Returning Friendships

Date: 2/22/2019

Note: Everyone in this dream is at the current age they currently are in reality. As rain fell, I came home from a dark ramen shop after having some food and a few beers. I proceeded to get ready for bed and before I knew, it I was dozing off.... The first brief moment I remember, I was in my hometown driving down our main stretch of road to what I can only assume was a trip to an IKEA. Problem is, in a small Appalachian mountain town, we don’t have an IKEA. So like any rational being, I pull in to Food City as a substitute. As I go in and begin walking around, some people are saying hello and it’s good to see me again, like one does when returning to a hometown while they’ve been away at college. As I’m shopping in this somewhat altered and distorted version of my hometown store, I run in to my best friend’s mother, Pam. We beginning chatting about her son, and my friend, Alex and how he is soon to be married. This leads to nostalgic talk of days long gone of us running around town and the mountains together; soaking up sun and life like there was never an end to youth. She asks if I know a girl that works there and I say not really and she takes me to meet an asian woman I supposedly went to school with, but it’s not ringing a bell for either of us. Pam and I start walking toward the front to check out, I dart off to grab some drinks and am then back by her side. We’re waiting in line and as I’m standing there, I sort of notice the bag boy is a guy I went to high school with that went to jail and really messed his life up, but is out; both in dream and reality so good for him. We don’t speak. I pay for my drinks and begin to walk out when I see the greeter is another friend from middle school and less so from high school; Morgan. Long story short, I had a crush on this girl for quite some time. Quirky, spontaneous, and an almost mystic bohemian quality to her life. We begin to catch up and end up going outside to sit on the curb and catch up. Pam continues to the car and we say our goodbyes. Not much is said between Morgan and I that is worth noting, but when a car engine in the lot revs up, she says “Oh, must be for the midnight run tonight”. (Side bar; small towns + flashing stop light(s) at midnight = street drag racing.) I say it’s getting late and she urges I stay and go to watch. Given my lack of ability to say no to people, I give in. This next part gets slightly odd and less lucid... I hop up and see the back of one of my friends from high school and church, Barry. Tall teddy bear y’all. I run up behind him and startle him, but he turns around and we greet each other. There seems to be a small shack restaurant next door and we begin walking that way. Barry is a cook there and as we go up, he walks toward the back kitchen and I see another guy, mid 40s, that I used to see at church quite often. The only way to describe the restaurant, and it might be the ramen I had earlier talking, is in a outdoor alley bar style, similar to what Tony Bourdain would frequent while in Asia. As I’m sitting there with Morgan, there’s some food in a skillet she avoids but I say it looks good. At that time my mentor from architecture school, Matt, walked up and said it also looked good. He’s a bit of a douche. Not pertinent to the story but what the hell. Soon after, other friends from architecture school start coming up; Meredith, Dylan, Aubrey, etc. We haven’t seen each other since graduation in May of 2018. Definitely don’t live around me anymore and not from my hometown either. The loud roar of people talking slowly morphs into a Happy Birthday song for another architecture student’s (Daniela’s) older sister. Now I don’t know if this girl has a sister in real life or not but she looks at me and says “He’s how I got this scar”, while pointing at her brother. She has a small scar on the right side of her face as well as strange runic-like symbols lightly on her forehead. As everyone looks at me, I visualize the story she tells of pushing her sister toward a snake when they lived in Mexico City as children. Brother took up for her and shoved the eldest sister down and.... ....phone goes off and I wake up. This dream was very detailed and I can remember exact words of conversations, clothes, smells, and activities of things going on in the environment around me. It’s now 02:00 so I guess we’ll see what is to come, if anything else.