Tuesday, January 27, 2015

The Reality of a Dream


Thank you to Two Writing Teachers for creating a place to share our Slice of Life.  Read more slices or add you own here.

Dreams fascinate me.  I often wonder what triggers them, especially when I wake up remembering one that is bazaar.  Three of my most common dreams involve teeth, tornadoes, and wrecks.

In my tornado dream, we survive one only to come out and look at the damage and get hit by a second one.  I am pretty confident that this dream is triggered by my fear of tornadoes.  These dreams usually start when tornado preparedness week is shown on TV.  Not a good time for me.

I had braces as an adult, and even at the age of 51, I still wear my retainers at night. When I was wearing the braces, I began dreaming that my teeth would fall out.  They would just crumble out of mouth.  My hygienist says this is common with people who wear braces, but it has continued for many years.

We live on a dead end street with a basketball goal at the end and a ditch on the left. I dream that cars come barreling down our street and either run into the basketball goal or drive down the ditch and through the neighbor's yard, similar to the Dukes of Hazzard.

One of these dreams came true this week.

No, I did not lose my teeth.

No, southern Indiana did not have a tornado last week.  We can't even get any snow!

Yes, we had someone miss the dead end sign and wreck in front of our house. Typically, if someone is coming down our street, they are going to someone's house and are driving pretty slow to turn into one of the driveways.  We just don't get much traffic.

It was Wednesday morning and my husband and son were standing in the living room waiting to leave, when a car came barreling down our street.  Although there is a big dead end sign at the corner where cars can turn, this young man obviously didn't see it.  He must have been flying because there are skid marks where he applied the brakes, just a few feet away from the goal.  Luckily for him, he avoided the basketball goal and ended up going right and hitting a tree.  All three kids were very lucky.

Now that this dream has became a reality, maybe I won't have it anymore.  I can only hope.

15 comments:

  1. Scary reality! While I glad your other dreams didn't come true I enjoyed how you took me through them and your hypothesized genesis of them. Funny thing dreams!

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  2. Leigh Anne,

    By setting up your writing with you common dreams and then using the line, "One of my dreams came true this week," you created a momentum that made me wonder and look forward to the rest of your story. Thank you for sharing your sol!

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  3. No, I don't think this dream will vanish now that it has become a reality. You will probably relive it over and over. Glad no one was seriously hurt, but what was he thinking?

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  4. Dreams really are something else. I am one of those people who rarely remembers what I dream. My wife, on the other hand, remembers hers vividly. Love the way you brought your dreams around to a reality. Glad no one was seriously hurt.

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  5. Oh my goodness, how terrifying! I am so glad nobody was seriously injured! Don't worry - I don't think this is a sign that your teeth are going to fall out!

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  6. That photograph took my breath away - those folks were so lucky!

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  7. Scary. I wish you many sweet dreams. And may these become reality.

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  8. Oh, how I worry about teenage drivers! So glad everyone is ok. Now we just need to make sure your other dreams don't come true :)

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  9. Leigh Ann, the reality of your dream is a scary proposition come true. That would shake my boots at night. Today, during the Blizzard of 2015 a 17 yr. old went sledding and fatally crashed into a lamp post. I can't imagine what that family is going through right now. I wrote about my noticings and wonderings during the snowstorm but heard about this afterward. I hope I don't dream of this tonight.

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  10. Amy wrote about how you set up this story. Perfectly done! I was hooked! At the end, I almost wished that it had been just that, a story, and not a reality. Glad that everyone was okay. Sweet dreams for you from now on.

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  11. Oh my goodness Leigh Anne! What a scary reality! I, too, often wonder about reoccurring dreams. I have one about going back for my teaching degree because I didn't have enough credits. I'm always on campus fumbling around with kids, a baby, running to class, worring about dinner prep, etc. thinking that there's no way I'll ever make it to class on time. What's up with that? I'm certainly hoping the rest of your dreams lie dormant! ~Marcie

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  12. Wow! Yikes!! The photo really shows how close to a terrible disaster it all was! I never wore braces, but I dream about my teeth getting loose and falling out! I hate that dream! Dreams are fascinating.

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  13. OH NO! I hate anxiety dreams - and having one come true is not fun! I'm glad everyone was fine. :-)

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  14. Oh dear, I'm so glad everyone is okay!

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