had plans without each other one night. I was out by myself walking the streets for a good restaurant when I bumped into a crowd of people I had not seen in a long time. I sat down at their table to chat with them when all of a sudden Anthony walked into the restaurant and glared at me. He thought that I had made plans without him on purpose, so I could hang out with a bunch of people he didn't know. He got suspicious for no reason and blew up at me. I ran after him, but each time I would get close enough to explain how innocent the encounter was he would fly into a rage and leave me. Finally, my perseverence paid off because Anthony returned on his own accord and he fell into my arms sobbing and confessing, "I don't ever want to lose you".

Are these dreams a coincidence or very telling of our attachment to one another? It is something to think about...