Chapter 9

I was walking.  And walking.  Then after that I walked some more.  I was in a dry, desolate desert.  It was completly lifeless.  Ahead of me was a very large dune, and a single rock, the only landscape miles ahead.

Why am I even here?  How did I get here?

Then I vaguely remembered what happened.. yes, yes.  It was a crash. An airplane crash.  And I was the only survivor.  I've been walking for days and days, so I ended up arriving here.

I leaned down to look at my feet.  My aching feet.  I didn't even recall the last time that I wasn't walking.  It felt like I was walking for days on end and nothing more.

Oh gosh, I definitly feel some blisters coming on.  If only I could stop!  But I just can't.

And to think I wasn't even looking at the road!  Surely that meant civilization!

But then I turned my head and I saw paradise, complete with water!  Boy was I thirsty, and sweating up bullets. 

Oh my llama!  It's a miracle!  It's beautiful!  Finally, fresh water, and I can cool down!  Oh, how I'd love to cool down!

I walked up to the little strip of paradise, and it surprisingly didn't disappear.  It was still there in front of me.  It was a dream (well, that's what I was thinking, really),  there were such beautiful flowers and towering palm trees.  And the greenest grass I've ever seen.  But that's not what I was interested in.  I wanted to go in the water.

So I took off my shirt and dived into the water.  It was very clear, and I saw nothing gross in it at all, there wasn't algae or anything.  There weren't even any fish!  Just crystal blue, clear water. When I got in the water, I let the water caress my aching bones, my blistery feet.  It felt so good.  I just wanted to put my head under and embrace it, and I drank and drank and drank...

I woke up.

Ah, another day with a dream without her.

It's been a few weeks, and I haven't had another dream about that girl since.  I know it's sounds silly, but I really have been wanting her to be in another one of my dreams.  That feeling. I wanted to feel that way again.

Well, the dream could have been worse.  Though I was so hot (yeah, it felt like I had sweat droplets on my forehead and everything), and so aching...Of course I loved teh dream overall, I mean, a tiny little paradise in the middle of a dry desert? Epic!  And it wasn't even a mirage.  The water just felt so incredibly nice...

But I still want her to be in my dream again.  No dream could ever surpass the feeling I had in that dream.

 .

As usual, I hopped on my laptop to check out what the dream dictionary had to tell me today.

Desert
To dream that you are walking through a desert, signifies loss and misfortune. You may be suffering from an attack on your reputation. Deserts are also symbolic of barrenness, loneliness and feelings of isolation and hopelessness. The desert landscape may also be a metaphor for feeling deserted and left behind.

Well, the first part was definitly wrong.  My rep is the same as it always has been.  But loneliness?  Um, yeah.  I like my whole semi dream hobby thing, but it doesn't exactly cure my feeling of loneliness.  Do I feel deserted and left behind?  I guess.  Jeff and Marshall have been 'getting lucky' lately with their girlfriends.  But I can't see it lasting forever.  I'm surprised that they are still going out.

I knew not to look up 'mirage' since technically the paradise wasn't a mirage, it really was there.  But I'm sure that would represent false thoughts or something.  But since it didn't disappear....Ow, my head hurts. 

I decided that I should make us some breakfast.  I didn't really feel like making pancakes, or waffles or the like, I am just not in the mood.  Just another boring day in the life of me.  Woo.

"Hey, hey, hey!  Come on down you guys!"

If I don't wake them up now, then they'll just sleep till noon.  But I can't let them do that, now can I?  Besides, it's 8:30.  It's not that early.  Besides, they always come down when I tell them to.  They're pretty much good at that.  Pretty much.  At least they have to be.

Well, Marshall was down pretty quickly.  Dressed and everything.  It doesn't take much to put a beanie on and to slip on a sweatshirt jacket (and yet, he doesn't look ugly).

Marshall is usually pretty good with being woken up (lucky for me he's a light sleeper, so he has no problem hearing me yell to him).

"Good morning sleepy head!"

Gah, I love rubbing it in!

"Yeah, yes...good morning Alex."

