state of emergency
Dream:
I take the bus to an obscure, quiet part of Albany. After a while I realize I'm going the wrong way, so I get off and start walking back the other direction. For some reason I don't have shoes on. Ahead of me I notice that the sidewalk is closed off by barbed wire and...land mines. This is different. I look down at the yard next to the sidewalk. Looks like an elementary or middle school. But instead of students in the yard there are men in camoflauge uniforms with guns. They're crawling towards large bugs on the other side of the yard. One of them shoots a grenade which soars over and kills one of the bugs. One of the bugs jumps onto the street and they turn and kill it.
I walk around the barbed wire, and as I do I look to my right. Stationed in the park are about 500 Concerned Citizens-- parents, grandparents, teachers. It looks like the older part of an anti-war rally, except that every single one of them has a weapon. Some of them are wearing political pins on their hats. Most of them have sniper rifles, some of them have grenade launchers. Some of them are eying me suspiciously. As I walk by I put my hands in the air as high as I can. "I AM A CIVILIAN," I say, in the most direct, naive voice possible. "DON'T SHOOT. I AM A CIVILIAN." The ones who see me seem to agree, and lower their weapons. It takes about a minute to walk past most of them, because I don't want to walk too fast. As I get to the end, another bug jumps up to the street. I stand as still as possible while they kill it. When I pass all of them, I turn back and give them the thumbs-up, because it was the only gesture of thanks I could think of. "GOD BLESS AMERICA," I say to them. "THANK YOU." A few of them nod.
I take the bus to an obscure, quiet part of Albany. After a while I realize I'm going the wrong way, so I get off and start walking back the other direction. For some reason I don't have shoes on. Ahead of me I notice that the sidewalk is closed off by barbed wire and...land mines. This is different. I look down at the yard next to the sidewalk. Looks like an elementary or middle school. But instead of students in the yard there are men in camoflauge uniforms with guns. They're crawling towards large bugs on the other side of the yard. One of them shoots a grenade which soars over and kills one of the bugs. One of the bugs jumps onto the street and they turn and kill it.
I walk around the barbed wire, and as I do I look to my right. Stationed in the park are about 500 Concerned Citizens-- parents, grandparents, teachers. It looks like the older part of an anti-war rally, except that every single one of them has a weapon. Some of them are wearing political pins on their hats. Most of them have sniper rifles, some of them have grenade launchers. Some of them are eying me suspiciously. As I walk by I put my hands in the air as high as I can. "I AM A CIVILIAN," I say, in the most direct, naive voice possible. "DON'T SHOOT. I AM A CIVILIAN." The ones who see me seem to agree, and lower their weapons. It takes about a minute to walk past most of them, because I don't want to walk too fast. As I get to the end, another bug jumps up to the street. I stand as still as possible while they kill it. When I pass all of them, I turn back and give them the thumbs-up, because it was the only gesture of thanks I could think of. "GOD BLESS AMERICA," I say to them. "THANK YOU." A few of them nod.