Truckin'

I got back to my car after doing something, and it wouldn't start. I rolled down the hill I'd parked on in the alley, but because it was an automatic I couldn't compression start it, and came to a stop by a gas station. I figured I either needed a jump start or some gas, so I went in to the office to check about a jump first.

The man who came out to help me was named Stovlos, and he was old and short and round, with an accent. He went right to work on my car, which at some point became a huge U-Haul truck. He and his crew of young helpers were taking things apart and welding other things on while I wandered around the gas station.

At one point, there was a huge, maybe 10-foot high pile of pale tan teddy bears, with the movable joints, and all of these young people in bright green and red jackets (embroidered, I think, with the words Happy Holidays). Then the kids carted off the teddies before I could get a picture on my camera phone. But then the kids were walking through these tents, perusing tables like at a bazaar. I saw one pick up a paintbrush, and another pick up a blank wooden palette. I think they were supposed to be some sort of elves!

There was a display of sunglasses, and I tried on a huge pair with transparent pink frames, the lenses dark at the top and pink at the bottom. People who walked by laughed at (with) me. I looked in the mirror, and they were terrible! They made me look all squinchy. I was putting back a second pair when one of the young workers, the dark-haired one, came up to me, and I leaned back against him. He put his arm around my waist, and I let him walk with me until he went for the hem of my shirt, at which point I shook him off and went back to the truck.

Back at the truck, things were really apart, and I was nervous. It looked like they had cut some sort of hole in the ceiling in back--I guess to get to the attic! But as I was standing there, they managed to start the truck up. So we all got in; I think we were going to get some lunch and/or return the trailer. I figured I would treat since they had all worked so hard. Stovlos was driving, and I was sitting in the back of the truck with the blond helper, who wasn't as attractive as the dark-haired one, but was friendly in a shy way. I guess Stovlos couldn't turn the truck around, because he decided to back out of the alley, at top speed. The blond guy and I had windows we could look out of, and we seemed to be the only ones who could really see what was going on. At the end of the alley, before we hit the road, were gigantic--20 foot--asphalt hills and valleys, like a roller coaster. Stovlos hit them at high speed, and I was sure we were going to get high-centered or otherwise stuck, and screamed the whole time. Until we hit the road, and were fine. I looked over and the blond boy had tears in his eyes, so I hugged him and put my head on his shoulder and he reached up and played with my hair.

Once we hit the road, Stovlos kept driving backward, although it was easier on a smooth surface. Looking out the windows, we saw dolphins jumping out of the water! I think we were driving by Lake Michigan, so I don't know how there were dolphins there, but there were. We seemed to be heading north, but I had no idea where we were going or why, and decided just to go with it. I asked what time it was, and the blond guy told me it was 8:30. "Eight thirty a.m.?" I asked incredulously. "Cross my heart!" he responded, and I think he was actually serious. It was dusky outside, and I couldn't figure that one out. As we drove through the city, outside eateries were packed with people.

We finally stopped so that Stovlos could drive forward instead of backward. He came up to where the blond and I were sitting, which was then the front, and I scooted into the middle so that he could drive. He immediately started going, and nearly got us squashed between two lanes of traffic, as the right lane was ending. "The light was blue when I started," he said by way of explanation.

My exams start today at 10:00, and for an anxiety dream, this one wasn't actually so bad!