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| Ah yes, it's spring time. The season of love, the season of irony.
I totally forgot how, but I was somewhere and I bumped into this girl I
haven't seen in 7 years or so. Now, this girl...I don't quite
know how to describe her. But let's just say that I have forever
classified her in my mind as "out of my league without divine
intervention." So when we actually started talking, I have to
admit...I could only accept it as a blessing from God.
The day progressed as I was living this dream within my dream. We
spent the whole day together and hit it off really well. God was
in a particularly generous mood, I suppose. Either that or He was
working His butt off with this whole "divine intervention" thing.
Or He was teaching me a lesson.
We were chilling out at the beach, and we bump into this other girl I
know. It turns out that they're close friends (!!! Why didn't she
introduce me to her earlier?!?!?!) and they start chatting up a
storm. I listen in for a bit, thinking that it'll just be a short
conversation, but nooooo! They go on and on and on. I try
to interject with a question or a comment here and there, trying to
inch my way into inclusion, but they don't budge. So instead, I'm
just left there to do nothing. I decide to eavesdrop a bit, and
apparently divine-intervention girl is talking about her current
boyfriend and how he's a bit of a jerk, but she's deciding to wait it
out to see if he changes. To make matters worse, the girl that I
know is encouraging her to do so.
So quickly do dreams become nightmares. The only solution is to wake up.
I suppose you could say this is my most recent encounter with divine
intervention. But what was/were the lesson(s) that God was trying
to teach to me? I'm not too sure, but in my frustration, here is
a proposed list:
1) No girl is perfect, so divine intervention is never necessary.
2) Girls never introduce their guy friends to their other girl friends. [ah, and there's so many sub-theories following this...]
3) Would-be dreams are only two degrees away.
4) Would-be nightmares are also two degrees away.
5) My dreams will always be just that: dreams.
6) The good/bad thing about dreams is that reality could be totally different.
I apparently have a lot to learn.
| | |
| There we were, the last 49 troops, plus our general. Our side had
taken great losses, and we all knew that there was no chance of us
winning this battle. The question running through all our minds
was whether we would lose and be alive, or lose and be dead. Just
shortly before, we were all talking a big game. Everyone, from
the toughest guy in our troop to the 18 year old whose only battle
experience came from some cheap first-person-shooter computer
game. "I could take them all on by myself!" "Let's see them
try to come after me!" "I'll shoot 'em all down, one by one, even
if it's the last thing I do!" For a lot of us, and possibly all
of us, this was the last thing we would do. We all didn't want to
die, but even if we retreated, the opposing army was just too great
that they would shoot us down even faster if we didn't provide at least
some resistance.
The battlefield wasn't quite to our advantage either. Our only
cover was a long stretch of tall grass, with a few mounds and the
occasional rock the size of those workout balls that has become so
popular in the gym. Really, our best cover came during the battle
itself. All the smoke and dirt that was kicked up ruined
visibility. And with only 49 of us left, we could practically
shoot anything that moved and chances are, it'd be the enemy.
Currently, we were a safe distance away from the battle. They
were on our tails though, and we expected the first of the opposition
to arrive in ~20 minutes. The general decided to line us up into
7 rows of 7 soldiers. He would then send us in, row by row, to
hopefully slow the opposition down.
I was in the second row.
The first seven were sent in. Gunfire ensued within
minutes. We were all there, crouched down, tremblingly waiting
for our turn. Some of us were praying. The guy next to me
was trying to psych himself up. Others appeared as if they had
already lost their soul. In what could be my last moment to
myself, I deluded myself with thoughts of a better future that I would
miss if I were to die.
Seconds later, three of our troops emerged from the tall grass
providing our only cover. "Fall back! Fall back!
They're chasing us faster than we expected!" We all started
running. I never ran so fast in my life. It's odd how the
anticipated arrival of death brings out the superhuman within
you. I looked back to see how far away the enemy was, and to see
if our three troops had caught up with us. They didn't.
They were already dead, and the enemy was only about 50 yards away.
The majority of the enemy troops were firing into the grass.
