Prosaic Poppy 2005-2006

Tea and Toast

I was surrounded by people from my high school days. It was some sort of strange reunion, but they gathered outside my bedroom window on Silver Bell Rd, the place where I grew up.

Eventually it became time to leave. Leave to where I was unsure, but everyone else was going.

The way out was up, and then down again, a set of iron stairs with slatted steps.

Everything was going fine until I reached the top. I was struck by a paralyzing fear of going forward. At first it wasn't so much fear as hesitation, but the more I thought about going down those stairs, the more I couldn't move.

The people behind me couldn't wait any longer, and started pushing past me...I backed up against the wall, and held tight to the railing.

Then one of my classmates saw me, and stood there with me. Just talking.
I started to feel okay again, and began to inch my way to the first step down. And then it happened; the railing began to come free of the wall, and the stairs started to tilt to one side.

My only options were to go down the stairs as I should have, or fall away into the nothingness below. I began to move down the stairs. But as soon as I did, they started to escalate upwards. I saw my childhood friend S and her children being carried upwards. Her girls were wearing Sunday dresses.

Finally, my classmate assured me well enough that he remembered me, so I jumped onto the escalator as well, and there at the top, everyone was seated at a table eating toast and drinking tea.

posted by Kassi Gilbert @ 8:37 AM