Taking Advantage of Good Nature

Date: 8/15/2021

In my dream, my parents were hosting a family & friends reunion at my childhood home and lots of people showed up. We had a cookout, played games, shared stories, caught up with each other’s lives. At the end of the first day, my parents thanked everyone for coming and we all made sure sleeping arrangements were handled. My friend Ben was over and he asked if I would come with him to revisit his school the next day and see some of his old classmates and teachers. He’s built like an ox and an easygoing, well spoken and slightly outgoing guy. He stands about 6 feet tall and had short blonde hair, a fade haircut and wears glasses. We met working at the same place and never went to the same school, but I agreed to go. For some reason, my car wouldn’t start even though it was basically new, he didn’t bring his vehicle, and I didn’t want to borrow anyone else’s so I said I’ll probably pass. He said we could just take the bus when it came in the morning and again I just said ok, sure. Skip to the next morning (still in my dream), my alarm goes off. When I come out of my room my dad is in the kitchen making breakfast; French toast, eggs and sausage. He had music playing from his old record player. The dogs came up to me to get pets, Cookie (a boxer/beagle mix), Ulysses (an American bulldog), and my aunt’s dog (some type of mastiff with a brown coat). “Just like old times” my dad said. “Yeah, it’s nice to see everyone together.” I replied. “I’m going to go get ready to go to the school with Ben. I guess the bus still runs this way and he said they’re expecting us.” “Interesting. You probably never thought you’d be hopping on the bus to go to school again, did you?” My dad said and laughed. “No, I admit it feels pretty odd.” I went and got ready, then Ben came in, also ready to go. We went outside to try figuring out why my car wouldn’t start. I still couldn’t figure it out, so we went back in. For context, it was still dark out and it was about 6:30am. We ate breakfast while listening to music and watched the local news on TV. Shortly after, I noticed a bright white light flashing outside. I looked out the window and saw it was the bus. Ben was already out there walking up to it, so I quickly got my stuff and went out. The bus driver was actually my bus driver when I was in school and she just acted like it was normal to see me. I stood there for a minute, a little shocked. “Well, what are you waiting for?” She asked. “I can’t believe you’re still driving. (I’ve been out of school for about 8 years) I thought you started your own business when I was a senior, and I’m even more surprised that you’re driving for this trip.” “Crazier shit has happened in your dreams. Besides, I’m the only one who knows this route, so they asked me to do it. Hop on, we don’t have all day!” She said with a smile. Dumbfounded, because I didn’t know how to respond to the acknowledgment that I was dreaming, I just got on the bus and started walking down the aisle. I saw Ben, but there was a girl sitting next to him. She was petite with blonde hair, wearing a white shirt, tan jacket and dark pants. I was going to just sit somewhere else but she stopped me and said she was going to move. When she got up, she put her hand on my forearm, then slid it up to my jawline/face, stared into my eyes for a few seconds with a playfully curious look and then walked up to the front and sat down. “What the hell was that all about?” I asked Ben. “I think she likes you.” He said. “Who is she?” “I don’t know. I thought you knew her based on that little interaction. I just sat here and she sat next to me. We didn’t talk.” I looked up and saw her and her friends looking back at me from the front. She had her hand up like she was waving and I slowly raised my hand to wave back. Then she brushed her hand through her hair and turned to look at her friends laughing and I couldn’t help but laugh too. “Are you seeing this, Ben?” “Yeah, you should get her number or something. Careful though, she looks like a handful ..In more ways than one.” He said with a smirk. Then one of her friends came back, handed me a piece of paper and went back to her seat. I unfolded it and it read “Carpe Diem” with a phone number below. I looked up again, acknowledged them with a nod and just leaned forward to process what was happening. When we got to the school, we got off the bus and Ben asked “so, did you do the homework?” “What homework?” I asked “Oh shit, so you didn’t do it. That’s okay, the professor forgets sometimes” “Bro, what are you talking about?” An older man walked up; “Come on you guys, class is starting soon.” I noticed the same girl from the bus, suddenly dressed as a maintenance worker, taking out the garbage. She looked very out of place but nobody else really noticed. She nodded and put her finger to her lips as a “shh” gesture. Next we were sitting in a classroom listening to a lecture, then skipped to lunch, then we were in the gym, then there was a pep assembly (all of this was like a time lapse motion blur sequence) Then I got back to my parents house, feeling tired in my dream and went to my room. I hopped on the bed and skipped to again waking but this time to someone talking on the phone. It was my aunt’s boyfriend; I heard him talking about paying someone back. He said he just needed a few more days and he’d make it happen. I acted like I was still sleeping and heard him come into my room, then I heard him opening drawers and stuff and he told the person on the phone that he found something. He found my vintage toy collection and planned to sell it to pay his debt. I got up and confronted him and he immediately apologized and he was in a desperate situation and had to do it. I told him I would help him figure it out but he kept saying no and that he was sorry. He grabbed the box and ran out. I got up and ran out too. My aunt was there and stopped me. I asked her to move and she refused so I tried to brush past her. She said they had to do this and that I could handle it because I was doing well and they were just “old toys”. I said “please don’t take advantage of my good nature” and she basically asked what I would do about it. I’ve never been a violent person. After a few seconds she said “that’s what I thought” and turned to leave. I ran past her, and she faked falling and called her dog. The dog ran at me and Ulysses, the bulldog, ran up and quickly took her dog down, then cornered her. I ran outside and stopped her boyfriend. I pulled him out of the car, threw him down onto a large outdoor carpet and rolled him up in it. Then the police were arriving, sirens and lights seen in the distance, and I woke up from the dream.