Finding My Way

Last night, I had an interesting dream.

In the dream, I was a teenager and I lived in an area that was full of green, lush landscape and had lots of tree-lined paths to walk along. Robert was a teenager too and my best friend.

He didn’t come to school one day, and I had the worrying feeling that he was sick, so the next day, instead of going to school, I got my horse out for a ride and decided to ride out to his house to visit him. My horse was a very contrary one though, and he would sometimes stop for no reason or would randomly turn and trot in the opposite direction than the one I wanted to go in. After a while of getting nowhere with my mischievous horse, I climbed back off of him and decided to walk while leading him instead. He was a very affectionate horse though, and I wasn’t angry with him. I knew it was just his way of playing.

Because my horse had taken me in the wrong direction, I had to pass by my school in order to get to Robert’s. As I passed the school, other students were outside socializing before the bell rang. Someone had started throwing candy bars and sweets all over from above as a way of celebrating their birthday. Teens were scrambling all over to collect as many of the chocolates and candies as they could. I saw a handful of lollipops and decided to collect them because I was in the mood for something sweet but I didn’t want anything as fattening and bad for me as chocolate.

As I walked past the school, another girl who knew me came up to me and started walking in step with me. She chattered away about many topics, and I wasn’t really paying attention. I was still worried about Robert. A young boy who was physically handicapped walked over to me. He had trouble controlling his muscles and walked with a funny gait. His head leaned over to the right, and he wasn’t able to speak clearly. He indicated that he would like a lollipop.

The girl beside me told him to go away. But I gave him a lollipop. He smiled and I walked on. A girl, afflicted with what appeared to be the same thing as the boy came up to us. She also indicated that she would like a lollipop. Again, the girl beside me told her to go away. But I gave her a lollipop. She smiled her thanks, and I walked on.

The girl beside me said, “If you keep giving them away, you won’t have anything left for yourself.” I thought about her words for a brief moment, but realized that the idea didn’t bother me.

My horse nickered at me and nudged gently at my back with his nose, and I knew he was telling me that he was ready to go for a ride again. When he asked me like that, I knew he would behave himself, so I said “Goodbye” to the girl and climbed back onto my horse and continued on to Robert’s.

The path was a wide dirt path that was lined with trees and shrubbery. The birds were chirping in a chorus of different bird voices. The sunlight was just barely breaking through the tree leaves, leaving dappled sunlight scattered randomly around the path. I had the feeling that Robert would be okay. It was very peaceful riding along the path to his house. Then I woke up.