Many things happen during chapel. At 9 o'clock am, they take out this chunk of your day and pack the whole student body in an auditorium for "praise and devotional time". Most people listen and sing and pray. Other sleep or do homework. Still other will, on rare occasions, let mice loose. I try to pay attention, but at 9 in the morning, I start to remember my dreams from the night before. Today's chapel was one of these.
Last night, I was asleep when my head hit the pillow. And apparently dreaming from the time I fell asleep... In my dream, I walked out of the education building and down the street, towards the main entrance to campus. As I stood there, at the intersection of Race and Grand (I think), I got this feeling that it was summer. The semester was finally over. Joy ensued. I was standing there, feeling happy, when two people, whom I did not recognize came up to me. Even though I did not recognize them, in dreamland, we were good friends. I didn't know them very well, but I knew that we were good friends and I could trust them. We were on the same side, so to speak. One of them told me that it was super size burrito bowl day at Chipotle, and did I want to go with them? Well duh. Without thinking, I got into his car, and the three of us drove off down Race, towards the highway. It started to dawn on me that there is no Chipotle in Searcy, or even the whole state of Arkansas. In fact, the closest Chipotle is in Springfield, Missouri... were we driving to Missouri? Or Rockwall, Texas? I leaned up to ask my friends if we could go to the Texas Chipotle instead, and we suddenly turned onto a little side street. And we were no longer in Searcy. We were in some larger city. And Chipotle was right there on the corner. So we got out and went in. Normally, I get a burrito at Chipotle, but since bowls were "super size", I decided to go with a bowl, which, on this day, was twice the size of a normal bowl. The worker, but in the steaming rice, the pinto beans, the delicious chicken, the fresh pico, the shredded cheese, and two giant scoops of sour cream (my favorite food group!) right on the top. We sat down at a table and my friends and I enjoyed the most delicious burrito bowls of our lives! Agh it was so wonderful!
Just then, I awakened. I must not have been sleeping too deeply, because I had only laid down six minutes ago, and the slobber that covered my pillow had made my face cold, which was what woke me up. I rolled over and turned the pillow over, mouth still watering from the fabulous Chipotle dream. Just then, the power went out. And it made a dreadful noise. Afraid of power surges, I reached over and unplugged whatever was in the socket next to the bed, which was counterproductive as I learned this morning, since what happened to be plugged in was a surge protector. Oh well. The RA came fumbling through he dark soon after for room check, and when it was quiet again, I drifted back to sleep.
I began to have another dream. I was jogging along what seemed to be a crappy, man-made beach on the shore of a lake in a somewhat wooded area. I knew it was summer, and it was supposed to be warm, but for whatever reason, it was very cold. I had my headphones in and I was going along great until, I suddenly fell 10 feet or so down into this hole. The bottom was just mud, but the walls were concrete. It was circular, and probably 8 feet in diameter. (Seriously, how did I miss that?) I hollered for someone to come get me out, and I knew there were people nearby, but I must not have been close enough for them to hear me. I sat down on the muddy bottom, shivering, waiting for someone to find me. Eventually, I heard some kids come out and play on the beach. I yelled for help, but no one came close enough to the hole to see me. Then it started to rain. The kids left and went indoors somewhere I suppose. It was raining hard. And for so long. The hole started to fill up with muddy water. Night came. Still no one came to get me. Didn't someone notice I was missing? I wasn't hungry (probably from that big bowl I consumed in my last dream), but I was so thirsty. I remember trying to drink the muddy water, which was now up to my chest, but it was too bitter, and made me nauseous. The water came up to my neck and I remember thinking that I would die there, in that hole. But I am prone to being overly dramatic, and I began to float on my back while watching my life flash before my eyes. The water level kept rising. I was probably only 2 1/2 feel from the top of the hole, but, I still could not pull myself out. It was early morning when it stopped raining. I yelled again, but no one. I closed my eyes, and when I opened them, a muddy dog stood at the edge of the hole, looking down at me. I remember talking to the dog, telling him to go get someone who could pull me out. He ran quickly away. Was there a chance he had understood? He came back without a human being. I was disappointed until I saw the rope in his mouth. He tossed it in and I grabbed on. Somehow, a golden retriever (and not even a large one at that!) pulled me out of that hole! I thanked him until I started feeling crazy for talking to a dog, and then I started to jog back to civilization. That dog loyally ran beside me the whole way. But when we arrived at a log cabin, the dog darted off into the woods. I had noticed he was wearing a red collar, so I assumed he was on his way home to his owner. I couldn't be sure though, and since he rescued me, the least I could do was make sure he made it to safety. I followed him, but I was tired and could not keep up.
