Was All A Dream
One eye first then the
other one … stuck a bit…hand up for a little help. Still too blurry…
“What time is it? I can’t
remember falling asleep. C’mon I was
………?”
Close eyes. Rub them. Reopen them… focusing on …well worn red
“What the fuck…!?”
Stay running straight. Look over shoulder… there, light could be
aircraft landing…too high for train…wind sounding more like rocket launch
…lowering register rapidly. Wait… light source moving too much to be far
away…must be very close, standing still… getting larger …ten, twelve foot
diameter ball… tiny black dot in center.
Stop running. Dot enlarging
rapidly… inner ear pain!…cover ears…no wind…open mouth…vibrations … inner chest
cavity moving!…drop to knees…don’t remove hands…sphere stopped growing …center
dot still expanding…ground shaking…spikes forming on edge of sphere…
iridescence, rainbow…can’t run, close eyes, scream…
“Fauuuuck!
Pop! Like a bottle opening. Silence. Open eyes. Mexican man, yellow
hat…construction … …forties, mustache… blue uniform, jumpsuit…light remains
around him, floating in the center of the sphere. Blue Man talking English, ”
“What…the… fuck?”
Blue Man, “
“I’m not buying this crap for a second. This is a dream sequence. I don’t think I’ve actually been here but I
know I’ve seen those bricks before and those granite mantels over the windows
and all this drama and energy and ball of light!?. This is a dream sequence from a movie or
something.”
Blue Man, “Roll along…” …rolling towards door opening…wood, oak,
carved archway…no people
“I’m not breathing hard and my heart’s not pounding at all,
either! This is a fucking dream.”
Pain in stomach area…falling…appear to be moving towards Blue
Man…tickle, laugh….slow down…
Blue Man, “Roll A Long..”
Stomach pulling…Blue Man pulling…moving with him through door
opening…green tile floor, Puabic…small place, lobby…oak-trimmed cashier’s
window with wrought iron screen…no people… Two home-type chairs, wings…coffee
table…stop
“I know all these things.
I saw this very green tile at the Puabic showroom last year and I had
those exact chairs when I lived in
“As you like it.”
Moving around corner into hallway…French doors …sign,
Receiving…Old English font…not sign, letters on shades pulled down behind glass
windows in doors…moving with him…doors opening…
“This is the hallway from the Prieh’s department store in the
town where I grew up…
Bright lights. Columns … search lights, no…columns of light…like
the inside of a Cathedral…can’t see ceiling…columns rise straight up and appear
to converge high above, miles up…like rays flowing from the sun into
the…hundreds, thousands of columns approximately 6 feet apart from each other,
ending here… many different sounds, cacophony … ends of columns do not reach
floor…clean cut at base about eight feet above floor, floating just above the
head of a… person…woman… standing under the closest one… wearing Egyptian
headdress and tunic… eyes are closed and she’s crying…arms relaxed at sides…
“Her I don’t know. Nice
tits, though. Looks like Aphrodite.”
Aphrodite talks, “Please…Please, now, take me now Lord. I’m
tired and so lonely…” … shift focus to adjacent column…younger man in same
dress, eyes closed, is screaming…
Blue Man talking, “Receiving. Petitions of God.”
Behind Aphrodite…older
man under another column talking, ”I don’t know for sure if you’re there or not
but I believe you are, I want to believe you are because I need help”…Row upon
row of different people...thousands of them… standing under the columns of
light…some are leaving and others take their place underneath…all people
underneath all dress the same and eyes are closed and they are talking or
moaning or crying or screaming…when they stop … they walk away and another
takes their place
“Prayers…receiving prayers.
Aphrodite is receiving someone’s prayer...they all are.”
Blue Man talking, “Prayers. Petitions of God. Picked up by
Mediators.”
Blue Man pulls and moves across rows …different languages being
spoken now… French … something oriental…unknown…unknown…English, “please be
with him on his way to school…”
“Receiving prayers from people. Lots of people”
Blue Man, “Receiving prayers. Petitions of God. Each one picked
up by Mediator. You see as you like it.”
Estimate ten thousand Mediators in line of sight…columns and
Mediators appear to continue off, forever…
Blue Man, “Mediator receives Petition of God to make Manifest.”
“Prayers come in here.
The Mediators “receive” them through these…tubes. And then they go…”
Blue Man, “Manifestation of Petitions of God.” Pulling…turning
behind…brick wall with archway, Doric posts on either side supporting Greek
mantle… “Manifestation” in Romanesque
font carved into mantle…can not see end of line of Mediators walking through
archway.
Blue Man, “Petitions of God must be made manifest…”
Through archway. Blue Man is pointing left. Much lower light…quietness like a
library…library smells…no book shelves, rows of cubicles…cubicles with three
sides and top…one Mediator at the center of most…
Blue man, “…Manifestation.”
