My brain was in rescue mode last night, apparently!
I had three rescue dreams over the course of eight hours. I’ll probably need a rescue nap today, as a result!
LONGEST DREAM
The longest dream happened on an ocean beach above which, on the land facing the ocean, was a prominent bluff. I was positioned on the beach at the foot of the bluff. From where I stood, I could see the ocean in two directions, part of it running north to south, the other west to east.
It was twilight, the last half hour or so before the sun would set.
Around the corner on the north to south side came two little girls, hand in hand. I didn’t see any adults around. The older girl was about four of five; the younger one half her age.
I said, “Well, hello there!”
The older girl said cheerily, “Hello!” The younger girl remained silent, looking not at me, but at the sand at her feet. I wondered if she was perhaps autistic, nonverbal, or just extremely shy.
I offered a handshake to the older girl. She readily accepted and reciprocated.
When I offered my hand to the younger girl, she refused it, or didn’t see it. She didn’t move at all, or look up from the sand.
The older girl instructed, “Shake his hand.”
I said, “No, that’s okay. She should feel free to say no.”
(Too many children are forced to be friendly and allow touching at young ages, which is an abject violation of their bodily autonomy, in my opinion.)
I asked the older girl, “What’s your name?”
She responded, “Lydia.”
I said, “What a pretty name! What’s your sister’s name?”
She said something, but I couldn’t hear her plainly, so I guessed, “Bow?”
“No,” Lydia said. She repeated the name. I still coudn’t hear it, so I guessed again. “Doe?”
Lydia shook her head no.
With the waves in the background, I knew I probably wouldn’t be able to figure it out, so I stopped trying to get it right.
I asked Lydia, “Where is your family? Your mom or dad, or whoever brought you here?”
She said, “I don’t know.” She looked back over her shoulder but I couldn’t see anyone frantically looking for kids on the beach, or approaching in our direction, so I said, “Well, they’ll be looking for you, so let’s climb up this bluff so we can see from up there everyone who is on the beach right now.”
I knew the sun would set soon and that we needed to find their caregivers as soon as possible and the vantage point from fifty feet above was the perfect place to watch for frantic parents or siblings.
We climbed most of the way up, but the last part was pretty treacherous, so I said, “I’ll climb up first and then lower a rope down for you two to grab hold of while you come up the rest of the way.
Lydia said okay, so we did that.
When I got them both to the top, serious twilight had set in, and I looked at the beach below. Most of the beachcombers were heading toward campfires along the beach, but one couple looked like harried chickens and were heading rapidly in our direction, so I called out, “Are you looking for Lydia and her sister?!”
“YES!!!!!!” the woman yelled.
“Don’t worry! I have them! They’re safe!”
“OH! THANK! GOD!!!”
They started up the bluff to get their kids, so that dream ended there. Happy ending!
SHORTEST DREAM
The shortest dream had my Warner Bros. boss, Dan Kronstadt, and a lady in it. They were together.
I was standing about ten feet away from them in a home when a guy brandishing a gun busted into the residence.
I immediately bolted past them into an adjoining garage, hoping to open the mechanical garage door so the shooter would hear it open so I could divert his plan to shoot them. I figured if the shooter thought someone could get to him from behind with a gun, he’d think twice and come back around to confront the potential “attacker” (me). That would give Dan and the lady time to move out of harm’s way and maybe arm themselves or call the police. I realized it would put my own life in jeopardy, but it seemed worth the risk. Doing nothing would probably have gotten us all killed!
That’s where that rescue dream ended! Happy Ending? Well, no one died by the time it ended, so yeah!
THE THIRD DREAM
In the third (and last) dream, I was working as a newly hired office manager in an insurance agency. And I mean, my job there was just minutes old. I didn’t know the two gals who were there, and they looked utterly frantic. They had dark skin, but I couldn’t discern their nationalities or “races.” All I knew was that they were stunningly greatlooking and nervous as long-tailed cats in a roomful of rocking chairs. I wondered what they knew that I didn’t…yet. I planned to find out, and decline to stay, if it was something illegal or nefarious that our bosses were doing. (Yes, it was. More on that later!)
We were in a large room with a lot of desks and chairs. Suddenly, the room filled with at least 50 people of all creeds and colors, but mostly people of color.
I asked one of the gals, “What are they here for?”
“To work in insurance.”
“Are they trained, licensed, and ready to go?”
“We don’t know.” And they looked like they didn’t know what to do.
All righty, then!
I didn’t know what to do either, but I had to do something, as the new office manager, so I swung into action!
I introduced myself and asked them to raise their hands if they were already trained, licensed, and ready to roll.
A little more than half raised their hands. I said, “Excellent!”
Then I said, “And now, will the untrained,unlicensed newbies please raise your hands?”
They did so.
I said, “I hope you will team up with a licensed agent and learn as much as you can by shadowing them for a while. I’ll arrange to get you trained and licensed as soon as possible. And don’t worry. You’ll be paid while you shadow a licensed agent and while you go through the courses.”
I only hoped that was true. I was flying by the seat of my pants, as I hadn’t even met the owners of the place yet!
THE OTHER TWO CONTINUED LOOKING SCARED
I turned back to my office mates, and one of them beckoned me over for a private chat among the three of us.
I went over and they confided in me, “This place is run by a corporation that doesn’t care about their agents, their office staff, or about the clients we all bring in. All they care about is the Almighty Dollar. WE’RE (the two of them in that room) are being sued because someone who was supposed to have coverage didn’t, even though they paid for it for years, and WE are being sued for being the “face” of the organization that defrauded them! Not the bigwigs, we office workers, are going to be taking the fall!”
At that point, I knew I had to tell all these people not to pursue this line of work in this place for another second.
I turned to them and said, “I’ve just learned something about this company. It’s my fiduciary responsibility to tell you this is NOT where you want to invest your time and efforts. These ladies are not at fault. They’ve been had and we don’t want you to become another victim.”
Some in the room were so desperate for ANY work that they wanted to stay. I explained that I just couldn’t allow that, and how sorry I was that they had been led down a path that would only hurt them in responding to the ad they had answered by showing up.
That’s where that dream ended, with me wondering what to do to make sure the owners of the corporation got their heads knocked together and thrown into prison. I felt soooo sorry for the ladies left holding the bag, if I didn’t manage to obtain justice for them.