Suddenly, I found myself, no longer in a wooded area by a lake, but inside a zoo in the middle of a city. I figured I might as well enjoy the zoo while searching for the dog. I got caught up looking at all the cute animals, when I realized there was no one else around. the zoo was closed. Locked up. It was getting dark. I sat down on a bench near the entrance to the zoo. there was no way out, so I would just sit there til morning, and wait, once again, for someone to let me out. Just then, I hear a quiet voice speak to me, almost like my conscience, or the Holy Spirit, from inside of me. It told me that I couldn't wait to escape. I had to get out now, and let all the animals out with me. But not yet, there was someone who would help me. First I had to find him. If I could help him, he would help me with my task of setting the animals free and escaping from the zoo before the morning. "If you wait til the morning," it said, "You both, and all of the animals, will be dead." I didn't believe it. Some pestilence was coming to exterminate a zoo in the middle of the night. And someone else was dumb enough to get locked in a zoo? That's stupid. I put my headphones on. Angels and Airwaves was playing.
"You know I won't say sorry, you know I won't say sorry.
The pain has a bad reaction, a blend of fear and passion."
Suddenly, I knew it was true. I put my ipod away. But the music wasn't playing on my headphones. It was playing out loud in the zoo. I had to find whoever else it was that was in here! I ran throughout the zoo, and the music kept getting louder. I went inside the ape house and found a guy sitting on the floor, listening to head phones that were plugged into a jack on the wall and singing along, head bobbing.
"I see the stars, they're in your eyes,
A playful kiss, can you tell I'm excited?
A fast escape in the nick of time,
You lost your wish, can I help you find it?"
"Hey get up!" I swatted his arm. "We have to get out of here and set all the animals free, or we'll all be dead by morning." He stood up. He was a big guy, and scary.
"I know," he said, "Leave me alone."
"You're gonna die!"
"I know. But there's nothing I can do about it."
"If you don't help me, I'll die too!"
"Well, sorry..."
"Sorry?!" I was freaking out at this point. "I survived a mud hole today, and I'm not giving up now! So you're gonna help me-" It dawned on me that the voice said he would help me if I would help him. "What's wrong? Why can't you help me?"
No answer. I realized that he couldn't hear me. "Hey, dude, that music isn't coming from your headphones! It's being played out loud in the zoo!" I ripped a headphone out of his ear. He looked angry. Like he wanted to hurt me. I ripped the other one out. He fell on the floor. "Hear that? It's being played out loud. I thought it was coming from my headphones too, but I was wrong."
He jumped up and hugged me. "Thank-you, thank-you! You saved me!"
It was a weird moment. I wasn't sure what to do. "Ok, well, glad I could help. Now let's get out of here."
"Ok. Do you know the 4 countries that make up the UK? Because I don't."
"Um, yeah, but we need to hurry up and set the animals free becau-"
"Ok, let's go!" He grabbed my arm and ran to the gate I had been sitting by when I heard the voice. "Write them on this gate!the four countries in the UK!" He handed me a sparkly magic marker.
At first, I kinda wanted to smack him. He was being dumb. That was dumb. Magic marker? So dumb. But he was supposed to be helping me, so I did what he said.
England
Scotland
Wales
Northern Ireland
All the animals in the zoo had gathered around, knowing they were about to be set free. When I finished writing, the lock broke off of the gate and we pushed it open. All the animals ran free! Loose into the city, but free, nonetheless! The music guy looked at me. "So we should get out of here pretty quickly... did you drive here?"
"No, I, um, ran."
"My car's here. Want a ride?"
"Well, uh, sure."
We got into his car and his stereo came on. the song was in Spanish.
"Si tal vez, me harías muy feliz,
Si tal vez, me lo podrías decir,
Si tal vez, detalle a detalle,
Podrías conquistarme sería tuya."
I remember thinking how cheesy it was that "Te Quiero Tanto" was playing in his car. But that's the last thing I remember. Weird dreams. But so vivid. I've always had crazy dreams, but recently, they've been different. They've either been PTSD dreams about horrid death and despair, or they're been dreams about my friends' lives and God's kingdom that end up coming true, good and bad things. Things that I couldn't have known that have happened or happen shortly after. They aren't crazy like my other dreams and like last night's dreams; they actually make sense. So I've been testing the spirits- or testing my dreams, rather. I've been praying about whether or not they are gifts or if I should take them seriously. Then I had these dreams last night- whew! Strange, indeed.
Ok, so if you've read this far, God bless you! And if you want to take a shot at interpretation- be my guest!
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