Vivid Dream

 
Twin and I were sleeping at my mom’s house. The house I grew up in for the second half of my childhood was small, somewhat like a manufactured house. There was a small front yard with a painted, grey fence that mimicked a picket fence. There was a rock and dirt driveway next to that with room for 4 cars and the far edge was the neighbors decrepit fence and property line. Inside the house, you could sit on a couch that faced the front wall that was comprised of mostly windows. Luckily, dreams don’t often include smell, and so it was rewarding to lounge on these plush, soft perpendicular sofas pivoting around a wooden endtable.
No one else was there except for us and it was dark and stormy outside. Looking out the window I was watching the weather and it started to get a little windy. There is a larger building across the street that seems to be doing just fine in the elements. There are some lights on, mostly for security since this building is largely vacant 6 out of 7 days of the week. Then the scene changed. There was a huge gust that lasted a minute or two. The building that seemed to be unaffected by the weather suddenly reacted with flickering lights and nearby trees reaching toward the ground to shed the strong wind. The window keeping Twin and I dry and the inside air still were also energized. The windows buffeted, vibrated to dissipate the burst of air. I thought about the one huge window to my left in the dining room area. As I was turning my head to look the scene outside returned to relative passivity. I said to Twin, “Wow… we may not have to go to work today. We may lose power. That was like a microburst or something and I’ve never seen one of those.”
Fast forward an un-described amount of time and our families and friends of family were gathered for a picnic type event. There were some others that weren’t affiliated with our picnic at all. There were picnic tables arranged in a grid underneath a pretty tall structure that served as shelter. The triangular roof was supported by just 4 columns that were also tapered as they rose to meet the roofing. In the edge row of tables there were a few empty tables. Then there was a table seating people affiliated with my family, and at the last table in the row behind them was Twin’s parents and friends. Although the adjacent set of tables was occupied, the population was sparse and not many people I recognized.
The shelter of course was in a bigger space that was a public park. It was along the edge of the park which an airstrip was located a ways away on the other side of a fence. The environment in general was a pretty wide open area like a plain or prairie filled with fresh green grass and a small number of leafy deciduous trees. It was again a windy day, but it was warm and cloudy. None of the guests felt the need to wear a jacket. If anything, it was nice to not have to wear sunblock or sweat profusely underneath a relentless sun
Small planes were taking off from the airstrip just over the fence and doing some tricks and coming back in despite the wind. It was good theater and I was standing out in a field just out from the picnic shelter. The clouds were becoming increasingly dark and the wind was gradually picking up. I was out there with some people, I think LG and I just letting time pass by and playing with the breeze. I was engrossed by this last plane… or the last one I thought should land because it seemed to be struggling in the wind quite a bit. It kept moving to my right and lifting up just to be pushed back and leveling out to maintain engine speed. It was getting really close to being directly overhead and still struggling. The plane lost the battle. The engine stopped and the plane started falling back to earth. I thought the plane was starting to come at me and so I ran to me right (yes, not like typical movies where they always seem to run away the long way) a small number of quick strides. I was probably 100 yards or so from the shelter area. Looking back at the plane I judged the trajectory and it seemed to be going directly at the picnic shelter. No one seemed to be aware of what was going on until it was just about to hit.
The worst possible thing happens and the plane crashes into the picnic shelter that was occupied by some. The plane rips off the roofing in the direction it was travelling and it all comes to rest just beyond the cement foundation. I began to run at the shelter upon judging the path of travel a second time and now I’m in the area of devastation. I take leadership and start asking people, “Has anyone called 911!?!” Most of the picnickers are standing in a semi-circle around the rubble. There are some that step in and help get people into a clear area of grass. Someone responds to my question by tossing me a Blackberry phone saying “I’ll let you make the call with my phone.” I had a thought, “Do you seriously not think I have a cell phone?” I pull out my phone and start trying to call and my phone is malfunctioning.

In surveying the scene further the brunt of the impact was taken by the table with my family. With just a couple of people lying in the area one of them gets up and is helped off – my sister. The one person left is my mom. This is when someone asks me if she should be moved. I said “No. I don’t think we should do that because we might do more damage.” I was just thinking that Paramedics would be coming soon and they’re better trained to do that.

 

I think I have these sorts of vivid family dreams this time of year – Spring being a time of change and renewal. I wasn’t having an emotional reaction to my mom’s death as I think there were murmurs about in the dream. I just wanted to create order in chaos as most people panic and don’t think.

Twin did prompt though that I should consider how things might play out if my mom passes away sometime soon. I don’t participate like a typical son and don’t want to participate in that capacity either. I have said that my mom considers me the best person to be her medical proxy and carry out her last wishes… but I’m not in a positionto do that. Its something to think about and contemplate another day.