Dreams

I was driving in Detroit, and it was raining hard, with thunder and lightning. I decided to spend the night at my grandparent’s house at 7 mile and Woodward. I got there through the darkness, and when I tried the key in the lock, the door simply swung open. I was instantly on my guard, since the house is in a really bad neighborhood. I started to call out into each room, trying each door. They were all unlocked.

I explored the upstairs first and found things in perfect order. No people. As I went, I locked doors behind me, sealing the place back up. Finally, I got to the downstairs. I opened one door and found, maybe 15 homeless men sleeping on bedrolls on the floor. They started to rouse themselves, but I told them that they could stay until the storm ended. I was very clear that after the storm ended, they would have to go, but that they could stay for now.

I heard a knock on the front door. I went to open it, and two skimpily dressed women were there. One asked if I had any children, to which I said ‘no.’ She started to push past me saying ‘great! we’re gonna party here!’ I shoved them back out and locked the door, which I had apparently left unlocked again.

Time passed, and I was at a hotel at which Microsoft was hosting a convention. I was supposed to give a keynote, but it wasn’t clear what I was speaking about, or when. I settled down in the lobby to edit my slides, and realized that I had 181 slides for a 20 minute slot. Bill Gates wandered by and asked if I was ready. I smiled and told him everything would be fine. He said that was good, he was expecting great things.

Then I was driving, trying to get back to the hotel. I found myself driving through some really gritty neighborhoods, and finally made a desperate turn onto a road towards the Ambassador bridge to Canada. I had to brake suddenly for a barrier across the road, and I saw past the barrier that the bridge has been torn down, that the road simply ended. I made a U-turn to come back the way I had come.

A police officer, on foot, saw my illegal U-turn and stopped me. I rolled down my window and explained my situation to him. He offered to ride with me to guide me to the hotel, since he was walking home from his shift and going that direction anyway.