Parking Lot Pursuit

Dream

I’m attending college, but it’s taking place in my old elementary school building, and all the people are from high school (basically all of my school experiences mixed together). It starts in Mr. Hladky’s P.E. class, and we are playing softball. Kirk (twin #1) and I are captains, and I pick Ryan (close friend) and Adam (twin #2) to be on my team. Kirk picks a team with most of the traditionally athletic kids on it, but my team still ends up winning. Later we are finished with class for the day and Kirk and I are discussing our plans for the future. It is near the end of the school year and we are also close to graduating. Kirk says that he only needs to take two P.E. classes next semester to graduate, and I comment on how easy that is going to be. We somehow find ourselves in Mr. Gunderson’s math class. Mr. Gunderson is sitting at a desk in the middle of the room and is tossing a ball into the air and hitting it with bat. Students are scattered around the room working and the ball is flying over their heads and bouncing off walls but they don’t seem bothered. I catch the ball and refuse to give it back to Mr. Gunderson in a cheeky manner. Trisha is there (a girl I had a massive crush on in high school) but I’m too awkward to acknowledge her. I leave Kirk there and head for the exit. I realize that I still have Mr. Gunderson’s ball, so I go back into his class and set it on Kirk's desk. Back in the hallway I find Nathan, Brad, and others (high school acquaintances) walking in a group. I walk with them and just before exiting the building they all break into a run. I do the same, but soon realize that they are running from another group of kids (which includes Chase, who had one of the strongest personalities in school) and by joining them I have become guilty by association. When I blow through the doors I start heading for my truck which is parked fairly close to the building. In doing this I separate myself from the other kids, who run to the far end of the lot. The pursuing kids all follow me, likely due to some predatory instinct to single out your prey. I jump in my truck and quickly start the engine, but the vehicle is already surrounded. They are banging on the sides and rocking the vehicle back and forth (I don’t feel physically threatened and only think they are trying to embarrass me), but I’m able to pull out and start driving through the parking lot. I drive at a speed much too high for how many people are present and for some reason the speed increases my turning radius by a ridiculous amount. My tires are squealing while I struggle to make it around the turns in the lot, but I have to stop before I hit some parked cars. The person in charge of parking tickets is standing before me. He stares me down and shakes his head at my reckless driving, and I worry that the kids chasing me are going to catch up while I’m stopped.

Analysis

I’ve always dismissed the appearances of Kirk and Adam in these dreams as just people I used to know, but the frequency that these identical twins are appearing hints at deeper meaning. These two had nearly opposite personalities while having very similar physical appearances. This indicates a certain duality of personality and the strength of outside influences on how a person behaves. I can’t put anything specific to this idea but I think there’s something to it. Softball makes another appearance, which isn’t surprising. It is my favorite sport, I took a softball class in college, and I was the captain of a rec-league team for a couple years. Trisha is probably here as a bridge between softball and math class since I had memorable interactions with her in both those settings (she was on my team one year, and we used to play cards instead of doing math work). Mr. Gunderson was a good target for my attitude of senioritis. As a senior I assumed a very cocky and cavalier attitude, and my close relationship with Mr. Gunderson only increased this behavior. I had a feeling that I had learned everything that the school had to offer and this gave me plenty of confidence. The chase scene at the end of the dream shows my feelings about joining groups. When you associate yourself with people you can become answerable for their actions, even if those actions took place before you joined them. This is why I don’t like joining clubs or organizations. I want people to judge me solely on my own behavior and not on some preconceptions for a group I belong to.

Auguries

Based on the softball game, an underdog will come out on top.

Author's Note: We've had a format change to reduce redundancy, unneeded information, and lame puns.