Mirrored Images

A reoccurring Dream... 2006

Waking up a little sweaty I'd rub my head, baffled that I'd had a similar dream the night before. Nothing scary, horrifying or disturbing, really, just an empty house. A little house, a neutral color on the exterior, maybe a gray color. The inside was kinda dark with light only coming through the curtainless windows. The one room I always ended up in had that fake wood paneling and tattered books and toys on the floor. The only smell that I could make out was that of cat pee, it was so quiet and the sun was always hot. There was a tree outside and I could hear the few leaves moving in the slight breeze that would sweep through the dessert like landscape. No voices could be heard, no cats, dogs, just the breeze. Occasionally you'd hear the sandy dirt pick up and move across the yard. Although it didn't seem scary here in this place, a deep uneasiness was felt, like a ghost town with a bad history. A mystery of the past memories that were had in this little house. After waking up from this, I would go about my day without knowing the connection, I would look out toward the east and glance at the tan mountains and say to myself "I bet they came from there." Weeks went by, slowly my dreams became more and more detailed and finally I had to ask, I had to ask someone where these two precious children that slept in my house came from. Where did they play, what views did they see from their window, what was it like for them, were just a few of the questions running through my head. My mind was trying to create a past for them, not knowing their past was depriving me of sleep and peace of mind. So I got answers, just a few but I got some. The home they were taken from was located in the little town of Wendal, dusty and empty, it resembled a ghost town just like in my dreams. Nothing but a few houses and if I remember right a very small post office. To my surprise the house was also a neutral color, perhaps at one time blue, but had faded from the sun into a grayish color. There was indeed an icky cat smell that perfumed all the stuffed animals and toys. Some particulars were a pink princess bed without sheets just a towel and a caterpillar alphabet toy. There were rooms in the home with wood paneling but most startling of the comparison between my dreams and reality was the view out their bedroom window. The tan mountains that I would see so often and think of them were the very mountains that the little town of Wendal was nestled under. I was in disbelief, I couldn't believe that the images in my dreams were so accurate.