1
Have you ever had a dream which, during the dream, felt totally and completely real?
I woke up about a half an hour ago from one of those dreams, and I must say, it was extremely disappointing that the dream wasn't real. It started off with me doing something I used to do all the time as a kid. I went down to my dad's garage with a quart sized Mason jar in hand, asked if I could go digging around in the cars for any loose change or items of value, and if there were any cars to steer clear of.
For the record, I've had some great finds in cars that my dad has bought outright off people. Generally, when someone sells my dad a car, they don't bother to clean it out and tell him it's his problem. This has lead to such finds as: 1. An entire glove compartment stuffed full of $1-$20 winning scratch tickets, totalling up to nearly $800. 2. A trunk full of books and PC games including Starcraft, the Diablo 2 Battle Chest, and the entire Harry Potter series at that point, consisting of books 1-5. 3. A set of Homestar Runner coasters, sealed in plastic that I still use to this day. 4. Someone's MTG trade binder which held a dozen or so cards worth $15 or more.
Dad told me, (back in my dream) that all the cars were his at this point, (sometimes he puts customer's cars down there if they haven't picked it up and it's been a few months) and that I could take anything good that I found. The dream began like every other time I've gone looking through the cars. I went through the ash trays and cupholders digging out small amounts of change before crawling in the back seat and checking those little pockets attached to the front seats to see if there was anything good in there, to popping the trunk and generally finding nothing but a spare tire, but occasionally finding a few books or other items of interest and throwing them into my backpack.
I specifically remember getting into the front seat of one car and reaching into the cupholder to grab the change there only to realize that it's previous owner had spilled a bunch of soda in with the coins and they were now sticky and stuck together in a near-solid clump. I threw as much as I could dig out into my jar of change, then opened my backpack, pulling out a bottle of rubbing alcohol and a rag I'd brought with me, using them to clean my hands. I'd done this plenty of times before and knew how to be prepared. I remember saying to myself, "Well, when I get home I'll just throw it in a bowl with some vinegar. That should take care of it. And besides, money is money."
It was then that I saw the van. It was one of those giant, windowless Ford vans that when someone sees it, they expect to find, "Free Candy" spray painted on the side. Except this one was bigger. It was a bit taller, slightly wider, and much, much longer, as if someone had decided to make some kind of pedophile stretch limo. I opened the side door, and immediately spotted something that made me excited to see what else the van would hold. There were fishing poles, four if I remember correctly, leaning against the door on the opposite side. Tackle boxes were sitting on the floor, and bolted to what appeared to be a homemade stand between the front two seats was a small, flat-screen TV. Now, this TV didn't make me question the validity of what was going on at all. You wouldn't think that anyone would be stupid enough to leave a flat-screen in their vehicle, let alone a bunch of fishing gear, but I've seen things worth a lot more than that just sitting in car trunks before.
I looked to my right and realized that behind the seats here, someone had built a wall with an opening that would serve as a door on the left side. I walked through it and what I saw should have immediately tipped me off that this was a dream. The remainder of the van had been sectioned off into this back room, and in it was the gaming room I would make if I was rich and for some reason wanted a gaming room in a stretched-out windowless van. A much larger flat-screen, I'd estimate it at about 42", was attached to the side of the van, and below it sat an average sized entertainment center which was completely filled with game consoles. There were PS1's, a PS2, a PS3, a Sega Genesis, a Dreamcast, an Xbox 360, and every Nintendo console from the NES to the Gamecube. To the right of this, there was a giant rack bolted to the floor containing dozens of games for each system, organized alphabetically by console. And this was just the left side of the van.
On the right half, there was what appeared to be a children's cash register toy, but when I opened it up, it had about fifteen $10 bills stuffed into it. Next to that, a rack full of DVD's and books. (I completely forgot to mention until now, but the floor was carpeted, and the walls had been painted black with a multitude of stars painted onto the roof and walls, many of which depicted various constellations.) There was a large plastic container further towards the back, and I immediately went to check it out. Upon opening it, I discovered that it was absolutely full of MTG starter decks, duel decks, and various other sealed product. Random booster packs were floating around in the box, as well as quite a few loose cards. I began to go through them, and only two things happened that made me not question this moment. I swear I could feel the cards in my hand as I shuffled through them, and most of the cards I was going through weren't in any way amazing. It was what I expected to see in a box of random bulk cards. Lots of commons, a few basic lands, very few rares, and even some of those weren't worth anything. I pulled out the few good cards I found and set them aside.
The last thing I remember about the dream was laughing and saying, "I'm gonna need a bigger backpack!" and then immediately smelling something awful, like someone had just farted directly in my nose. I closed my eyes, asked, "God... what IS that?!" and when I opened my eyes, I was laying in bed with my dog sitting on my chest and breathing straight into my face.
