The Art of Dreaming

Demoiselle

I sat down on the stool and began to choose marbles to make my bracelet with. I choose my favorite 20 and then picked what I would use out of them. There were a group of us, 4 other blurry people and myself. A woman put her half-finished bracelet down and headed for the door.

"Sa bua bua yoon. Toob acha ein." She said.

I waved at her as she left and picked her bracelet up to complete it. We had to share the workload here or nothing would get done. I developed a fire in my belly as I finished her bracelet and started asking the others if they wanted me to finish theirs too. I was willing to help all I needed to. One of the others didn't take kindly to my offer though and stood up out of his stool. He pointed at me beckoning me to the dance floor. I walked out as music started to play from speakers that sat in the corner. 

All of our coworkers were surrounding us now grooving to the music. I was staring the confronter in his face as he pranced fancy footwork around the floor. This was a special responsibility I had to carry out. I started to 2-step side to side as I waited. There were limited participation in these kind of dance battles, just two employees going at it. The song thumped hard in the background.

"We are one, we're not becoming one." the musician sung.

It was by the band Bird Paradise; who were now where the speaker used to be. The other guy stopped dancing with a point in my direction and I jumped to the middle of the dance floor; I froze. I could beat this guy by pulling out all my best dance moves or I could not dance well and lose. I didn't know which one I wanted to do. This should have been an easy decision but it was so easy it was making me suspicious. What if I was wrong and I should lose the dance battle. I would feel ashamed and naive for taking the best shot at the wrong answer. I didn't start this contest so the actually goal could be different then simply winning it.

I let my body drop into a cross-legged sit and fixed the robe around me. Today was the day my class would finally pick between the two styles of our temple. Ancestor meditation and past-life meditation. There was an interview and introductory period that I would have to pass as well. The abbot began to speak explaining the clear assignments each path presented. 

"Ac eam iu yaa." the abbot said.

It was true that many people that didn't make this program were forced to live in old abandoned warehouses. Becoming increasingly less caring every year that passed. I could crash and burn this chance, but seeing as our temple was 1000 years old I thought I would try my best not to be a burden. The school had established accountability for its students, ran effective classes and had a high trust amongst staff. The abbot walked into a door and his assistant called for the first student to meet him. I sat amongst the rest of this robe-wearing crowd and waited for my name to be called. One by one glitchy figures walked into the room and walked out again after a minute. I heard a beep when the assistant called my name. I stood up and walked into the room.

"I gathered all the data you asked me to." I told the man in a hat.

It was definitely time for action, the last time we met must have been years ago. The world was starting to change in ways that would be incurable if this continued. The wall behind him was the glass to a giant fish tank. A bunch of salmon swam around the tank. To his credit the guy had style. The blue lights shone behind him creating almost a spotlight. I passed him the folder in my hand and watched him file through it. Glitter burst out as he pulled out each page, turning it and placing it on his desk. By the end of reading the file his entire face was covered with glitter. He took a pen and started to sketch something down. When he was done he handed me the paper and pointed to the door. I looked at the paper as I walked out, it was a woman.

This must have been another member of the team, I subtly started to protect the paper now. I nodded at his assistant as I left the building. The assistant made a hissing sound back. It was a completely different time now, the moon was in the sky. I placed my phone on the ground and stepped on it. It started up and I began skating down the road to my next destination.