City Nights (1)

Date: 12/23/2018

I keep dreaming of the city and driving fast, luxury cars through dangerous roads and across large and monumental bridges. They always take place at night, and somehow drugs are always involved. In this particular dream, I had travelled to Hong Kong to meet up with an old friend of mine - Natalia. It was night when I arrived, I took one of the city’s signature red taxis out to Wan Chai and walked up the steep hill to the apartment I always remembered visiting in my childhood. In reality, she didn’t live there anymore, but in my dream, she still resided there with her parents while her brother was off at university. I sat at the dining table for dinner, it felt a bit awkward as so much time had escaped us since we last saw each other and I realized, I didn’t know her family quite that much anymore so, after we finished our meals, I brought up the one thing that I was sure she could never forget. We had this whole adventure map when we were little; we would sneak out during the afternoon when our parents were working and ventured around the island, always in different locations, and, in each area, we had a list of goals to accomplish. We had never completed it since my family ended up moving a year early than what was originally planned. She laughed at the memory and suggested we go out once more, she still had it tucked behind her old filming desk. We opted for a place that we had already visited but didn’t find the time to finish all of the tasks - Causeway Bay. There’s a time skip, we are running down the steep hill, then there’s a glimpse of Hopewell Center and that’s it. That was the last of Wan Chai, the next thing I see is Causeway Bay. We had just exited a 711, I had one of those gummy banana icelollies with the monkey mascot on the wrapper. I can’t feel the temperature in my dream, but for a moment I was left confused, I forgot how hot and humid it could get in Hong Kong, even during the winter. It’s nothing like the UK or the States. Anyway, so I’m walking beside Natalia and we stop at a crosswalk waiting for the “walk” sign to light up begin to alter in beeps. She’s talking to me about school and the mountains when I turn to see a familiar face in the distance. It’s the same guy from the school bus dream but his hair is different now - more modern Ryo Asuka style and he has dark stubble decorating his jawline. My eyes widen and Natalia asks me what’s wrong, I tell her that I thought I saw someone from school but that I had simply “mistaken”. I had not. The following day, I go to the high school, I can ‘hear’ the heat, the building is tucked away between the same mountains that my old home was built on. The exterior is a pastel green, salmon pink and dark blue. Everything is just how I remember it, all except the people. The guys and girls that used to push me around now seemed to want to be my friends. I scoffed at this and for a moment was tempted to pull a Patty move but decided to finally forgive them and be at peace with everyone including myself. That didn’t stop me from being skeptical though, I could not forget as easily as I chose to forgive, I had learned where forgetting got me. They invited me to a party, I accepted. Time skips. It’s night again, I’m in the middle of this rave, trying to find my way out but every corner I turn to is just more flashy lights and sweaty masses of flesh. Finally, after what seems like three hours, I manage to squeeze through the exit. Nico is outside, smoking a cigarette. I find him chatting with Alex. They looked so french - rich French boys. Nico turns his head to face me, I tense up, it wasn’t so long ago that they use to poke fun at my innocence and monstrous appearance. Them and their possy, but mostly those two. I leaned against the same yellow lambo that Nico was leaning against, he offered me a puff of his cigarette but I politely declined telling him that I didn’t smoke. He then offered to give me a ride in the lambo, I accept, the wind rushed through my now brown hair. It’s like a movie scene. The moment I get into the passenger seat and drove off with my head slightly out the window plays again and again as if someone were repeatedly pressing the rewind button.