Mammaw on Mars
I woke up this morning from this crazy dream about my Mammaw. In my dream, she had not died in 2005 as in real life. Somehow, she had left the nursing home and joined a group of explorers/vacationers who were going to colonize Mars or the moon or Venus or something. At some point, my brain settled on the idea that they were living on a meteor of some kind that was orbiting the earth. This whole experience made her seem decades younger; in pictures that came back, she looked to be in her fifties or sixties, with red colored hair, and none of the health ailments that afflicted her in her actual sixties seemed to bother her. But she didn't write much; she was very busy. I mostly kept up with her by talking to other family members, like my aunt, who had more regular correspondence with her.
But then conflict occurred: the meteor on which she was staying was about to, itself, get hit by a meteor. And if that happened, her small planet would likely be knocked out of orbit, causing it to plummet toward Earth, breaking up into millions of pieces of space trash. And all the colonists, or at least a group of them, along with my Mammaw, had just gone back to the meteor after a trip back to Earth, and they had been dropped off on the wrong side of their planet. They should have been dropped off on the other side, the side not vulnerable to the meteor. And now they had to be rescued, but the time was so tight: would the rescue helicopters (yes, helicopters going into space) make it in time to grab the colonists before the meteor hit their meteor? And what could be done to prevent the colonized meteor from destroying the earth? If the colonists couldn't be saved, the military was going to have to destroy their meteor before it hit earth, colonists and all.
Somehow, I was suddenly on the meteor with my Mammaw. I was searching for her pieces of identification for the ride back. I found a passport, and a Book of Common Prayer with her name engraved on the front, and some school compositions. My Mammaw was showing me how she was practicing throwing her body back onto the ground and turning her head a certain way that might protect her if the meteor hit. Suddenly, one of her friends called out to me to get away from the sliding glass door I was sitting next to, because the meteor was imminent. I scooted away, and my suitcase that was still next to the door was smoking.
Then it became clear that we had to get up and run away. The helicopters were coming, but they weren't stopping to pick us up. They were heading to the meteor, to shoot it down. There were helicopters and airplanes. We were running, and hopping on a bus, and then hopping on a boat, and speeding away as fast as possible.
Then we saw the impact of the meteor hitting our meteor. It must have hit in the water, because there was an enormous splash. Then the waterway on which we were fleeing began to swell with the ripples, and then draw back. We knew there was going to be a tsunami, then, so we got off the bus/boat and hunkered down in a large apartment building full of natives, waiting for the tidal wave to hit. But then it never did. We all celebrated by eating fried rice.
But then conflict occurred: the meteor on which she was staying was about to, itself, get hit by a meteor. And if that happened, her small planet would likely be knocked out of orbit, causing it to plummet toward Earth, breaking up into millions of pieces of space trash. And all the colonists, or at least a group of them, along with my Mammaw, had just gone back to the meteor after a trip back to Earth, and they had been dropped off on the wrong side of their planet. They should have been dropped off on the other side, the side not vulnerable to the meteor. And now they had to be rescued, but the time was so tight: would the rescue helicopters (yes, helicopters going into space) make it in time to grab the colonists before the meteor hit their meteor? And what could be done to prevent the colonized meteor from destroying the earth? If the colonists couldn't be saved, the military was going to have to destroy their meteor before it hit earth, colonists and all.
Somehow, I was suddenly on the meteor with my Mammaw. I was searching for her pieces of identification for the ride back. I found a passport, and a Book of Common Prayer with her name engraved on the front, and some school compositions. My Mammaw was showing me how she was practicing throwing her body back onto the ground and turning her head a certain way that might protect her if the meteor hit. Suddenly, one of her friends called out to me to get away from the sliding glass door I was sitting next to, because the meteor was imminent. I scooted away, and my suitcase that was still next to the door was smoking.
Then it became clear that we had to get up and run away. The helicopters were coming, but they weren't stopping to pick us up. They were heading to the meteor, to shoot it down. There were helicopters and airplanes. We were running, and hopping on a bus, and then hopping on a boat, and speeding away as fast as possible.
Then we saw the impact of the meteor hitting our meteor. It must have hit in the water, because there was an enormous splash. Then the waterway on which we were fleeing began to swell with the ripples, and then draw back. We knew there was going to be a tsunami, then, so we got off the bus/boat and hunkered down in a large apartment building full of natives, waiting for the tidal wave to hit. But then it never did. We all celebrated by eating fried rice.