The Things We Carry

Date: 6/10/2022

A dream of trying to get somewhere but not getting there and the things I carried on the journey. Exam Week at the University and I am needed to cover the Testing Centre for J at 12. I give her my cell number and tell her to ring twice and hang up if she needs me. I am carrying my cell phone, but it has been updated. Now, when I open the cover there are little hangers inside like an old key wallet . There are tiny papers hanging that you flip through like dresses in a closet, with important notes and numbers like you would keep on a phone. Between, there is a secret opening and a locket key; then I find the lock and a warning message from the designers saying they hope I will lock something safely. I try to think of something but I don't know what I should lock. I also carry two typed documents of 10ish pages each, stapled together. One is grievance arguments regarding a harassment case for a young man named Mohammed. The other is my collection of short stories about Time that I want to show some people. Julius wants to read the stories in the drop-floor playroom of our department, but J rings and I must go. I will be late. I set out, dream walking at a sluggish pace. Climbing metal barriers and hills to the other side of campus with students stopping me and asking directions. "Where is the MacGloughlan Building?" "Over there." (I need to go past it and 2 more.) He asks, "How can I have a class in there when it's under construction?" I look through the windows and see the building has been gutted and a construction crew is hard at work with loud tools. "I don't know," I reply. "Maybe it's not all under construction." I keep walking. I don't care. On the other side of the M building, before the road, there are more metal traffic barriers to climb. A student is asking if I have seen her coat and knapsack. "No." I don't care, but it seems harsh so I sit on the grass with my legs beneath the barrier to talk to her and her friend about the Lost and Found. "Seriously, there's so much stuff there! I could support myself just reselling it all." They look shocked so I add, "Like if nobody claims it after, say, 3 months or so." I still sound like a thief, so I climb under the barrier and cross the road. There are a hundred people waiting for busses in indistinct lines. I get in line, not knowing if its for my bus. There are lots of children, which is unusual. Maybe on a school trip. A charter bus pulls up and a big, British bus driver hops out. 'Can you see?" he asks the crowd agressively. People nod nervously. He yells, "THEN GET BACK AND GIVE THESE KIDS A SITE LINE!!!" Some sort of new safety reg? I step back, then get on my bus to go home. On the bus, I have a window seat half way back. A big young man is beside me, his much younger brothers and father across the aisle. He his telling his brother that school is over and he will be getting a job to help support them better. I ask sternly, "Do you know this man?" The kids are nervous but then realize I am joking and we all laugh. The young man is trying serepticiously to read the notes on my harassment case.