Still Unconscious....

This next section is the second house I had a "dream" of while still unconscious.  When I arrived at the hospital that first night, the doctors did not think I was going to survive.  I made it through that night, but the pneumonia must have felt trapped like an animal and punctured a hole through my lung later that same week.  The prognosis was not good and the doctors expected me to die again.

As I laid in the bed, the blackness in my mind finally turned into a dream.  I was in a house that was not so lovely as the house on the lake.  It was located in the back of a dark cul-de-sac, and was the only house that was built there.  The wood was old and worn.  It was also gritty, smokey and dirty.

The people in the house were less appealing and perhaps involved in more sinister activities. There were orange and red walls with red and orange plastic beads in the shapes of teardrops hanging in all the doorways. Blue and gray smoke filled the air. A guitar solo was continually  playing, looping around the hazy atmosphere, never getting to the hook.

The host noticed me and said, “Hey man, welcome. Cool to have your presence amongst us.” He looked like Jimmy Hendrix. He continued, “We would be honored if you chose to remain amongst us. We could learn things from you Steven. We could learn about humanity. At the same time, we can teach you. We can teach you about acceptance.”

The guitar solo changed pitch and became more somber. The individuals in this house completely ignored me. The host was the only one who seemed interested in my presence. He took a big puff from a blunt that was just handed to him by one of the house's inhabitants. He let out the smoke after holding it for what seemed like several long minutes, and said as he exhaled, “Stay as long as you like. You need the rest. If you want to stay for eternity, that choice is welcome to you as well. If you decide to remain with us, only then will we interact with you. Otherwise, you will be left alone. Speak to me only and I will respond. The others do not see you as I see you. If you decide to stay, then you will be accepted as one of us.” The guitar solo became louder and rhythmic.

Like the other house on the lake, I was offered the chance to hang around for eternity, or could spend as much time as I needed to decide. I was a special guest here and was allowed to relax as long as I needed.

I certainly didn't want to stay in that house, especially if I blew a chance to spend eternity in a nicer house. It would be a great compromise staying in this blurry, run down house.

It did not take me long to decide.

My next memories are waking up very groggy in the ICU unit where it was explained to me that I had been very sick and lucky to be alive.

I was unconscious the whole month of February. Which is just as well because the nurses were complaining that it rained the entire month anyway.

That explained why my fingernails were so long and why I felt like I had been through a battle.