Dreamweaver
In the fire department, things don’t always go the way you would think. I’m sure you could say that about all sorts of aspects, but in this case I’m talking about the runs we make.
On Tuesday, we were hopping. Three of our runs came back-to-back-to-back. Not only were we busy, but most of them were interesting in one way or another - usually a welcome thing. Yet, on Friday, with football games and parties and drinking and the tendency for people to fight with those they love, we almost pitched a shut-out. The only thing that kept us from the goose egg was a pretty boring medical call halfway through the shift.
The upside to Friday's inaction was that I had all night to sleep and that had been my plan when I turned off the light around midnight. Instead, I seemed to be awake at least every hour or so. Somebody called the wrong number - twice - to wake me about 1:30a. I rolled over a little while later to hear the other engine company on the radio in the next room over (I’m usually oblivious to that). And then there were the dreams…
I wish I could remember them all. I know I woke up at least three times because of the dreams, but I only remember part of one. I do know that none of them were pleasant at all, and I’m sure that further diminished the quality of sleep I got.
The one dream I do remember had me and some family member - maybe Jessie - at a state park type of place. It had a coastal feel to it because it was rocky and I don’t really remember seeing anything on the horizon. We were walking along a path that was made of rock and sort of jutted out on a cliff, but had been smoothed out much like a sidewalk.
While walking along this path, some woman - I don’t know if she was with us or we just passed her - started complaining of having a heart attack and dropped to the ground. Instead of sticking around to do what I could to help, I went to run to call for an ambulance. I had to leave to call because for some reason, I didn’t have a cell phone on me. I almost always have a cell phone.
To return to the car to get my phone, I remember climbing up crazy steep steps. When I got to an area that felt as though it was halfway to the car, I rounded a corner and saw two guys lying in the ground who had been shot. I didn’t stop to help because I thought whoever did the shooting was still hanging around. But I didn’t keep running to get my phone so I could call help for all three people. Nope, I ran back to heart attack woman to tell her that I couldn’t call for help on account of the two dudes who had been shot.
And then I woke up.
Analyze that.
On Tuesday, we were hopping. Three of our runs came back-to-back-to-back. Not only were we busy, but most of them were interesting in one way or another - usually a welcome thing. Yet, on Friday, with football games and parties and drinking and the tendency for people to fight with those they love, we almost pitched a shut-out. The only thing that kept us from the goose egg was a pretty boring medical call halfway through the shift.
The upside to Friday's inaction was that I had all night to sleep and that had been my plan when I turned off the light around midnight. Instead, I seemed to be awake at least every hour or so. Somebody called the wrong number - twice - to wake me about 1:30a. I rolled over a little while later to hear the other engine company on the radio in the next room over (I’m usually oblivious to that). And then there were the dreams…
I wish I could remember them all. I know I woke up at least three times because of the dreams, but I only remember part of one. I do know that none of them were pleasant at all, and I’m sure that further diminished the quality of sleep I got.
The one dream I do remember had me and some family member - maybe Jessie - at a state park type of place. It had a coastal feel to it because it was rocky and I don’t really remember seeing anything on the horizon. We were walking along a path that was made of rock and sort of jutted out on a cliff, but had been smoothed out much like a sidewalk.
While walking along this path, some woman - I don’t know if she was with us or we just passed her - started complaining of having a heart attack and dropped to the ground. Instead of sticking around to do what I could to help, I went to run to call for an ambulance. I had to leave to call because for some reason, I didn’t have a cell phone on me. I almost always have a cell phone.
To return to the car to get my phone, I remember climbing up crazy steep steps. When I got to an area that felt as though it was halfway to the car, I rounded a corner and saw two guys lying in the ground who had been shot. I didn’t stop to help because I thought whoever did the shooting was still hanging around. But I didn’t keep running to get my phone so I could call help for all three people. Nope, I ran back to heart attack woman to tell her that I couldn’t call for help on account of the two dudes who had been shot.
And then I woke up.
Analyze that.