Advent Dream #3
I was at some fancy party. Everybody, including me, was wearing a tuxedo or a black dress (depending on gender). There were dozens of waiters with white gloves carrying around trays of drinks with olives in them. The lighting was warm, yet very dim.
I had a tough time trying to explore the house in which the party was taking place, for people were packed shoulder to shoulder, though nobody (except me) seemed to mind. Men were grinning, raising their eyebrows; women were laughing, leaning back without shame.
Across the room I was stuck in, I saw a great window with a beautiful view of the garden at night. There were mason jar lanterns lighting the shrubs and the flowers, and I desired to find a way through the crowds to get a better look.
I got down on my hands and knees and, without bothering a single man or woman, I wormed my way through legs, under chairs, over decorative rugs, and around couches until I arrived at the window.
I stood up and brushed myself off and placed my hand upon the glass. To my surprise, the glass panel I had rested my weight upon spun on a horizontal axis, revealing a somewhat secret passage into the garden. I crawled through the window.
Once in the garden, I strolled about at a slow pace and examined the flowers. Due to the dimness of the lighting, the colors were quite desaturated, but I didn't mind.
Soon enough I stumbled upon a golf cart with a powerful-looking engine in the back.
I sat down in the drivers seat and started it up by turning the key that was already in position. When the engine roared, my brother (Mike Baughman), my cousin (Mandy McSherry), and a complete stranger (a male) ran up to the cart and hopped on. Mandy sat in the front seat, and the guys sat in the back. I slammed my foot on the gas pedal and we took off at a frightening speed.
I zoomed out of the garden and into Prairie Camp, where a ton of young kids were walking about in lines carrying candles and glow sticks and singing cheerful songs. I swerved to avoid them as I made my way about the camp.
When I neared the basketball courts, I was trapped by two lines of kids on either side of me and a large cement parking block that I was rapidly approaching.
For some reason, instead of slamming on the breaks, I pushed the gas even harder, thinking that I would just ramp over the block with little damage done. I was quite wrong.
The cart shot high into the air, flipping three times. We landed in the grass next to the concrete courts, and the cart rolled at least 30 feet away from us. I got up quickly to see if my comrades were alright.
They weren't. Mandy had broken an arm and a leg, the guy was unconscious, and Mike, though unharmed, was terribly angry with me (and understandably so). Instead of tending to the wounds, I ran away, into the nearby gymnasium.
There a group of about 50 kids were running around the gym, screaming with the joy of life. Carrie Badertscher (the former Prairie Camp director) approached me and asked me if I could get all of the kids to settle down and clean up the gym. I immediately thought of a motivator.
I ran into the kitchen in the gym (which hasn't been used as a kitchen for years) and grabbed an enormous and intricate popsicle. It had three sticks, was covered in sprinkles, chocolate, and caramel, and had ice cream inside. I instructed the kids to circle around me and I told them that they would all receive such a popsicle if they were to excitedly and joyfully clean up the entire gym. There was one young boy who kept jumping up and down in front of me, shouting about how much he loved gym-cleaning and that he deserved a popsicle.
Then I awoke.
No comments:
Post a Comment