Apparently some of the original 7 were still firing back. I guess
they thought there were more than just 7 of us. Our plan worked,
but they had crept up on us too fast for us to execute our plan to
completion. Some enemy troops saw us running and starting chasing
after us.
The enemy was fast. At the rate at which they were chasing us,
there would be no way for us to create enough room between us to do
anything at all, unless we provided some sort of opposition. I
looked at the guy next to me, who was also looking back to see the
enemy. I could tell that he felt the same way too. At this
rate, we were all going to die. With a simple head nod, we both
turned the corner and took cover behind a rock and started firing at
the enemy. We shot one of them right as he was about to throw a
gernade. Boom! Massive explosion and smoke
everywhere. "Awesome," I thought. Now we could hide behind
the smoke too.
The smoke definitely protected us. The enemy never saw us
shooting, and they were too focused on the original 7 sent in to
realize that they were being shot in the back. Some of them even
backed off a bit, thinking that the opposition was getting
closer. And there we were, just two of us firing at them from the
back, strategically shooting down targets so that people would think
that it was coming from in front of them, not behind them.
Just then, two enemy soldiers took cover behind the same rock where we
were at. What I saw made me more sad than scared: it was two
kids, probably no more than 12 years old. There they were,
carrying guns half the size of their body. The smoke was too
thick and our faces were covered in too much soot for them to realize
that we were their enemy.
They may have been naive, but they weren't idiots. If they saw us
shooting their troops, we would die instantaneously. Recognizing
that we were obviously older, they looked to us for direction. "I
can't see them," one of them exclaimed. "Can you see? Where
should we fire?" I aimlessly pointed in all sorts of directions,
doing what I can to distract them while my teammate fired at the
enemy. "Ooo look! I think I saw one there," I would tell
them. "And there!" Their aim was obviously rusty.
They probably never shot a gun before this in their life. Heck,
they would probably suck even at playing Duck Hunt on Nintendo.
But it kept them distracted, and if ever the enemy heard gunfire behind
them, they would see the two kids and realize that it was coming from
their own troops. At the moment, we were golden.
Minutes later, the gunfire stopped. I assumed that all seven
troops were now dead. The enemy started heading toward us, now on
its way to chase the rest of the troops. They passed right by us,
thinking that we were on their team as well. Me, my teammate, and
the two enemy kids...we just watched as they passed us by, until there
was nobody left except for us four. I couldn't believe it, but we
were alive.
It was only us now. What were we suppose to do now? The
kids obviously expected us to go with the rest of the enemy troops, but
we knew we would be discovered eventually. But the kids'
confusion grew, and if we didn't act soon, we would be discovered
now. I looked at my partner, and we were both struggling with the
same idea: do we take this kids out and make a run for it? After
all, they are the enemy, but then again, they are also just kids.
"Look! It's the general," pointed out one of the kids. We
were saved from the scrutiny of two 12 year old kids, but now we were
going to be scrutinized by the biggest man in the opposing army.
Just then, a man emerged from the tall grass, completely unscathed from
any sort of combat. He was accompanied by two men, carrying guns
the size of rocket launchers. All three rode atop horses.
The two kids were excited. My teammate and I, we were both
motionless. I don't care how much dirt was on our faces...there
was no way we could fool the general. The general glared at us,
and we stood motionless. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't
seem to aim my gun and shoot down the general. I was completely
frozen, and so was my teammate.
The general rode up to us, and stopped right in front of us. He
had a Mona Lisa smile on his face. He was obviously happy that
the kids were alive, but did he recognize us? Did he know were
were his enemy? He then extended his hand towards us. He
shook our hands and gave us a little nod. I'm not sure what it
meant. The tension was so sharp it could've killed us all.
Part of me believes that he knew who we were, but a part of me also
believes that he didn't want to believe he knew who we were.
Unfortuntely, I'll never know. He rode off, and the two kids
stumbled after him. We survived...by the hands of luck, by the
hands of God, by the hands of mercy...I can't say for sure. But
at this time, it didn't really matter.
| | |
| I had this really odd dream last night. I was in a car with two
other people, driving the streets along the coastline. We were
lost, and I was in the back seat looking through every which window to
figure out where we were. Not only was the sky dark, but the air
was dark too. It's as if fear itself crept up on us from the
outside. I guess this is what happens when it's pushing 3am.
