life on the fence

absurdity in the middle of the night

i was walking down a long, dimly lit corridor toward a row of pay phones. the phones were old style, the kind that makes the clanging "chink" sound as you pluck your quarter in. i chose the second in a row of eight. i remember the line of phones being full, as if those phones were people's only connection to the world outside that corridor. i dug in my pocket for change, which is funny because i hate change and hardly ever carry it. my fingers found the quarter and dropped it in the slot.

this is where it really got weird.

suddenly the phone started spitting out quarters. given a different setting, you'd think i had dropped a coin into the quarter slot at argosy and hit it big time. everyone in the row of phones stopped and looked over. i remember blushing terribly, fearful that they thought i was some unsavory character trying to purge the phone of its cash. i gathered up the coinage and what was left of my coveted anonymity, and headed to what looked like a series of three teller windows at the end of the corridor.

i stepped up to the first window where a large woman with a tall blonde beehive was sitting, chomping away on what was probably three-hour old gum. i nervously explained to her my story - that i was just trying to make a call, i didn't mean to get all this money from the phone, i'm a good person (honest!), and i just want to make the situation right. her response came in the form of some unintelligible language (pig latin perhaps?). i tried to communicate, but simply couldn't get through. i looked over her shoulder at another teller who just rolled her eyes.

in the end, i think that i was able to turn in the phone bounty to the other teller and rush away in utter embarrassment at the whole situation. i can't quite remember that part. at that point i'm sure this one was fading and slipping into another, equally pointless and strange subconscious adventure.

weird dreams = weird blog entries.