Snovid's diary

Chapter 24. A Meeting By Appointment

I was engrossed in one of my recurring dreams, strolling along a beach in search of treasure and adventure. Even though I was looking at the surrounding landscape, I could not tell you whether I was at the seashore or at the bank of a small river. The transcience of the dream makes it so you have no time to think about such things. That was when, at a pier, I ran head first into a man. It was as if he had deliberately taken a step toward me in anticipation of the collision. I looked up at him. He was a tall man, about six feet, with a goatee and an odd, sly smile. He said:

- We were going to meet, remember?

Perplexed, I muttered:

- Meet? No, I don't think so. Why would we meet?

I thought I knew the man. My sleepy brain told me that it had to be my history teacher from art school, he looked quite similar... But why would he seek a meeting with me? I was confused.

- I'm sorry, I must have completely forgotten. We'll arrange a new meeting, I just have to think about it some more.

Without waiting for an answer, I walked away.

I sat down on a nearby bench and crossed my arms behind my head.

- What does everybody want from me?

I don't want to meet with any old teacher who comes along. Maybe I'd meet with one of my art teachers who I cared about, but why this guy? Why? And why had he said that we wanted to meet? I hadn't seen this man in 15 years! And at that moment, something in my head changed and a new image of the world took hold, reshaping reality.

It's a snovid! Of course it is! I made an appointment to see him? When? I don't seem to remember everything that happens at night.

I decided to get up and go back to him. He was waiting patiently on the pier. As I approached, and feeling bold, I ventured to make a joke. Joyfully, I said:

- Hello! I know who you are now.

The snovid smiled happily in response, I could see that he had been worried that I would not recognize him, and our meeting was jeopardized.

- You are my history teacher from school!

The snovid's smile immediately vanished, and a silent question took its place:

- What are you saying?

Immediately, I tried to correct my error in judgment:

- It's a joke! I'm sorry, I thought it would be funny to you. Of course I know that you are a snovid.

The snovid smiled again, and invited me to sit next to him. We sat, comfortably, on the wooden deck of the pier, side by side. A pleasant conversation ensued between us:

- I learned a lot about dreaming from Carlos Castaneda, are you familiar with him?

The snovid replied:

- No, I don't know him.

- Do you know any famous people from our world? Perhaps Albert Einstein or Nikola Tesla?

- Yes, of course! I like reading biographies and I know all about them.

- Is that so? Well, then you should read Castaneda's books as well, I'm especially interested in your opinion of them. Start with his third book.

- The third one?

- Yes, in the first two, he still mistakenly believed that his abilities, including lucid dreaming, are inherently tied to the consumption of drugs. Only in the third book did he realize his mistake.

The snovid nodded with a smile:

- I see.

- It's called Journey to Ixtlan.