We were at a three-way intersection; both roads on our left and right
went at a steep uphill. We stopped there, idle, trying to figure
out which road to take. I thought I heard some rustling, so I
turn to my left, only to see a person run along the balcony of their
three-story house and jump off the edge onto the middle of the
road. A loud "thud" rang in my ears as the person belly-flopped
on the concrete. Holy crap I was freaked out! Did this
person just commit suicide? What an odd time to do such a thing
(although there really is never a right time to do it either).
Was this person running away from something?
We pulled up to see what exactly happened. Seconds after our
headlights revealed the body, it broke out into a seizure and
frightened us all. We couldn't even call 911 because we were so
jittery. I looked back at the house, scared to death about what
actually happened in there.
The scariest part of this whole ordeal, however, is that I knew this
was all a dream. I knew it wasn't real. I knew that I was
sleeping and this was all happening in my head. But even when I
had full control over this artificial universe in my mind, I still
couldn't prevent something bad from happening.
...I'm not so sure what that means.
| | |
| Disaster...3 times.
I was catching my breath from running around the city at night. I
don't know which city exactly, but it's what I would imagine Chicago or
New York to be like. It felt like it was 3am, when night is at
its darkest and the streets echo my lonliness. I had paused at a
5-way intersection to see the dilemma of my situation: every building
around me was on fire. It was a little strange though...it seemed
as though each fire was started separately from within each
building. I continued to run around the streets, searching for
everyone I cared about -- family, friends, relatives -- and began
screaming out their names individually. For some reason, I sensed
that each person I have ever known was in each building. I ran
into each one, and sure enough I found someone I knew in there, oddly
seated in the midst of flames and calm. I carried everyone I came
across out of the fire. I must've done this for dozens and dozens
of people, but I don't remember who exactly. I began to feel
really tired, and the number of burning buildings began to seem
overwhelming. I was in another intersection and I gazed all
around me. Hmmm...that's odd. None of the buildings were
buring more than they have been from the beginning. It's as if
none of the fires ever grew, but they still kept burning. I
looked around to see where everyone I had rescued had gone.
Unfortunately, they seem to have all disappeared...what was going on?
I woke up. That was disaster #1.
It was late in the afternoon and the sun was pretty much gone. It
didn't matter because it was gloomy anyway, and the clouds indicated
that rain was coming our way. I was walking uphill along a street
with Evan and some girl whom we knew, but I oddly don't recall her as
someone I've actually met in real life. The sprinkle started to
come, and then the rain started to pour. Evan walked in front of
the group, completely unaffected by the rain. He was wearing
shorts and flip-flops, and he didn't seem to be bothered that his
backpack (and any possible assortment of electronics that typically
accompany him) was getting soaked. I thought we were going to go
back home, but Evan was leading us elsewhere. I indicated that we
were going the wrong way, but he retorted that going home wasn't the
smartest idea. I looked behind me and I could see why: the world
was starting to flood! Evan was leading us to some giant building
on the top of some hill. I looked more closely and I could see
multitudes of people heading toward the same building. The water
started rising faster, so we picked up the pace. We effortlessly
escape the rising waters and reach the base of the giant building, but
with this many people heading toward higher ground, getting in the
building was the bigger problem. Everyone was funneling into
every possible entrance to that building, from using the doors, to
climbing into windows, and even scaling the walls. Everybody was
calm and orderly though, and people waited their turn. A cop lead
two girls in front of me toward some side entrance, and so I followed
too thinking that the cop knew of some secret path. We entered
the building, but midway through I snuck into another pathway and
headed upstairs. I reached the top floor of the building which
was extravagantly decorated. Soft relaxing music was playing at
the alcoholic bar, while various people were chatting or even getting a
massage at one of the massage tables. I felt I was in the most
elite of crowds, but none were alarmed by my intrusion. I peeked
over one of the interior balconies to look at the floor directly below
and I saw a huge swarm of people. I scan the crowd to look for
anyone I knew. I called my sister to see where my family was
at. Apparently they were safe in the building too, but our
connection broke before I could get the details of their
location. I began to panic because I felt like I would never find
them in such a crowd of people. I ran downstairs, and at that
moment, everyone seemed to panic as well. People started to
flurry around as if the building was on fire. Searching for
people just got tougher. I rounded down more stairs and spotted
the girl that we were with. Holy crap...she was hot. Funny
how I didn't notice before. Even funnier is the fact that Dave
popped out of nowhere and commented on how hot that girl was.
