"When God gives you AIDS, make lemon-AIDS!" -- Sarah Silverman
i was in a pet shop with zaike because my parents sent me there to buy a new pet. it was pretty dingy and all of the animals were super-small compared to how they're supposed to be in real life. in the back, there were these kittens running around a bird cage and they were proportioned as kittens, but really really small. they fit in the palm of my hand. i couldn't decide which one i wanted and i was going to get a brown one with weird, yellowish eyes and a black one, but i just ended up getting the black one. then, as i was about to leave, i saw this little black foal in a dog cage. it was proportioned like a foal, but the size of my husky-dog. i was like "ohh! i want to get him so bad! i don't care what my parents think. i'm buying this horse."
then, there was some strange period where zaike was asking me what breed it was and he was being really "you don't know what you're talking about" and making me feel like an idiot. weirrdd.
so i get home and my home is now a crappy apartment in new york city. i put the horse in the dog's old crate (nice, huh?) and let the kitten roam. it's nighttime, so i crawl into bed and fall asleep. my bedroom is three walls with only room for a queen-size mattress. a floral shower curtain sections it off from the cluttered, crappy hallway.
i wake up at about 6am because my little sister's friend, fiona, is standing at the foot of my room/bed. she giggles kind of maniacally, while holding onto a beaded chain hanging from the ceiling and says "it's time to get up!" i'm like "SHIT! i'm going to be late for the dance!"
so i'm running around, trying to find my dress, shower, and get un-grimy. in the mean time, my parents are nagging me saying that i'm not taking care of the animals. they made me call the vet to see what i needed to feed the horse -- it was so stressful!
i take a shower at some point, am about ready to leave and go "shit! i forgot to dry and straighten my hair. chafin's going to be SO pissed. i look at the clock and it's 7:30, i'm like and hour late." "erin!" my parents nag "your ride is here. hurry up!"
then this random girl from my school is in the kitchen (which looks vaguely like jenny weinholtz's kitchen, if you know here) and fiona and my sister, kati, are there too. the girl gives me a pink paper bag full of cheap presents (candy, etc) and a condom falls out with the rest of the stuff. i roll my eyes and hide it before my parents can see.
then, kati's friend gives me a graduation card from her family, the colemans. it says all this "Happy Graduation!" stuff and then inside it's like "congratulations to our irish niece!" and says all this irish stuff and has pictures of irish people... so random! and so much money! so i got even more stressed out and thought "shit, one more Thank You card i have to write."
so i finally get my shit together and get out of the house. we turn out to be living in downtown nyc, something like manhattan. i'm walking for about block and these two random guys come up to me and start walking on either side. they were chatting it up with me, and before i knew it, the guy on my left and i were arm in arm like good friends.
at the same time, we turned to each other and say "do you know chafin sey--oh! you do!" he says "yeah, yeah. chafin's a cool guy. i can't believe you know him." i say "of course. yeah, i'm supposed to meet him at this dance, but i'm late and i don't really know where it is. actually, can i use your cell just so he knows i'm still coming?"
the guy gives me his phone, which is the exact same kind as my parents' cell phone, cingular, dark blue & brick-like. the screen itself is normal-sized, but the display is a thin strip down the middle and a digital black outline of the boy taking pictures of himself with his cell phone. i start pressing the up and down buttons, trying to get to the menu.
we take a right onto a quiet, cobblestone street. suddenly, the boy rips the phone out of my hand and throws me onto the ground. they both grab one of my legs, so i can't kick and stare at me. i try to call out for help, but all that comes out is a muffled wimper.
"are you trying to call for help?" one of the boys sneers "no one can hear you, and even if they did, do you honestly think they would come to your rescue?" i kept trying to call out, but couldn't.
at that point, i realized i was dreaming/started to wake up.
that was creepy. and what detail! my dreams are never happy. always bizarre, always a little scary. i wonder what that says about me.