Soul Dancing with the Brass Band (The Brass Band Series) (11 page)

I read the request form, pulled the book from the shelf and just let it fall open. I had created a habit of reading a few pages from each book I pulled for him. It was food for the imaginary game I play
ed with myself.

In our action-oriented society, when a man lies down to sleep, he is effectively out of the picture. He will lie still for six to eight hours, not behaving, thinking productively, or doing anything significant. We all know people dream, but raise our children to regard dreams as not real, unimportant. Thus most people are in the habit of forgetting their dreams and on occasions when they remember them, they usually regard them as mere oddities.

What are we to make of a person who takes exception to this general belief, who claims to have experiences during sleep or other forms of unconsciousness that are not only impressive to him, but which he feels are real?

My mind drifted back to the dreams I so often had and realized that they were of the
feels real
type. Intrigued, I gingerly held the book in front of me and let it fall open again.

His unequivocal knowledge will change his position relative to nature and the universe. He will know death is not final, but a passing from one body into another. He will understand how this is possible and that there are an infinite number of variations in the spectrum. He will then realize what the dreams have been trying to tell him all along.

I read on for a while trying to digest the information and wondered if my dreams were giving me insight about past incarnations. I wanted to talk to Dr. Edwards in the worst way; based on his reincarnation research my guess was that he was an expert.

I found the elevator that took me to the second floor. It was getting late and time for me to head home. With only one more book to find, I exited the elevator trying to recall my dreams.

It was a pleasant surprise to find Ruth busily cooking a fragrant meal from her little cookbook.

“Let me guess,” I said, sniffing the air and tossing my backpack onto the couch, “tuna casserole.”

“Probably, but that’s not what they call it in my book. We would never have anything named casserole at my house and if it was actually a casserole, the staff always named it something French.” Laughing, she pulled a tuna casserole from the oven.

“Hey, Hillary, did you send that email to the boys?” Ruth asked casually as she walked though the kitchen door holding the dish with her hot-mitts.

“The boys! Is that what we’re calling them? And yes I did.”

A gush of excitement came bursting forth from Ruth and she ran to the table with the casserole dish out in front of her. As she tossed it on the table, she almost screamed.

“Well don’t keep me in the dark! I’ve been dying to know what you decided to say!”

“Well, I hate to disappoint you, but there’s not much to tell. I’ll let you read the email I sent if you promise not to give me grief. It’s the best I could do. And last time I checked, I didn’t have a reply.”

“Well, get your laptop over here,” she ordered. “We can do this while we eat.”

I was not looking forward to tuna on my keyboard, but Ruth was out of control.

“Okay, okay! Calm down,” I said as I turned on my computer.

“We have to get a faster connection speed,” she said tapping her fingers on the tabletop. “Open, open, open!”

Once I opened my mail, I clicked on the letter I had sent to Will. Ruth turned the screen to face her and read it out loud with her mouth half full.

“Don’t talk, Ruth. Didn’t your parents teach you manners? Swallow that first.”

She chewed in a frenzy and swallowed hard. “You gave George my email address! I’ve got to check my computer!” she exclaimed while running off to her room. When she returned with the laptop, she had it balanced in one hand and turned it on with her other.

“Sit down, before you sprain something.” I moved her plate swiftly out of her way.

“I’ve got mail!” Ruth clicked and her face fell. “I’ve got mail from my mom. Damn it anyway.”

“Oh, give it a while. Maybe they haven’t even seen each other yet. The only thing we know for sure is that somewhere out there in cyberspace, there is an email I sent to Will. Maybe it hasn’t even been opened yet.”

I was being as cheery as I could for Ruth’s benefit. I guessed she liked George more than she let on. We finished dinner with both computers keeping us company, open and ready for email, but by bedtime nothing had happened.

“Sorry Ruth,” I yawned. “I’ve got to get some sleep and I still have some work to do on a paper. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Okay, I’ll do the dishes. I’m not tired yet,” Ruth said, sweeping her computer up as she walked into the kitchen. I picked up mine and headed for my room.

I LOVE being in bed
alarm free
, under a pile of covers and sleeping until I wake up naturally. Tomorrow was Saturday and unless something drastically changed between bedtime and 8 a.m., my big plan was to sleep in and dream to my heart’s content. I’d been a lucid dreamer for as long as I could remember, but without much ability to remember them. But since I’d discovered
the mystic messages from the books
, I intended to pay more attention.

Excited about my other world adventures, I slid my computer off of my lap, fell back on my pillows, pulled my covers up around my chin and bade the world good bye.

Sept 23, 35 A.D.

My dear mare is sleek with sweat and I can hear her pant as I lean forward, low over her neck forcing her to run faster. Together we rarely lose a race. And today in particular, we will not lose to Liam. Liam is my best, life-long friend and I am out to prove to him that I am the better horseman. Pulling ahead, I slowly turn to smile at Liam, watching his hair blow back from those amazing blue eyes...and hear
…

Sept 24, 2010

“You’ve got mail!”

