miscellaneous – Page 140 – Michael Seidel, writer

My cousin and I were young disc jockeys at a small radio station. We were pretty good and enjoying ourselves. Unfortunately, something my cousin said caused him trouble with management. Since I was there, I as indicted by them for the transgression. As punishment, we were to cut the grass.

The grass was on a small knoll. It was about knee high on what was essentially an overgrown but healthy lawn. Using hand tools, and then electric string trimmers, we cut the grass back, complaining as we did. Chief critical observation by us was how a radio station was using us for yard work as punishment.

Meanwhile, my cats required feeding. I went to feed the three of them. Frantic for food, they encircled me, a caterwauling trio. I had to move some asparagus dip. When I did that, the cats begged me for some. I wasn’t certain if asparagus dip was safe for them but put some on a plate. The young orange one at once jumped on the plate, knocking other things off it. I then decided the dip wasn’t safe for them so I took the plate away, opened some standard cat food, and fed them.

Back with my cousin, he was finishing cutting the grass. I told him to stop because we shouldn’t be doing that. He and I went inside where other people were gathering. My cousin and I decided we were going to quit the station. We then joined some people inside, in a large but cluttered room. They were trying to solve a problem with a water on a roof. The problem was the way the way the water was being routed to be removed from the room. They had three diagrams. Each showed a similar looping design. The people were trying to decide which was the best solution. I took the diagrams from them and compared them to the roof.

“None of these will work,” I said. I pointed out the roof had overhang. The diagrams didn’t take that into account so the proposals were al flawed. I kept having to explain it and show the diagrams to people and compare them to the roof. People suddenly began agreeing with me, telling me, “You’re right. They won’t work.” They wondered how they missed that.

A woman came by and asked if my cousin and I were going to DJ. We looked at each other. I answered, “No, speaking for me, I’m done with that.” She then said, “I have a better offer for you if you want to come with me.” After some back and forth with questions and answers, I realized she was offering me a job as a DJ with a national network. My cousin was welcome to come but they were offering me the position, and they would find something for him. Hearing this, my cousin grew upside and threw a tantrum. The woman said that I should pursue it because it was a great opportunity, and that if I did, I could help my cousin. I reluctantly accepted.

I was a young US Army officer. I knew that WWI had ended a year or more before. As a lieutenant, I was strangely working alone. I’d come upon the wreckage of a country road that curved and went up and down a hill. I thought, if anyone is to use this road for any purpose, they’ll not be able, because it’s in a horrible state. The asphalt was torn up and debris littered the path, hindering any sort of swift passage. I took it upon myself to fix it, ordering others to bring me different types of materials and directing them to clear things away. When the materials were brought to me, I’d throw it on the ground, then jump on it to break it up, shuffle it into place with my shoes, and stamp it down. It was a remarkably effective process. I quickly had a flat, clear road. Both aspects pleased and astonished me.

A young woman, who was an Army captain, but who resembled my real life wife as a young woman, came along and inquired about what I was doing. I was almost finished by then. Seeing her, I was instantly smitten; I could see my feelings were reciprocated. Weirdly, she was dressed in gray sweat clothes, but I knew she was an Army captain. Affecting modesty, I bragged that I was fixing and improving the road for future use, suitably impressing her that I’d made that choice but that I was also doing it so well. A general officer and his staff came along in a jeep. They stopped to admire my work. The general asked, who was responsible. I claimed credit. He made a little speech about intelligent and motivated young men like myself being the country’s future. Then they drove off.

In a strange detour, the dream changed perspective. My dream camera focused first on a small crab in shallow water. I knew from watching it that it had become infected with something. My dream camera then showed a young woman in black clothing and back open-toe sandals come down. She stepped into the water. The infected crab crept into her shoe.

The dream perspective changed back to me. I was watching that young woman. She was now walking on the road that I’d fixed. I said to others with me, “She’s ill. We need to help her before it’s too late.” She collapsed, unconscious, at that moment. We rushed to her. As I bent to help her, I yelled at others to call for help. No one moved at first. I demanded more insistently that one of them call 911. He began looking around for a phone. With increasing exasperation, I told him to use his cell phone. He finally pulled it out and called 911. Help was already arriving, but the woman was dead and blue. Standing, I told the others, this is a warning, that we need to be vigilant because an infection is spreading.

Dream end.