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Fermius Firefly

A Dream Log, whenever I remember the dreams I've had.

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Location: San Marcos, United States

Fermius is a pen name drawn from a series of short fiction I wrote when I published the small press magazine Stellanova (on paper.) I play RPG games to escape from my daily grind as a technology wage slave for the state of California. I eat out a lot in order to do my part in supporting our increasingly service level economy. I am butler to 2 feline masters. If you ask them they will tell you I'm not very good at it, late with dinner, don't have enough hands with brushes in them, and sometimes I even lock them out of their office.

Friday, April 27, 2007

Retirement Dream

        I had a monstrously detailed dream that had almost no plot. I was at a High School Dance recital at my new work place. It was so crowded that we were sitting along the walls, trying not to block the exits. I was sitting next to some of the other staff members when a puppy came in and licked my hand.

        After the last number, the techs couldnt get the house lights on, or the stage lights, so they had to use the spotlights for their curtain call.

        I made my way to the director afterwards, and offered my help for her next production, explaining that Id had several award winning tech crews when Id been at the Mount. As we were talking I saw a student climb up a ladder to remove some gel frames, she didnt have gloves, and though the lights had been off a few minutes they were still hot. She jerked back and the ladder started to tip over backwards.

        Slide down the rails! I shouted and ran over to slow the ladders fall.

        The girl managed to slide down about two thirds of the way and the ladder crashed into the folding chairs in the house. She managed to ride the ladder down. She was still about eight feet in the air and clinging tightly to the ladder rails.

        Hang on, well get the ladder upright and you can climb down.

        She was actually only a couple of steps from the bottom of the ladder, which were now in the air. I selected the four largest kids, had one help me foot the ladder and had the other three go to the top of the ladder.

        I found that I had to explain the process of walking something up. Let gravity be your friend. We tipped the ladder back upright and the frightened tech stepped off. 

        The director was grateful that no one was hurt. She admitted that she could use some help. As I explained that Safety First was my tech teams first rule, followed by If you build it, they will come. The mood lightened a bit. I got into telling other crashing stories, and complemented the tech crew on their sets and decorations, my own weakness I admitted, being addicted to box sets that could be set up and taken down in short order, frequently we only had 4 weeks to mount a show.

        We try to have nine, or twelve weeks if I can get it.

        We always had two school wide productions, two semester class final productions for each drama class, and a student written and produced One Act Festival. I could tell there were some student writers in the tech and dance group, as there was lots of excitement over the One Act idea. And that was just the drama department. You have to remember, though, we had thirty six hundred students.

        Thats bigger than our whole town! said one of the dancers.

        Youre supposed to be resting! I heard a familiar voice calling to me.

        B and D, still in their Ren Faire garb gave me hugs.  I introduced them as photographers, actors and former students of the Mount, where I worked.

        They explained that they were at the Faire and had decided to surprise me, only to be surprised that I wasnt home. As they were leaving town they saw the signs for the HS dance recital, and guessed that if I worked here, I might attend.

        Great detective work. I was surprised, and happy to see them.

        I thought you were retired!

        Just working part time - keeping the media center going.

        Though he might be our new technical director, the drama and dance teacher chimed in.

        Just dont break him, hes supposed to be resting. B seemed genuinely worried. We have to take him away for food, I bet he hasnt eaten today.

        Im starved, chorused around the room.

        D and B stayed to help our students strike their set and we were out of there and off to dinner in short order. The students were funny, very obviously conspiring to make sure their director was seated next to me and not B, whod gone to my car to bring me my leather jacket.

        See, Technical Director, she showed them the stitching over the pockets.

        As a hold over from last nights dream, Little Red was still a sort of recumbent motorcycle, just fully enclosed. The students were interested in how it worked and how two people could ride in it, trying to coax their teacher into going for a ride with me. I ended up driving over alone to show D & B where the restaurant was. The owners had opened the place up just so we would have a place for dinner after the recital; their own two children were part of the cast.  We were early so D & B and I got to sit and chat while the kids played video games or went outside to pester the ducks.

        Except for Little Red, there was absolutely nothing out of the realm of the ordinary in this dream. It was very much an alternate universe, or future, hyper-detailed dream.

Ad astra per technica,

FF

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