Forum

2/13/12
Brad Meckley

Home in Austin, TX

I dreamed I was standing on a service street parallel to interstate 35 in the northern part of Austin, TX. I was standing on the east side of I-35 facing south. To my right was interstate 35 and to my left was a neighborhood of moderately priced homes. One of the neighborhood streets was to my left running east. It dead ended at the service road forming a “T” intersection. It was in the middle of the day and was sunny outside. I owned a one story white home that was immediately to my left on the north west street corner of the intersection. The front of the home faced south on the neighborhood road. There were a few other people walking around on the streets enjoying the day. As I was standing there a young couple approached me on my right. They walked from the north heading south down the service road toward me. They were new teachers at the school where I worked and I had recently got to know them. They came to visit me and wanted to see my home. They were planning to stay all afternoon until it got dark to enjoy the home and have tea with me. I knew the home was a good home but did not find a lot of excitement in the home itself. The home was fully furnished but one of the rooms had furniture from when I was in college. I had rented it with a group of guys but purchased it after I had earned enough money working at my first professional job. The room was located in the front right of the home with a window facing interstate 35. I did not spend a lot of time at the home and this room was rarely used. It was dusty and had blankets over some of the furniture to protect it. The rest of the home was in good condition.

They asked for my street address to give to the parents of the wife. I gave them my address which was 44175 Capital C Street. The wife’s parents thought the young couple were a little foolish and did not trust their decisions. They wanted to give the parents the address to prove that this was the home they were visiting and so that the parents could verify this was a true address. The parents lived in the state of Arkansas. They were in their early to mid 60s and had gray hair. The young couple was poor and did not own a home themselves. They also drove a car that was not in good condition. The teaching positions at the school were their first professional jobs after college. They were in their early 30s and had lived a fun life until now.

School Office in Mall

The scene changed and I was now inside of a small one story mall looking for a school office. It looked like the mall from my home town in Tyler, TX. I had the day off from work because of a national holiday. I completed some other tasks earlier and this was the next one I needed to do. I knew I needed to mow two yards for my father before the day was over as well. Since it had taken longer than expected to complete my tasks I was not sure if I was going to be able to mow the two yards. I knew it may get dark before I left this school and it would be too late.

I was walking south down a walkway in the mall and then turned left. I saw the office of the school facing west toward me. The colors of the school were white and green. It was inside one of the store business spaces. In front of the store was a stage with green carpet that stood 2 – 3 feet above the floor. There were 5 to 6 stacks of white lounge chairs used for tanning by a pool side. There were about 7-8 chairs in each stack standing 4-5 feet tall. The chairs were stacked on the right side of the stage if your back was to the store and you were looking toward the mall. To the left of the chairs were 3-4 stacks of black cash register drawers. They had closed the registers and locked the drawers for the day. The money was supposed to be counted and the drawers balanced for accuracy. Everything had been stacked and put on the stage because the office was closed and people were leaving for the day. I got on the stage and stood between the chairs and the register drawers. The school principle and office manager asked me to balance the register drawers. I laid on top of the black register drawers joking with them. Then I told them I would do it.

Then I got off the stage and walked with the office manager inside the office. As we were walking I looked outside the mall doors and saw it was almost dark outside. I knew I was not going to be able to mow the two yards for my father today. She introduced me to the secretary who could help me with everything I needed to know about closing the school. The office was a little messy and was not well organized. I had to balance the cash register drawers and check on other tasks that needed to be complete in the back office area. I was to ensure that certain tasks were completed by others.

The secretary took me through the back office area. We walked down a hallway heading north about 50 feet, then turned right walking east about 50 feet, and then turned right again walking south another 50 feet. We arrived in a small office that was messy and not well organized too. The school psychologist from Father’s Heart Charter School was there and was excited to see me. She was going to help me with this final task before we were to leave. We had to organize files for the special education students in the school. Once we completed this, we would be finished. She was standing at a tall filing cabinet and turned to look at us. Then she closed the filing cabinet and greeted us. The secretary left and the school psychologist told me to pick up a white fold up table and follow her. She took me into another office to show me some things we needed to do. Then the scene changed.

Mall Parking Lot and Carnival

I was outside of the mall standing in a dirt lot. The mall’s paved parking lot for cars was all around where I was standing. The mall was behind me toward the south. The sun began to rise and some people were walking around in the lots. The school psychologist had taken me outside to show me an event. I was to set up the table outside in the dirt parking lot. A few people began to gather in the dirt. They were setting up for a carnival. I saw other tables that had been set up as well. I looked to the east and saw a large white arch standing about 100 feet tall in the dirt lot. It had a large clock at the top. This was the end of the dream.