In my dreams

Last night I dreamed I was holding a football in my hands, but the football wasn't filled with enough air. I noticed an attractive man smiling at me--he was also holding a football. He assured me that his football was better than mine, that in fact, it was the kind the professionals used. He then invited me to meet up with him and his friends for a game of toss, and I accepted the invitation. When we all convened, the men began lacing up their sneakers--obviously, what I thought was going to be some mindless fun was serious business to them. When I looked down and noticed I was barefoot, I felt unprepared to play.

Soon we were all inside a grounded airplane tossing around the ball with my daughter, then suddenly, without warning, the plane shot off into the sky. I was taken off guard, I felt as if I'd been deceived or tricked, I felt in danger.

The plane eventually leveled off, but I was still uneasy. I saw my mother's deceased friend Carol holding a book, looking out the window. She got up, strolled passed me, turned and said, "Katie, it's just an illusion."

"What's just an illusion?" I asked, "Flying?" Carol smiled, nodded, and walked away.

I wondered where the plane was going, I wondered when it would land, and I wondered why I hadn't been warned before takeoff.

Just then I looked out of the window, and through the clouds I saw the top of a playground swing. The clouds quickly cleared and revealed that the plane was still on the runway. I turned to my daughter. "We never even left the ground," I said.

Just then the pilot announced that it was indeed a joke, that the entire flight had been simulated.

It didn't matter that I had a deflated ball, or that I wasn't wearing shoes, or that I was ill prepared to play the game. It didn't matter that I had been deceived or that the pilot betrayed my trust.

It didn't matter because when the clouds cleared, I saw that I was never in danger;I had always been standing with my feet on the ground, and the rest... it was just an illusion.