Dream #1: The Last Day at Little Creek

Dream: I’m heading to the Base in Little Creek (major operating base for the Amphibious Forces in the United States Navy's Atlantic Fleet).

The familiar roads feel surreal. I’m on my way to my soon-to-be-demolished old language school, my home for 25 years.

I arrive and see Margaret and Shanon, my trusted assistants for so many years (loyalty, shared journey). The building feels hollow, like a ghost of its former self.

Everything in our office is packed in boxes. This is it, our last day before the school is demolished.

The silence is heavy. There’s a strange, eerie stillness hanging in the air. I walk to my office and take it all in.

Suddenly, a former student, a Navy SEAL (Sea, Air, and Land Teams (SEAL) came to say goodbye. He looks at me with conviction and says he can help reinstall the program. 

For a moment, hope stirs. But deep down, we all know it’s futile. The wheels have turned. Shanon, Margaret, and I are sad. But there’s also a strange calm; we’ve already resigned ourselves to the inevitable.

Then, the scene shifts. We’re all at a SEAL reunion, laughter and old camaraderie fill the room. I notice a former boss showing off his wealth, flaunting it like a trophy. Beside him is his wife. She looks almost grotesque, heavyset, malformed, and yet, he’s clearly in love with her. There’s tenderness in how he speaks to her.

They're about to travel to Europe together. I stand there, watching, confused by the contradictions. And then I wake up.