I was reluctant to wake from my dream, but decided to roll over and through one open eye, looked at the time. It was 4 a.m.!

I considered closing my eyes and returning to my mare. She needed to be rubbed down and I still needed to gloat over winning the race. I was not ready to leave the boy, my best friend…what was his name? Trying to remember his face…the dream faded quickly and I was unable to hold on to it.

As I re-entered this world, I remembered what woke me up.
Damn it, this better be good!
I shook myself awake and pulled my computer onto my lap.

This was actually great! The email was from Will and the subject line said, “My reply to follow.”

I threw off the covers, pulled down the old t-shirt I was sleeping in and gathered my computer to go find Ruth.

“Hillary, I got an email and I’m afraid to open it!” Ruth blurted as I almost ran headlong into her and her computer as I opened my bedroom door.

“No, you’re not!” I said. “You’ve just been spending too much time in those drama classes of yours! Besides, I’ve got one, too.”

We both began jumping up and down like we were on a bed of hot coals.

“Who first? You or me? Let’s flip!” Ruth blabbered, totally out of control.

“Do you have a coin in those pajamas of yours, Ruth?” I asked.

Believe it or not, she did. I was totally surprised by the fact that her pajamas had pockets. I mean really - what for - beyond the occasional coin toss?

“Heads, I go first,” Ruth said as the coin flew into the air. “Damn, it hit the floor.”

I watched it roll under the coffee table and knew instantly this was going to turn into a long ordeal.

“Don’t do anything, Hillary! Let me see if it’s heads or tails.” Ruth was down on all fours, trying to see the coin in the dark.

I flipped on the light and Ruth said, “It’s tails. How could that be? Statistically it should be heads, shouldn’t it?” she asked, looking up at me.

“Get up, Ruth. You’re wasting time. I’m opening my email.”

“No, wait for me!” she cried, as she scrambled to her feet and raced to sit beside me.

“For heaven’s sake, don’t make me hit delete by accident. Let go of my arm!”

She dramatically locked her arms to her side as I clicked the email.

Dear Hillary Rubner,

You are cordially invited to attend the Fall Mixer

“Under the Full Moon Celebration”

With William Emerald

September 30

Location: the Campus Commons

11:00 PM

Please RSVP

Lengthy explanation to appear in person,

Sincerely Yours,

William “Will” Emerald

I see Ruth’s hand move and then hear a click.

“We’d better be going to this party together,” Ruth said as her email opened. “Wait for it….YES!”

Dear Ruth Witherspoon,

You are cordially invited to attend the Fall Mixer

Under the Full Moon Celebration with George Elliot

September 30

Location: the Campus Commons

11:00 PM

Please RSVP

Sincerely Yours,

George Elliot II

“Cool, what does one wear to a full moon celebration? Ruth, are you listening?”

“Nope, I’m composing an RSVP.”

“Are you going to send it now?” I asked in frustration. “They’ll know we were up at 4 a.m. reading their emails. Do you really want them to know how geeky we are?”

“Oh Hillary, they’re going to find out soon enough. I don’t want George Elliot the Second to get another date,” she said as she hit send.

“Sweet dreams Ruth. I’m waiting until morning.” I escaped back into my bedroom and floated off to sleep hoping to return to my dream.

I slept until the smell of coffee drifted into my dreams.

“Okay, okay I give!” I yelled as I made myself vertical.

“Get out here and drink this coffee before it gets cold. I’ve got a salt bagel with butter for you. I’m waiting.”

Imitating a zombie, I opened the door, and walked slowly toward my coffee cup.

“Oh, cut it out Hillary. You’ve slept ten hours. Get in here and write your RSVP. They’ll probably wait for both answers before they email us again.”

“Okay Ruth, let me wake up and get my thoughts straight first.”

She went into my room and walked out with my laptop. “Here you go. I’ve turned it on for you,” she said, setting it down by my bagel.

“This might take me some time to write. Stop breathing on me. Go sit down and I’ll let you read it before I send it. Shhhhh.” I pulled the computer
toward me and stared at the screen.

It took me one hour and three cups of coffee to type sixteen words.

Will Emerald,

I gladly accept your invitation. Please advise the location of meeting.

Yours truly,

Hillary

“Ruth get in here, I’m going to send it. And I don’t want any crap about how long it’s taken me to write this!”

Ruth read it over my shoulder and laughed.

“Shut up, Ruth! This was all I could think of to write.”

“That’s the same thing I emailed to George last night and it took me 30 seconds to come up with it.” Ruth shook her head to imply I was simple.

“I think we should walk over to the Commons today and scope it out. No one will be there on Saturday. Seriously, Hillary,” Ruth said when she saw me roll my eyes. “This way we’ll know which way to make our grand entrance for the biggest affect. The 30th is next weekend.”

“Okay, but I need a shower first.” I took my coffee into the bathroom and set it on the counter. The hot water ran over my head for a good ten minutes until it turned cold. If Ruth wanted a shower she’d have to wait twenty minutes for the water to heat up again. I dressed and went out on our little deck to let the sun dry my hair.