A dream... It was only a dream.

I had a strange, disturbing and almost scary dream last night that I am having trouble letting go of. It started that I was at my best friend's wedding (not someone I know or recognize from the waking world). It was in an auditorium, kind of like a high-school auditorium, with a stage, curtains and seating, only the walls were a bright yellow and the hardwood was a light, and beautiful, shiny wood. I was out in the very back seat, waiting for instructions because my friend had asked me to be part of her wedding. I was not there in a bride's maid or maid-of-honor capacity, but I just had this feeling that whatever it was she wanted me to do would be super special. (I should have had my clue there, right? I mean, I thought if this person as my best friend, yet I was not a bride's maid or maid of honor? A little thought provoking in and of itself, eh?) Anyway - all of the sudden, the lights went low and everyone got silent and then out onto the stage came the entire wedding party. No procession, no preamble, nothing...just "Oh lookie. There they all are." I remember being very hurt and turning to my seat neighbor (again, don't know who that was) and saying, "I just knew something like this would happen. She doesn't care about me. She could care less that I'm here to help her or that she asked me to be here!" And with that, I grabbed my backpack (yes...backpack) and stormed out of the auditorium, making sure to make enough noise so as to disturb the happy little group of folks on stage. Ok. So now I'm outside and, with the magic of dreams, am wearing jeans and a sweatshirt - but I still have the backpack. I'm making my way across a darkening parking lot (sun going down) and as I come upon my little burgundy Toyota Corolla (yes, the car I drive in the waking world) I notice the front driver's side door is open. I'm curious rather than scared at this point, but I cautiously open the door all the way and peek inside the car. I look behind the seats to make sure no one is hiding there and then I see a graying head on the far side of the car by the gas cover. I holler, "HEY! What the **** do you think you're doing?" The dude pops his head up and looks shocked to have been caught. Hmmm...had he really not heard me stomping, ticked off, across the parking lot in my heels? (The heels had vanished by this point, too.) Brave, I stormed around to the other side of the car, thinking I'd use the steam from the anger at having been humiliated at the high school auditorium wedding. I got right in this guy's face and demanded he tell me what he was doing. Not a young guy, but not old, either - he was probably in his mid to late fifties with graying hair. Otherwise, he had a somewhat forgettable face...so his features didn't stand out enough to remember. He said some lame thing about testing the gas in my tank, and waved his hand in the direction of a bunch of little bottles and test trips that I'd missed seeing during my angry trip around the back of the car to confront the guy. I wasn't buying it and then, suddenly, I got scared. REALLY and truly scared. I guess my self-protection instinct started kicking in, and I began backing away but by then it was too late. He grabbed me by the upper arm, and dragged me off. The next thing I remember is that I'm in this big, but old-feeling house, with lots of white-washed walls and paneled rooms. There is a phone in my hand and I'm desperately trying to call Hubby (yes, Hubby from my real life) but for some reason I cannot get the numbers to punch in right and I keep making wrong number calls. Finally, though - I get the number punched in right and he answers. He's abrupt and asks if he can call me right back, but I SOB at him, "NO! Don't hang up. Pleeeeaaaassseeeee don't hang up, I neeeeeeeeed you. I'm stuck. I'm in trouble. I don't know where I am but I think I've been kidnapped!" I remember at this point I looked outside and I could see the guy and two kids (older kids, like teenagers) loading stuff into the back of a truck with a camper cover, using one of those sliding things that sets up at loading docks with all the wheels on it. You know, the things that make sliding heavy or big packages really easy? I don't know what they're called. I knew at that point that I was getting ready to be loaded into a big box and then loaded into the back of that truck.... ...But then Hubby's alarm went off (in real life) and he rolled over and said, "If you're going to take a shower don't you think you should be getting up now?" I'm still shaken up. TTFN JMS