sometime in 2000 . . .
car problems
standing in the grass at the edge of a lake with several members of my family, I was showing them my new car. someone bumped into it, and it began to roll toward the water. I looked away, pretending I didn't notice, since I had no idea what to say to whoever had done it. when I looked again, the car was in the water, tail up, but not perceptibly sinking deeper. everyone was running toward it, and I followed.
when I reached the car, it was now lodged in an underwater cave that seemed to be made of colorful coral. I couldn't even see the car past the dark cave entrance. although I was on the shore and the cave was completely underwater, the opening was horizontal, and straight ahead of me. I saw a rope extending out of the cave that was attached to the bumper of the car, seemingly made out of a series of rags and towels tied together. despite the convenience of it, I expected that I would never be able to pull the car out of the water. when I started to try, however, the car slowly emerged. once I got it out onto the shore, I saw that it was completely undamaged--it didn't even seem to be wet--except for one wheel, which now spun free like a wheel on a shopping cart.
everyone else seemed to have gone away now, and having no other means of transportation, I had to drive my car with the broken wheel. to keep it moving straight, I had to drive backwards, and even then it was very difficult to control. to make it worse, I had to carefully examine the buildings on either side of the street. In doing this, I kept finding myself drifting into the oncoming lane, which made me very nervous.
somewhere on the way to my destination (a shopping center), I had dropped my car off at home and taken the old Suburban. it was not much better, however, since it had no brakes. any time I had to stop, I quickly looked around for something that I could run into to break my momentum--usually a tree. but at one intersection, I ended up running into a small car, which already had a large dent in its side. the car appeared to be made partially out of paper, and it was mostly destroyed.
I got out, annoyed and dejected that this was my second car accident in the same day. I didn't see a driver in the small car, but there was a shoebox on the seat with a mouse in it. since the mouse was now in danger, I picked up the box and walked toward the shopping center.
I entered a large insurance office. there were many rooms with large wood tables, and all of the furnishings looked very expensive and antique. most things seemed to be made of wood, including the shiny floor. the mouse's box had been damaged in the accident, so the mouse kept escaping. I chased it around the building through the different rooms while secretaries watched me, some in disgust, others in amusement.
finally, I found myself in an especially lush office. a very powerful man who was the owner of the agency (and of the crushed car and the mouse) was seated at a large wood table. I tried to be inconspicuous as I attempted to grab the mouse from between chairs that lined the wall, but the man started to laugh about the accident outside. He had some kind of proposal to offer me.
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