Bleachers

Dream 1.17.2018

It's game night at Liberty. The varsity basketball team is gearing up to take on the opponents. I'm on the court messing around. One of the team members, Josh, says something insulting to me. I leave the court. I search the bleachers for my friends. I find them at the upper left portion of the stands. I decide to go down to the concessions.

There is an endless amount of food options. Anywhere from hot dogs to hot jambalaya. I think I get a hot dog but by the time I pay for it, it is torn apart on my plate.

Back in the bleachers, I am looking around to see if my friend, Derek, is here. I spot him at the very top bleacher. I am horsing around with a couple buddies of mine, Aaron and Matt. I ask, "is Kirk coming tonight?" I either don't get an answer or nobody knows.

The varsity basketball game has now turned into a volleyball match. During one of the serves, teenage bubblegum music starts to play over the loud speakers. The girls on each side of the court start to dance. It's enough to make a person cringe.

A man enters the gym through the doorway on the second floor. He is wearing a large coat. He sits down on the top bleacher and pulls something out of his jacket. I run out of the gym because I think he is a shooter but he isn't. He's just there to watch the game.

I head back down to the concession stand. This time I order the hot jambalaya. I ask, "how hot is it?" One of the workers says, "I can make it hotter." That sounds good to me. After all, some like it hot. Dream ends.

I wake up

Vavarthy

A Dream From The Past

My brother-in-law notices that a famous football player looks suspiciously like my father. The football player's name is "Michael Vavarthy" and my father's name is "Michael Laverty." We skim through photos and videos of him and are convinced that the football player is my dad. We show the rest of our family but they do not think it is him. Dream ends.

I wake up

The Starters

A Dream From The Past

I am on the varsity basketball team. Tonight is the championship game. My family is here. I want them to see me. I can't wait to play. My friend Tim's dad is the coach. He never plays me. Not once.

After the game, when the gymnasium is near empty, I sit on the bleachers sulking. The coach comes and sits next to me. He can tell that I am upset. He asks, "are you mad at me for not playing you?" I respond with a lie, "I'm not mad but..." I never finish my sentence. He never gives a reason for not playing me. Dream ends.

I wake up.

The Prankster

Dream 4/3/2017

     My friend, Tim, and I plan on pranking the local cheerleading squad. Our plan is to sneak into the building and do a strange dance in front of the cheerleaders and their coach. The night comes when we are to do the prank. We walk into the building and the place is packed full of people. It looks more like a doctors office than a sports facility. We hide underneath a table in the waiting room. Several people in the waiting room see us but don't say a word about it. I tell Tim, "I didn't think there would be this many people here. I don't think I can go through with it." I back out. I leave the building but Tim continues with the plan. He makes it into the main room and starts doing a weird Aztec-like dance, chanting and everything. When he is done, he makes a run for it.

     The faculty are furious. They search the premises for the prankster but cannot find him. I sneak back into the building and lower myself into the indoor river. I have a straw hanging out of the water so I can breathe. I am spying on the people in the gym to see if they know that Tim was the prankster. A girl I know, Samantha, sees me. I watch as the coach walks outside the building, sits on a nearby bench and eats his lunch. Two skateboarders approach him and start doing tricks on their skateboards. I know that he will pin the prank on them. I make a run for it. I get out. A few friends offer to drive me home. I jump in their van. As they drive down the road, I ask them to drop me off at the nearest Target or Walmart. I plan on calling Tim to make sure he is safe and to see if he can pick me up. I come to find out that some people were so impressed with Tim's dancing that they are awarding him three college degrees because of it. One is a degree in Aztec languages. Dream ends.

I wake up.

The Varsity

Dream 3/30/2017

     I've come to watch a high school soccer game. First the varsity girls are up and then the varsity guys. I run around on the court a bit before the game starts. When I look at the girls on the team I become self-conscious and tell myself to get in shape. I start planning in my head to run more and go to the batting cages to practice my baseball skills so that maybe I could go out for the team. The game starts. I sit in the bleachers. Turns out it isn't a soccer game but rather a hockey game. There isn't any ice on the court, instead, it is just a normal, wooden gym floor.