Some are kneeling some are lying down some are dancing…one
nearer raising arms over head … glow of light appears between hands…another farther
down is doing the same…very low frequency sound …Mediator squeezing ball of
light, making it compress…center of ball condenses, turning darker…and
darker…sound rising as ball darkens…Hands press harder… dark area turns into
black dot surrounded by a halo of light…sound is rising to hiss. Mediator’s
face showing stress, body appears to be straining to press the sphere… black
center is imploding….smaller, smaller in size…higher and higher frequency of
sound… Mediator’s hands slap together
open palmed, as in prayer. No sound.
Hands together lowering down in front of his heart, exhausted…bowing
head… walking slowly from inside cubicle
Blue Man, “Manifestation … petitions made manifest. Just in time”…
“Just in time?... from my car days. Parts manufacturers were forced into “just In
Time” system where they made all the parts and the car company would demand
that they arrive in small quantities…for only one day of production. So, everyday the parts would arrive for that
days production. Then again tomorrow and
tomorrow and tomorrow…””
Blue Man, “No waiting. No
inventories. Manifestation just in time.”
He’s pulling again.
Moving across row upon row of Manifestation cubes…estimate acres of
them…flashes of light when the little spheres disappear look like lighting off
in the distance…but no thunder follows, only a constant drone like a diesel
train engine at idle.
“Prayers in.. Answers out. Just in time.”
Blue Man, “Receiving. Petitions of God. Mediators receive and make manifest petitions
of God…just in time. As you like it.”
Turning…moving down one of the isles…towards doorway in distance
.. small red and white “exit” sign over
it.
“As you like it…is …Shakespeare?”
Blue Man stopping, turning and looking this direction
for first time, “Bricks, well worn red
Moving again, approaching exit door.
“As you like it…? Like
what…?”
Blue Man, “Receiving.
Manifestation. All known but now you see it as you like it.”
Exit door … grey steel with an emergency push latch with an
alarm warning printed on it.
Blue Man, “Everyone knows but see as they like it.”
“It’s my dream, right? So
I’m seeing bits and pieces from my memory.”
Blue Man, “As you like it you will see it.”
Blue Man rolling into door…disappears through door. Full stop.
Alone. Move legs. Nothing.
Wave arms around. Nothing. Say something.
“Shit. Hey! Blue Man!!”
Open door! Focus on
stomach … rolling a bit closer. More
stomach!…a little closer…at door but bouncing off it like a bubble. Raise and look at hands…
“Fuck.”
Hands and wrists disappear as focus increases on them. Look at door lever. Hands reappear. Look at hands…they disappear. Look at door lever...they reappear.
“Holy shit.”
Keep looking at door lever … lift hands towards it … don’t look
at hands… Warning label reads, “Fire exit door! Alarm will sound when activated!’
Push lever…no sound…door moving. It’s
snowing outside. Look left…right…no Blue
Man. Cold. Little town street. Shops.
Looks like Christmas…colored lights blinking in windows. No people.
“Santafucking Clause?!”
Red Man talking, “Merry
Christmas!
Iron tripod with little hook to hang small grey pail. Hand-made
sign taped over pail reads, “Acknowledgments”. Nothing in pail.
Red Man addressing no one in particular, “Acknowledge your
blessings. ‘Tis the season. Merry
Christmas!”
Red cap. White beard.
Older Gentleman. Eye twinkle.
“Santa Clause…acknowledgements…”
Red Man, “Never too late to appreciate. See what you’ve got and give Thanks a lot!”
“…Empty pail."
Pain! Chest/heart area. Pain!
Red Man, “Never too late…just appreciate…”
“Wake up!”
Pain! Pain moving down to solar plexus…
“Wake fucking up!!”
Sound…air craft engine…coming closer..look around for source.
Clear sky…volume increasing rapidly….
“I’m dreaming so just …waaaaaaake uuuuup!”
Run! Where is it?! Sound is too close! Raise arms and slap…shaking…disorientation……open
eyes...fan motor, close …one first then the other one … window fan…stuck a
bit…hand up for a little help. Still too blurry…
“Run…what?...”
Close eyes. Rub them. Reopen them… focusing on clock next to
bed…”
“Shit.”
The e-mail from last night.
Pick it up. Sit up…back twinge…
“Ahh.”
Reading, “If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your
back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep ... you are richer than 75% of this
world.
“What the fuck…”
“Right.”
Stand up. Walk to
window…snowing outside. Look down to
street. Lift paper. Read: "If you have never experienced the fear in
battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation
... you are ahead of 700 million people in the world.
Faint ringing…look for source.
Nothing left..across street. On
corner…
"If you can attend a church, masjid or temple meeting
without fear of harassment, arrest, torture or death ... you are
envied by, and more blessed than, three billion people in the world.
…Man in Santa suit ringing bell…
"If your parents are still alive and still married. You are
very rare.
…Small pail next to him…
If you can hold your head up and smile, you are not the
norm, you are unique to all those in doubt and despair."
…fall on knees. Weeping.