911: "We don't answer these calls in the apocalypse."

 

God, I hope this isn't the start of another series of prescient fire dreams. I've had a couple of fire dreams in the last year, but here's another one.

I was living in a bit of an odd location, which was somehow still my current address, only a slightly different configuration, such as, it was a partial duplex or multi-unit dwelling. 

At some point I was down in a garage/basement/laundry room and I noticed a big, bright-eyed fat puppy. He was your typically exuberant rolley-polley little chubby baby type. I had a moment of "awww.." and I was about to chide him lovingly for being where he shouldn't. 

But before I could give him my full attention, I spied another. Then another. And another. All in all around six not identical, very small, very cute dogs. They were mostly puppies, but there may have been a teacup griffon or yorkie thrown in. Such a motley crew. They all descended upon me, zombie-like, intent on licking my face.

There was only one thing to do. I lay down on the floor and prepared for total immersion cuteness. I lay there for a moment or two just enjoying my wriggling fur blanket of tongues, tails and panting little faces. Eventually, I decided I'd better get up and find out where the breach was. How did I wind up with a laundry room full of someone else's pups? 

 

I went upstairs and found that my next door neighbor, a bit of an elderly eccentric slob, had left her balcony door ajar. The pups had wandered out, probably seeking a less filthy dwelling. She gazed out at me from her clutter, clutching one lonely little yorkie, who appeared too old to make the escape, but was looking longingly at me.

"You appear to have lost a few," I said. I wasn't very hopeful and backed away from the mess. I made a mental note to deal with the puppies later.

Meanwhile, back in my dwelling, I was eating a sandwich, or trying to, with some company that I had over. She was a somewhat more with it older lady who reminded me of the grandmother on Young Sheldon. I think she had brought me the sandwich. 

We were eating at the counter when suddenly, out of the back window, someone noticed a spot of orange on the hill.

"Did that just happen?" I demanded, my voice rising shrilly in alarm.

"I think it was lightning," my guest replied.

I watched as clouds gathered around the mountain ominously. The fire grew exponentially in seconds. The next thing I knew there were little spot fires all over the hill. I ran to the phone.

"Has anyone called 911?" I was in full panic mode, unable to control my shrieking. 

My lady guest seemed unconcerned as she continued to eat her sandwich. I was torn between really wanting to eat mine and being really, really freaked out at the impending firestorm. I took a few more bites and picked up the phone. 

The phone was a push button dial phone and all of the other numbers had been taped over except for 911. I struggled to dial the number, my fingers all jittery from adrenaline.

"We're hiding," a voice answered, after a long period of silence.

"Excuse me?" I asked, incredulous at the unprofessional response. "Is this 911? I'm trying to report a fire at 3624 Stonehedge," I said, getting the numbers all wrong. I corrected myself and gave him the right address. "Hasn't anyone reported it yet? This is looking bad, and we need to get out of here!" I bellowed into the phone.

"We don't answer these calls in the apocalypse," was the sense I got from his casual tone. "I don't know, maybe they did, maybe they didn't. You best just get going. We won't be able to do anything about this one."

As he spoke these words, I saw fire spotting directly in back of the house and creeping around the sides, as well. As much as I wanted to finish my sandwich, I got the sense that if I took one more bite, I might not make it out alive. It was time to run to the car and leave everything behind. 

I had a sense that I'd be forced to make another choice like before, when I had to leave Sharon as a fire was enveloping our property. I think it was the puppies this time, and not Sharon, but her name did come up, so she may have been in the dream, just out of the picture.

I never got to finalize my evacuation plans or even make it out the door. I awoke in a bit of an elevated state of anxiety and was thus saved from the rest of the fire apocalypse dream.