     During the game, a girl from the stands stands up and makes an announcement. She raises a book in the air and says it was written by her friend and she needs our support. I think her friend is sick. I watch the game some more. It is three vs three. I always thought hockey games had more people on the court than that. A little girl on the bottom bleacher raises up a sign to the rest of the fans. Her sign has about a hundred words on it and they are small. Most people wouldn't be able to read it. I hear her talk to one of the older girls saying, "I brought my sign but they won't let me show it because there are too many words."

     I decide to leave before the game is done. I walk down a hallway and get into an elevator. I hear a family walking close behind. I try to shut the elevator door before they get in but in a panic I push a bunch of random buttons and nothing happens. The family walks into the elevator. Dream ends.

I wake up.

Pillow Fight

Dream 2/4/17

     After a high school basketball game, I decide to follow the team to a fast food restaurant. When we finish eating, the coaches stand up and announce that it's time to load up the buses. "Only the sports team members stand up and head toward the bus," they say. 97% of the restaurant stands up. Only two others and I am left alone. Once again I am left out of the action of the moment. Story of my life. Anyway, eventually I walk out to the parking lot. On the way to my Jeep, I see a pillow that I own lying on the ground. I walk over and pick it up. Right then, my neighbor Joe walks over to me and confronts me about taking his pillow. "uh.. no, this is my pillow," I say back to him. "no man, I had that pillow like ten years ago," Joe responds. I tell him that I had it most recently, I use it for dialysis every other day. Eventually we go our separate ways, me taking my pillow with me. Dream ends.

I wake up

The Drifter

Dream 7/30/2015

I want to make some extra money so I look for a second job.

I start working at a store that sells sports equipment. I know some of the other employees from school. The job isn't too hard but some of the other employees laugh at me for my lack of sports knowledge. At the end of my first day, I tell the manager, a sweet old lady, that I won't be coming back as an employee.

When leaving, I see limousines and paparazzi spilling into the parking lot. I see many famous people. I think I see Gene Simmons, from KISS. They enter the store that I just left. Part of me wishes I had put off quitting until later.

I then get a job at a clothing store. I work there for a while but there is too much heavy lifting. So once again, I quit.

I join a Basic Algebra class. I never did well at math but I want a second chance at it. I notice everyone around me cheating left and right. I tune in to hear their answers but then I have a thought. If I depend on them now, I'll never be able to depend on myself. Dream ends.

I wake up.

"Age wrinkles the body. Quitting wrinkles the soul." -Douglas MacArthur

The Games

Dream 2/27/2015

Down a secret path, in a secret patch of woods, is a secret soccer field.

The barbecue is going. Friends and family from all over have come to have a fun-filled day of soccer and food. We play for hours. My team is called the 'ghosts.' We rub white powder onto our skin to make us look pale.

My mom wants to leave. Since she drove me, she wants to take me home to get my Jeep so that I can drive back or else someone will have to give me a ride home. I go with her.

I jump into my Jeep and head back toward the games. However, I forget how to get there. I start driving down secret paths in random woods. I get lost.

I take a path through a patch of woods and when I get into the open, I see people playing football. But it's not my family. There are sports fields everywhere, on my right and my left. I keep driving. I see tall fences with barbed wire on either side of me. I've somehow found my way into prison. I get out of my Jeep and start walking toward the front of the jail.

Today, in the prison, they are having sports day. All of the detainees are playing various sports and their families are sitting in the stands watching. I walk by a big, black guy and a small white, guy play a form of racket ball without the rackets. I listen in on their conversation.

The black guy says to the white guy, "you're the gay guy, right?"
The white guy responds, "yea."
"When do you get out?"
"Monday."
"Good," the black guy responds.
They continue playing their game.

I keep walking. Looking around me, I find that I am surrounded by criminals. Some of them are getting into fights. I get scared. I start running. A guard sees me running and thinks I am a criminal trying to escape. He chases me and tackles me to the ground. He sees that I am wearing regular clothes and jumps off of me. He picks me up and takes me to the warden.

The warden, a girl,  looks an awful lot like a nurse at my Dialysis clinic. She asks how I got into the prison. I tell her my story. It's all just a misunderstanding. My mom shows up to pick me up. The warden must have called her. Dream ends.

I wake up.