Pop Culture, Sinking Feelings, Family Comfort

I'm being stalked by some blonde crazy chick named Jenn. Her look reminds me of the stereotypical bleach-blonde athletic sorority chick. She holds her head just a little too high, every word she speaks comes down on the listener. Standing just over five feet tall she has a slightly stocky build. Her sense of entitlement makes me want to yell every offensive thing I can at her yet I don't.

While running I pulling into a service station for an oil change and to grab some road snacks. The service bays are open to the convenience shop, wide open, no partitions or walls. I park my car over the service pit, walk over to the drink coolers and grab one of those squirt red juice, pure sugar, circus barrel drinks. I walk up to the counter, lo and behold, there stands Charlie Sheen behind the counter and working the register. He's not very talkative till he sees the drink in my hand. Apparently what I thought was sugary goodness was labelled "Tiger Blood". All I can do is laugh. I pay for my drink and snacks and as I walk away from the counter my drink is missing. Charlie has pulled the "Tiger Blood" behind the register to hide it from me. As I reach around to take my purchase a wild look comes over him and a shop manager has to hold him back. I turn back to my car, oil change complete, and for some reason my rear hatch is open and I see a terrifying figure loading luggage into my car. Jenn.

She hurls obscenities at me and I don't care, all I can think of is my next plan to ditch her. We pull out of the service bay and into a parking lot full of RVs and 18-wheelers. Every way I turn I can't go anywhere. I notice that the service station is backed up to a boulder-covered hillside. There it is, my escape. I throw the car in park and jump out. Jenn's obscenities have transformed into a quiet arms-crossed rage. I make a brake for the hillside, dodging RVs running under trailers and as I reach the first rock the parking lot sinks. The sound of screeching brakes and stressed metal frames scream in their attempts to stop the inevitable. The ground tilts and sinks into the water like LA in "2012". As the vehicles sink into the black I turn my back to the maw and climb. Trees have erupted from nowhere and surround the hillside, I climb.

A group of climbers pass on their way down. We all stop and talk, surrounding a pit down into hillside. I recognize one of the climbers as one of my bosses, Chad. Another one of the climbers wants to explore the pit. He clips onto a rope and I am somehow set as his belay. I chat with the other climbers and the explorer continues down, down, down. I slow his descent as the amount of slack comes to an end. Conversation halts with the end of the slack. A pause comes over the group of climbers. Before I can retrieve my climber he climbs out of the shadow, terror in his eyes. He struggles out of the pit and as soon as he is on the ground his only word is "Go". The group of climbers, Chad and I rush down the rocks. Jumping and sliding over rocks, swinging and clinging to the trees, we're back at the water. We pause, I see a jetski out on the water. With that site I jump, no hesitation, through the water I swim. I know I have to get away from that pit, and a touch of confidence pours through me as I reach the jetski and the motor fires. I race over the water past huge but unknown objects. I know my goal, I have to get to the lake house. (No personal connection, never been to a lake house, but that is my destination.) As I navigate the course of obstacles I recognize others on their own water crafts. No time to visit.

I don't remember the arrival at the lake house, only the comfort of being there with friends and family. I sleep in a loft alone. I awake to a constant flow of visitors. First my nephew, Kanyon, in all his energy and insanity makes me alert to the day. Next is my sister-in-law Allyson and her cousin Jamie, Allyson asks for my thoughts on her boyfriend Samuel and beams at the mention of his name. Jamie gags and feigns death at the thought of love, she runs back downstairs. Jess passes her on the way up and smiles her big happy smile at me and sits with me and Allyson. Jess gives her approval on Samuel as well and Allyson runs off down the stairs in a fit of joy. I get a private moment with Jess and you all need not know those aspects of my dreams.

I wake to a dark morning, Jess' alarms going off for work. Her body is warm and I do not look forward to her leaving for work. I leave for almost a full week of work out of town today. I miss her already, she will be the driving force for me to complete my work and get home. Till then, in dreams.