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flames

note: I am having serious Moveable Type problems today. It took me an hour just go get this to post. If posting is non existent today, that's why.

flames

I had one of my end of the world dreams.

It started small, with the local library going up in flames. Then building after building went on fire, tiny sparks of heat filling the air. I watched from a distance and then turned and ran home, pumping my legs furiously as I tried to get to my house before it, too went up in smoke with my family trapped inside.

I screamed out to everyone I passed on the street that our town was on fire. I heard radio reports - L.A. was in flames. Texas was in flames. Explosions could be heard for miles around.

I had to get to my mother. She was working in a lingerie store, even though in real life she works in the very library that was now a pile of cinders. I had to crawl through a mail slot to get into the store, and at first she didn't believe me when I told her about the fires. Then we were running for lives and I kept saying that this was it, we were going to die.

My son had stayed home from school that day and was with his father, so I wasn't worried about him being trapped in the school. But Natalie was at school and I wanted to pick her up before the school went into panic mode. For some reason, news about the fires was traveling very slow; most people didn't know yet.

For the second time this week, I drove a yellow Volkswagen in my dream. Bonnie from work was there, as was my sister and some little girl. We were weaving in an out of traffic and I realized no one was driving the car. Bonnie motioned for me to take the wheel and I hopped into the front seat, crying and hysterical and almost unable to see because of my tears.

When we finally got to the school, we were parked on a circular ramp and you had to go through a maze to get off of it and into the school. It took me so long to find my way to the school's front doors that by the time I did, the sky had filled with dark clouds of smoke and flames were all around us. Yet, when I got to the front desk in the school, the secretary was going about her business as if nothing was going on. Finally, I signed some papers, found Natalie and we went to search for the car in the parking lot.

We got lost on the way home and ended up walking through a forest, not unlike a forest from a Grimm fairy tale. We braved treacherous paths and broken wooden bridges to get back to the car. Most paths were surrounded by trees, except for the parts where there was nothing on either side, just a huge drop. One path led to a wooden sign, painted crudely with the word INSTAPUNDIT. I told everyone the tale of how Mr. Instapundit was a recluse and no one should go on his property.

Finally, we found our way out of the woods and we were back in the car, on our way to a Roy Rogers restaurant to get some roast beef. There, I saw all the people I hated in high school, and they were having some grand sing-a-long. They wanted me to sing with them, but I couldn't because I was eating a sandwich and no matter how many times I chewed, the food would not get small enough for me to swallow, so my mouth was always full.

I looked out the window of the restaurant long enough to see a wall of flames coming at us. It looked like a red and orange tidal wave and you could feel the intense heat as it approached.

That's when I had enough and woke myself up.

And now, I am beyond exhausted. I need to go back to sleep and dream about prancing through a meadow filled with fuzzy bunnies and colorful flowers.