He tends to have grudges when I wake him up.  But I just go with it.  It's so awesome to be the first up!

"So glad you can make it!!  Your cereal is ready for you to de-vour!"

I love being like this in the morning!  It's not that I'm a morning person, more like I am more of a morning person than my friends so I can rub it in.

"Well...this is nice, thanks for breakfast Alex."

Being the more considerate one of the group, Marshall tends to thank me when I make food (almost for every meal...) even if he's not excited about it.  He's most likely thanking, gee thanks for pouring me cereal Alex.  I most certainly couldn't have done that myself.

"Um..yeah, no problem..."

Marshall is too nice for his own good sometimes.

Then came Marshall, a little bit later, but at least he was here.  He has...never been good at concealing his sleepiness.  Clearly he was extra sleepy today, his eyes were so strange.  He is sometimes a drama queen anyway.  But at least he was fully dressed, and didn't come down in his boxers.

"Yeah, so thanks for waking me up.  Alex.  You could've at least waited till ten to wake me.  But no.  You always insist on waking us up when you're ready for us to be up!"

Though that comment did sound rude/mean, I just can't take it seriously.  Not only is he being a drama queen and exagerating it, but when he's sleepy, he takes it out on me or Marshall.

"Glad to see you're up too, Jeff!  Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed?  Or was it a bad dream?"

What did a dream have to do with him being sleepy?  I don't know.  I am always thinking about my dreams, so sometimes it slips into my speech... I haven't even told them yet about my dream thing.  They....would...be quite judgemental about it.

Jeff sat down to eat his toast.

"Really, Alex, what is it with you and dreams lately?  You keep mentioning them in your strange comparing thing of yours.  What's the deal? They have nothing to do with what we ever talk about."

"Oh-it's just...never mind.  It's nothing."

"You sure, man?"

"...Yes."

Gah, I can't tell Jeff!  And I knew why Marshall wasn't talking.  He doesn't like to get into this kind of stuff.  He is a purely drama-free man.  If this actually is considered drama.  Well, he doesn't like to jump into these types of conversations.

I continued to eat my cereal.  Mmm...regular cheerios.  It's just so...yummy...

I really wish I had the types of friends who I could just tell anything to.  Mentioning dreams to them in and of itself would be....awkward.  But if I mentioned the girl and my feelings in my dream for her?  And that I am obsessed with wanting a dream with her in it again?  They'd think I'm a complete insane freak.  Heck, I'd have to go to an insane asylum.

Oh, don't go there.  I would not go to an insane asylum.

I didn't want to go there not just because 'hello, it's an insane asylum', but also because it reminds me of what happened to my grandparents.  Except they had to go to a nursing home at a young age.

"You know, me and Trista, Marshall and Stella are going to hang out for lunch.  Do you want to join us?"

Well, he obviously forgot about our previous conversation.  He sometimes talks inappropriatly/rudely/asks me stuff I don't want to answer, but usually he forgets about it two seconds later.  Which is good for me.

"Nah man, you guys have fun."

Gosh, I really wonder if Marshall and Stella...and Trista and Jeff ever hang out alone, just the two of them.  They are always on double dates.  The guys are so close knit, and so are the girls, so it doesn't even faze them to split.  I would never do that, I can't imagine even wanting to go on a double date.  If I ever get a girlfriend, I will usually want to go to places alone with her.  And I really don't want to be a fifth wheel with two couples.  It's even more awkward than hanging out with one couple.  MY LIFE!

After work, I played some video games with them (after I influenced them to say goodbye to their clingy girlfriends).  I just wish times could always be like this with the guys.  It was so much more fun when we hung out in middle school, just staring at the girls walking by and making up plans to get girlfriends, and failing miserably in the process.  The good old days when we always hung out, doing guy stuff, without girls around.  And now I'm falling behind, I have for a while now.  I just need a girl to get to their level.

Controller in hand, it was all good.  I just wish things could always go like this.  I wish Marshall and Jeff would break up with their girlfriends, like that would ever change.  I can't switch back the clock now.  It's too late.