Dave and I have different tastes for that sort of thing, but if we both
agree that a girl is hot, it's safe to assume that the whole world
thinks so too. Before I knew it, Dave was gone. So I ran up
to that girl because she was the only person I knew. She saw me
coming and it was comforting to see a familiar face again. I
guess Evan got lost. We walked off the main pathway to see if we
could spot Evan or anyone else we knew, but then some fat dorky guy
with curly red hair dressed in a business suit came up to us. I
thought to myself, "What does this loser want?" Apparently, he
wanted my friend's number! What the heck?! In the midst of
all this commotion, he has the audacity to hit on this girl. She
wasn't too keen to the idea either, but the punk handed her his
business card. ?!?! He worked for the same company I did
AND he was a PhD. How did that happen? He looked like an
idiot and he couldn't have been older than 18. Geez, that got me
all frustrated.
I woke up. I struggled for the next few moments to remember that
dude's name on his card. Joe Gibbs? Joel Gibbs?
Something like that. I googled it out of curiosity. No such
luck. Anyhow, that was disaster #2.
I was involved in some sort of organization or group, and apparently I
was appointed to lead the meeting that day. There must've been
about 100+ people. I felt like I was about to give a lecture or
something. We were outdoors on a grassy field though, so I'm sure
it was something informal. On my way to the front to address the
audience, this girl whom I'm interested in interrupts me. We
start talking briefly, but something was a little off. I ask her
what's wrong, and then she proceeds to tell me that she's seeing some
guy. Ouch. Then she apologizes to me for keeping me on the
string the whole time, even though she was already in a
relationship. Double ouch. I was infuriated and I felt a
fire swell up inside of me. We started arguing. Our voices
escalated, but before anything could be resolved, I walked off because
I had a meeting to attend to. I looked back and she had this look
of guilt/confusion/sadness/anger. I shook my head at her and
continued walking. I then started the meeting, and everything was
fine.
I woke up. Disaster #3.
Quite honestly, these are some pretty damn boring dreams. But
these dreams happened on 3 separate nights, and for some reason I think
they're related. What am I seeing that I'm just not
hearing? What am I hearing that I'm just not understanding?
| | |
| I was in Spain, but for some reason it didn't look like the Spain you
see in postcards. It looked more like Mexico. It's what I
expect Acapulco to look like: pueblo-colored resorts and nice
beaches. A friend and I were walking around one of the resorts,
and we eventually made our way to the pool. The view from the
pool was spectacular! I gazed along a mountain side with red-colored
rock reminiscent of the Grand Canyon, but dotted with splashes of
bright colors. I stood there for a long moment, captivated by the
surreal scenery (ironically, the last time I felt this way was when I
was in some castle in Barcelona). My friend had jumped into the
pool and told me to come in too. The pool looked nice, but really
deep too. I told her that I wanted to enjoy the view some more
and that I didn't know how to swim anyway. She then pushed me
into the deep end of the pool and started laughing at me, then she
jumped in the pool herself and started treading water to mock me.
That's just like her...sheesh. Of all the friends to have with me
in my dream, I got stuck with this one.... I was scared because I
couldn't swim, but even in my dream I couldn't get mad at her.
My other dream was much more random. I was at a restaurant eating
dinner with my friend and her father. However, my friend is
distinctively Vietnamese, and her father (in my dream) was some black
dude. I was too confused to eat my dinner, and my friend
noticed. "Why the hell are you not eating?!"
"Uhh...." I then tried to tactfully explain my confusion, but she
didn't seem to understand and just thought I was stupid. She
rolled her eyes, threw her napkin down, and walked off.
Definitely too much drama. I looked at her father and he was
staring at me, shaking his head. I picked up my fork and started
eating.
Two dreams, one night, both ending in humiliation. Not good.
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