Most of my childhood was spent in the Brookhaven area of Atlanta. In the 1960 and 1970 eras children were allowed a fairly large area in which to roam with the understanding that they would have someone (another child) with them and that everybody was expected to be model citizens. I wish I could say that I deserved the large amount of trust that my parent placed in me, but like most children I did not. The public library was a two mile walk from my home, and one of my very good friends lived down the street from it. After I finished my chores, I would tell my mother that I was going over to Barbara's and Barbara would tell her mother that we were going to the library and then to the mall just in case her mother decided to check the library. Her mother couldn't drive and was highly unlikely to walk the mile and a half to the mall. We would have the whole afternoon to wander around Brookhaven and Buckhead. As a result there wasn't a nook or cranny between Dresden Drive and Weiuca Road that we hadn't explored. Our most visited place by far was an old house on Roxboro Road Road and hidden behind the railroad tracts that run behind Cherokee Plaza. It was the first house built in Dekalb County Georgia after the burning of Atlanta. It had a historical marker that told us so. Apparently the Dekalb Historical Society at some point had plans to restore the house, but that never happened. It became a hangout for errant teens, and even we kept the presence of it a close secret in case the word should get out to the wrong people. Inside the front room of the house was an architect's scale mock-up of what the house would look like when the restoration was complete along with drawings on the wall. We did not disturb them so no one could find out that we were "borrowing" the house. My dream took place around this house. The other female in my dream started out being Barbara, but would change intermittently to be De or my room mate from college, Shelly, or my current friend Beverly. All of these women have dark brown hair and hazel brown eyes, so the change was so subtle that I didn't notice it while I was dreaming, but only realized it when I was thinking about the dream later. Since they switched so often and it has been hours since I woke up I will call the other woman in the dream Eve.
The dream opened with Eve and me rushing through the woods along the rail road tracts that lead to the house. We were in a hurry because we were convinced that the historical house was about to be razed, and we wanted to save the mock-up and the drawings. We thought that they were important historical objects and should be protected. As we were hurrying along we were discussing what we were going to get out of the house and whether we could get the historic marker out off the porch. We didn't have a screw driver with us. Our plan was to take the mock-up to the library for safe keeping. When we got to the house, no one was around so we were able to run in and quickly snatch the drawings and mock-up. But as we were grabbing these objects a train was passing the house and we had to wait for the train to go by before we could escape. As we watched, we saw a bunch of soldiers/police jump off the train and run into the woods. We were afraid to try to return along the railroad tracks so we opted instead to cross the tracts and take Peachtree Road to North Druid Hills Road where the library is located. When we got to the library, we found that waiting for the train to pass and our fear of the soldier/police in the woods had cost us too much time and the library was closed. We opted instead to take the objects back to Eve's house and place them in the closet in her brother's bedroom. He was living in New York with their father so no one would be in the room for a while. And we could take the objects to the library the following morning. When we got to the bedroom we realized that there was no room in the closet and decided to place the objects between the bed and the wall where they couldn't be seen from the door. We then started to change our clothes so we wouldn't be recognizable if someone had seen us running down Peachtree Rd. I had just stripped down to my underwear when there was a sharp knock at the door. There was a man on the other side demanding that we unlock the door. I grabbed a pillow and a blanket from the bed and leaped to cover the items and myself as Eve answered the door. Before Eve could say anything the man at the door said "Someone, and I should say someone in this room" as he walked to the area by the wall where I was. "Has taken something that doesn't belong to her." He kneeled down and began searching for the items around my sides. "You know then, I'm not dresssed" I warned him. He said "I can see that" and shifted his position. When he did this I used the opportunity to flip over to look him in the eye. But during the maneuver the pillow slipped revealing the items. The man looked me in the eye and said "The Father has been notified by the authorities and is calling you home." I then became Eve, and I was standing on the banks of a sapphire colored river watching emmy sail off in a giant emerald colored swan boat with the man who had found us in the room. Eve said "So this is emmy going home?". The man assured her that I was indeed going home. Eve said "What a beautiful boat to make the journey in."
The alarm clock went off, though I am sure that I had not set the clock. I woke up from the dream with it still fresh in my mind. I laid there for an hour thinking about where the dream had come from and what it could mean. Me ending the dream being the De Eve was obvious. It has to do with De having to deal with cancer again. The location of the dream was also obvious to me. With Lizzie working at Cherokee Plaza I have been in the neighborhood often lately, and I had a conversation with a friend at the lunch table about the house recently. Barbara lives in her family home as she inherited it when her mother died, and I have been Facebooking her recently about getting together again. The soldiers/police cutting off our escape route isn't much of a shock because we were always concerned about the police finding us on the property. The meaning of the dream surprises me. Recently I have been commenting with Solitary Diner at Table for One about her role in palliative care. I told her that having had multiple potentially fatal conditions, I was just used to the idea that I would die. I do not doubt my mortality. But what the dream was saying to me in a wonderful way is that I do to the depths of my consciousness believe that I will be called "home" by the Father, and I believe that the journey will be beautiful. I also believe that while I'm here on earth I will remain surrounded by my friends. All in all it was a great dream.
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