I woke up about a half an hour ago from one of those dreams, and I must say, it was extremely disappointing that the dream wasn't real. It started off with me doing something I used to do all the time as a kid. I went down to my dad's garage with a quart sized Mason jar in hand, asked if I could go digging around in the cars for any loose change or items of value, and if there were any cars to steer clear of.
For the record, I've had some great finds in cars that my dad has bought outright off people. Generally, when someone sells my dad a car, they don't bother to clean it out and tell him it's his problem. This has lead to such finds as: 1. An entire glove compartment stuffed full of $1-$20 winning scratch tickets, totalling up to nearly $800. 2. A trunk full of books and PC games including Starcraft, the Diablo 2 Battle Chest, and the entire Harry Potter series at that point, consisting of books 1-5. 3. A set of Homestar Runner coasters, sealed in plastic that I still use to this day. 4. Someone's MTG trade binder which held a dozen or so cards worth $15 or more.
Dad told me, (back in my dream) that all the cars were his at this point, (sometimes he puts customer's cars down there if they haven't picked it up and it's been a few months) and that I could take anything good that I found. The dream began like every other time I've gone looking through the cars. I went through the ash trays and cupholders digging out small amounts of change before crawling in the back seat and checking those little pockets attached to the front seats to see if there was anything good in there, to popping the trunk and generally finding nothing but a spare tire, but occasionally finding a few books or other items of interest and throwing them into my backpack.
I specifically remember getting into the front seat of one car and reaching into the cupholder to grab the change there only to realize that it's previous owner had spilled a bunch of soda in with the coins and they were now sticky and stuck together in a near-solid clump. I threw as much as I could dig out into my jar of change, then opened my backpack, pulling out a bottle of rubbing alcohol and a rag I'd brought with me, using them to clean my hands. I'd done this plenty of times before and knew how to be prepared. I remember saying to myself, "Well, when I get home I'll just throw it in a bowl with some vinegar. That should take care of it. And besides, money is money."
It was then that I saw the van. It was one of those giant, windowless Ford vans that when someone sees it, they expect to find, "Free Candy" spray painted on the side. Except this one was bigger. It was a bit taller, slightly wider, and much, much longer, as if someone had decided to make some kind of pedophile stretch limo. I opened the side door, and immediately spotted something that made me excited to see what else the van would hold. There were fishing poles, four if I remember correctly, leaning against the door on the opposite side. Tackle boxes were sitting on the floor, and bolted to what appeared to be a homemade stand between the front two seats was a small, flat-screen TV. Now, this TV didn't make me question the validity of what was going on at all. You wouldn't think that anyone would be stupid enough to leave a flat-screen in their vehicle, let alone a bunch of fishing gear, but I've seen things worth a lot more than that just sitting in car trunks before.
I looked to my right and realized that behind the seats here, someone had built a wall with an opening that would serve as a door on the left side. I walked through it and what I saw should have immediately tipped me off that this was a dream. The remainder of the van had been sectioned off into this back room, and in it was the gaming room I would make if I was rich and for some reason wanted a gaming room in a stretched-out windowless van. A much larger flat-screen, I'd estimate it at about 42", was attached to the side of the van, and below it sat an average sized entertainment center which was completely filled with game consoles. There were PS1's, a PS2, a PS3, a Sega Genesis, a Dreamcast, an Xbox 360, and every Nintendo console from the NES to the Gamecube. To the right of this, there was a giant rack bolted to the floor containing dozens of games for each system, organized alphabetically by console. And this was just the left side of the van.
On the right half, there was what appeared to be a children's cash register toy, but when I opened it up, it had about fifteen $10 bills stuffed into it. Next to that, a rack full of DVD's and books. (I completely forgot to mention until now, but the floor was carpeted, and the walls had been painted black with a multitude of stars painted onto the roof and walls, many of which depicted various constellations.) There was a large plastic container further towards the back, and I immediately went to check it out. Upon opening it, I discovered that it was absolutely full of MTG starter decks, duel decks, and various other sealed product. Random booster packs were floating around in the box, as well as quite a few loose cards. I began to go through them, and only two things happened that made me not question this moment. I swear I could feel the cards in my hand as I shuffled through them, and most of the cards I was going through weren't in any way amazing. It was what I expected to see in a box of random bulk cards. Lots of commons, a few basic lands, very few rares, and even some of those weren't worth anything. I pulled out the few good cards I found and set them aside.
The last thing I remember about the dream was laughing and saying, "I'm gonna need a bigger backpack!" and then immediately smelling something awful, like someone had just farted directly in my nose. I closed my eyes, asked, "God... what IS that?!" and when I opened my eyes, I was laying in bed with my dog sitting on my chest and breathing straight into my face.
That happens to me all the time! Usually it involves me getting out of bed and getting ready for my day without ever actually leaving my bed or opening my eyes lol