Dream LIII

I was at a large convention center, and after hearing some noise from the upstairs section of the main lobby, I climbed the stairwell to investigate.

Several people in colorful uniforms claimed they were members of an old (and rather forgotten) rock band who were going to have a reunion concert. They asked me to stay to listen. I wandered over to a nearby area to await the concert, and I sat at one of the chairs there.

Each of the chairs had a sheet of puzzles on it. To pass the time, I decided to try my hand. The first puzzle was to find the word “HOME” in a list of famous people’s names. Before I could begin, the seats started filling up with other attendees. It turned out this area was reserved for a teacher’s group, and was being taught by a heavily-accented white-haired man. I thought as long as I didn’t draw attention to myself, I should be able to stay and work the puzzles.

But the first thing the teacher did was call on me to solve the first puzzle. I told him exactly where I found HOME in the first name. He shook his head and said I was thinking like a teacher, and I need to think like a student.

Right about this time, he called for a break and I thought I’d look around a bit more. I left the convention center and followed a winding cobblestone street up a large hill. There were little cottages lining the street. Two of the teacher attendees followed me.

When we decided it was time to go back, I pointed to a side road and said I thought it would get us back more quickly, so the three of us decided to take it. It went through a much more tree-lined area of the village, finally bringing us to the edge of a swampy area bordering a set of brick buildings. There was a narrow fence with a foot ledge going across the swamp, and I said we should probably take that.

One of the teachers mentioned alligators and pointed out one swimming near the fence. I looked around and saw that there were a lot of them, concealed in the weeds and algae. There was also an exotic type, called a dragon, that had several long branches coming from its back. It curled those up and down as it settled in the moss to rest.

I pointed out a group of beavers that had swum up to the edge of the fence to watch us, and the alligators weren't bothering them. A teacher pointed out they weren’t beavers, they were people, but as I looked closely I couldn’t tell.

The two teachers decided to go back the way we came, and I decided to go on the fence trail. I rapidly shuffled along, worrying (when the shelf went a few inches into the water) that I looked a lot like sometime alligators would like to eat. But no alligators bothered me.

Eventually I came to a darker area of the swamp, and the fence ended. The ground here was solid, but covered with a thick white fog that did not rise more than a couple of inches. I made my way toward the daylight I could see in the distance and finally emerged near the convention center.

The concert was taking place. The teachers were upset because there were dozens and dozens of the musicians in their uniforms, all making an incredible non-musical racket. The noise was pretty unlistenable, and I decided the band had been deservedly forgotten.