BETWEEN THE LINES

I had a dream last night that I could fly.

It was an odd dream which started off with me driving a car with my wife next to me. We were on a three lane highway and the traffic began to slow. Over to the right, I noticed that the shoulder and the concrete sidewalk were torn up, as if there was major construction.

Gradually, the traffic came to a halt and over in the slow lane, a car accident caugh my eye. The vehicle was badly mangled and a tow truck was trying to get it hitched. We continued driving and then came to a place where I haven't been to in 9 years. East New York, a rough part of Brooklyn. A green street sign read Remsen Avenue (not sure if that is actually in East New York, but it's in Brooklyn for certain.)

A Korean store owner greeted an African American neighbor. Now I was standing on the street corner by myself, somehow waiting for my wife to catch up, on foot. The Korean man's 10 year old son zipped across the sidewalk and while hot-dogging, slipped and fell. He wasn't hurt, but the father scolded him for showing off and not being careful.

Next, I was riding the skateboard. And my wife was standing on it with me. We couldn't move until we synchronized our motions. She would lean the back in one direction, while I leaned the front in the opposite, then we'd both swing the other way. Reminiscent of the way a fish swings its tail to propel itself.

Before I realized, we were floating in the air. With an inevitable sense of belonging, we turned left around the corner and found ourselves in an alley, floating with some people I don't remember, but somehow knew they were close friends. There was such joy in our hearts, a feeling of knowing that we could all fly.

And I said, "I knew it, we can fly." And out of nowhere, Nathan Petrelli of Heroes shows up, next to me. "Just not as fast as him."

"Of course you can," he said. And rocketed into the sky.

I, however only hovered, not quite as high as "Flying Man," but joyful nonetheless.

 

I believe this dream signifies the huge life struggles my wife and I are encountering now, with our the growing pains of our business, our general burned-outedness, and most recently, her mother's diagnosis of Stage 4 Lung Cancer. And I wonder if perhaps I am dreaming of our overcoming all these difficulties with a power from above and within.

If nothing else, I have been inspired. This dream gave me the perfect ending for the first act of my YA Fantasy book, the idea of which caught while I sat waiting for my brakes to be repaired in the shop. The scene is about faith and flying. Look for future mention of Kobaltdrache [The Kobalt Dragon.]