I had that dream again last night. You know the one, you’re back in high school. Or maybe you don’t. I’m not talking about, you’re 17 and reliving your high school days, I’m talking about, you’re 39 and you suddenly find yourself having to go back to high school.
I actually used to have this dream a lot when I was younger, but it’s been quite a while since I’ve had it. I’m not sure why I used to have it so much, maybe it had something to do with the fact that I actually failed 2 classes my senior year, but they let me graduate anyway, telling me that if I wanted to go to college I would have to make up the 2 classes at some point. Maybe I had it last night because I’m currently re-reading a book series that I originally read when it first came out back when I was in high school.
In any case, it’s quite frightening. Don’t get me wrong, overall I enjoyed high school. I had quite a lot of fun and it was a great time in my life. But being a teenager in high school is one thing, being a 39 year old, or 25, or 30, or whatever other ages I was when I had the dream, is quite another.
In all versions of this dream that I can ever remember, I’ve been forced to give up my job and become a full-time student again. As is usually the case, last night’s dream began with me driving my car to school and hoping that when I get there, there will at least be a couple of my old friends there as well. Sometimes there are, sometimes not. Almost always when there are, they look like they did back when I knew them in high school.
In last night’s version I pulled into the parking lot and found that there were 3 others there as well. One was a guy who I still see around once in a while and he looked like he does as I know him now. The other 2 were woman (actually girls) who I haven’t seen since high school and looked like they did in high school. Although I was friendly with all 3 of them, I never hung out with them, but when I saw them in the parking lot it was as if they were my best friends, I wasn’t going to go through this alone.
There was also a gaggle of current students there, and to my surprise, they not only knew who I was, but were treating me like I was some sort of legend. Now I was somewhat popular in high school, and I was certainly a legend in my own mind, but I was a little taken aback at how I was being treated by this group of young kids.
I never actually made it into the school this time. I woke up just as we began walking to the building; which is fine with me, because in past dreams when I actually did make it into the school it was a terrifying experience. I was forced to sit in class and learn things, things that I didn’t want to learn back then, and things that I still don’t want to learn.
So that’s it. My high school dream came back to me last night, or a version of it anyway. It had been gone for a while, but I can’t say that I was missing it and I can’t say that I want it back anytime soon, or ever again.
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2 comments:
A legend then and a legend now. Some things never change.
-CC
Cripes. I have that dream about six times a year. Usually it's high school, although sometimes it's grade school. I DO get into classes, though, and usually I'm sweating about not having done math homework.
At least I'm not dreaming about the meat market I worked at in Haymarket between the ages of 11 and 17 anymore - dreaming of going back there and having to put on my dirty apron and do another 14-hour day used to wake me up in a cold sweat.
Last night I dreamed that somebody forgot to pay the gravity bill and so I could jump about 200 feet and was having a blast doing that, but they had to turn it back on before the ballgame started. I might make a comic out of that one someday, so don't steal it.
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