Rule 32: Enjoy the little things in life.

Something different. Felt like writing. Please enjoy.

The other night I had a dream. In it, I was standing outside my office in the parking lot. Not sure what exactly I was doing at the time, but it doesn’t matter. I was in the parking lot of my office, the white two-story building lay ahead. I started to walk across the street to enter when saw the smoke and then heard the noise. All of a sudden, the building was engulfed by flames. My jaw dropped and yet no sound came out of my mouth. The next was the worst part. Next I heard the screams. Not just any screams, but the screams of children. For whatever reason, there were children in the building while it burned.

I dropped everything and started running towards the door, the whole thing seemed to happen in slow motion. As I got closer to the door, I noticed a woman also running towards it as well. About my age, but I didn’t recognize her.

Then the dream fast forwarded a bit. I was in a burning room by a window. Apparently I’d been helping kids get out of a window when a burning beam had fallen on my back and pinned me to the ground. Despite the kids outside, I was overcome with an immense feeling of failure. I turned to my side as little as I was able and heard more kids screaming, retreating, and the woman stuck under a beam similar to the one on my back. And then I believe I died.

This dream repeated several times over that night. Each time ended just about the same. Different numbers of kids survived, sometimes the woman died with me, sometimes she didn’t, but each time was the same sense of failure and my death.

When I awoke in the morning, I was naturally shaken. Took a shower to try to put it behind me, then went to work as it was a monday. As I pulled up, I expected to see it in flames, but it was normal as ever. Just my coworkers, pulling up at the same time I did. I got to my desk and lost myself in my work, finally able to free myself from the dream.

The day passed on normal as ever. Lunch came and went. As I walked back up the stairs from my local sandwich shop, I noticed some balloons and that the office across from ours was having bring your kid to work day. Rest of the afternoon went as any other monday would have.

Shortly before I was getting ready to do my last rounds for the day, I received a call from my mechanic. Couldn’t hear him well, so I stepped outside to the parking lot to get better reception and some quiet in which to hear him. A few minutes into our conversation I saw the smoke and heard the noise. All of a sudden the building was engulfed in flames. My jaw dropped and yet no sound came out of my mouth. Next I heard the screams. My heart was beating a mile a minute. I dropped my cell phone. I started running. Despite knowing how it would end, I started running. I looked to my side and saw the woman. Despite knowing how it would end, I kept running. I kept hearing the screams. Despite knowing how it would end, I kept running and re-entered the building.

–theindiegeek