The first thing I recall was heading toward a school from the outside.  I was with several people. We were visiting from out of town.  I was feeling a bit sprightly, so I decided to hop-hurdle a rebar construction-like fence that was on the other side of the street once we had crossed.  The other people decided to go around and use the sidewalk.  I‘m not sure whether any actual construction was going on– there wasn’t any in that moment in that specific location, as it only crossed my mind as I recorded the dream that I assumed the fence would have been serving a purpose, but it was easily dealt with.

Then we entered the school, and in my mind I was there with a clear purpose: I was doing a piece, commissioned to write an article about why there were so few black/ethnic minority students at this school.  Once I was inside and looking around I noticed the obvious demographic homogeneity, and began my investigation with an informal interview with a girl passing by on foot.  I asked, “Why so few black people here?”  She replied, “We just have time for them.”  I kept making my way through the main central hallway, then arrived down at the other end where a small group had assembled for the purpose of a small meeting to discuss the project.  I sat down and opened a traditional 3-ring binder.  A girl to my left suddenly came over with a piece of metal that matched the internal metal components of my binder.  She was thinking perhaps some piece from my binder had broken or fallen out.  I noted the obvious similarity in the construction and concluded it probably came from the same manufacturer, but my binder was completely intact.  I opened my rings, then one particular piece of metal stood up straight about 4” perpendicular to the table.  That was obviously a bit weird, as one would usually expect the rings to remain curved.  While it was extended I remember catching the end of it on my hand as it passed by during a natural gesture; it didn’t hurt so much as just draw my attention to having caught a brief ‘snag.’  Then the focus was on the group’s conversation.  No one had any answers.  I shared what I had heard from the passing girl just a few minutes before, insinuating a bit of disappointment that the general consensus was less concerned about it as being a real problem.  I began to suspect we were in a heavily white area to begin with, which might have gone a long way to explaining the situation.  I verified with the group, “Where are we again– Indiana?”  I knew for sure we were in the Midwest, but wasn’t 100% confident in which state; perhaps it could have been Illinois or Ohio, but for these purposes probably not mattering very much.

There was a transition to me being in the driver’s seat of my black VW Jetta.  I was parked on the grounds of what appeared to be an elementary school complex, seeing several buildings with similar architecture: red wooden sides and black roofs, somewhat victorian style, fit with steep roofs like a cross between a barn and a church.  No one was around, which I thought was a little strange. It was a rural location– there were no streets or pavement, just smooth ground covered in short golden grass.  Suddenly the car started shaking and rocking back and forth.  It persisted for more than a moment. I heard some rumbling so I assumed it was an earthquake.  As it went on I wondered if it would keep escalating in amplitude, perhaps split open a crevasse in the ground and swallow me up.  But then the car started spinning around and drifting across the field.  This made me think it was more likely a tornado or severe wind storm.  I again imagined a worse-case scenario where the car would be lifted into the air and hurled into the unknown.  I was confused because I looked around for other evidence of the wind storm but didn’t see it– no flying debris, no severely swaying trees. As the car was sliding it suddenly was drifting toward some woman who was walking by; I was a bit surprised to see anyone outside, and I hoped the car didn’t slam into her.  I figured I had drifted over toward a residential area neighboring the school grounds.  The woman’s presence coincided with a calm in the storm.  I either opened my door or rolled my window down.  At first I was like WTF is going on? She was like Oh, that stuff, it’s nothing.  I guess it was just me then.  Then she proposed we go out drinking together, and that she would be offering to buy, up to 18 beers.  I looked at her with a bit more curiosity and noticed she looked a bit ‘rough’, like maybe spent more than a healthy amount of free time at the bars, which resulted in premature aging of her face.  I’d say she was probably around my age but looked worse for wear.  I was not thrilled at all about the prospect of drinking so much, then told her I was a real light-weight these days.  She smiled and said “Great! Cheap date!” and gave me a peck on the cheek.  So I agreed to meet her later for a drink, feeling somewhat obligated since she had helped calm things down and was so friendly.

There was a transition, and I was in an apartment or some kind of temporary living space, with my law school roommate Derek.  I remembered that I had accidentally double-booked myself for the evening.  I already had an original date set with an Asian lady whose name was Mia, so I asked Derek if he wouldn’t mind subbing in for me for an hour or two while I slipped away for the date with the other woman.  I remembered Derek tended to like Asian girls so he would probably enjoy the time out with her.  He agreed.  Then the focus became on the preliminary logistics of getting showered up and ready to go out.  I went around to the bathroom area, which connected to Derek’s side of the apartment.  I discovered the tub was full of soaked blue towels.  I wondered if Derek had used them all, or had some plan for them.  Then I discovered that Derek’s side of the apartment, which was connected to the bathroom, was a lot better quality than my side.  This was sort of ‘news’ to me, since I had assumed this was a 50/50 type of arrangement, but my side was obviously more meager, run down and only suitable for temporary accommodation, while his was more plush and genuinely comfortable.

Then the scene transitioned to being out on the street in with a small group: myself, Mia, and some of her family members, and Derek.  I just recall there was some back and forth, like a bit of confusion about which restaurant we intended to go to.

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