In a different city ...

I was teaching first grade in a strange classroom, one I had never been in before although I knew all of the students.

It was a tiny room, and a few of the students were sitting on a long wooden bench against one wall. No one seemed to have all of their books, and so I was putting small groups together so they could share.

A man came in to observe, which was fine -- I've had observers lots of times. I showed him where to sit. The classroom noise seemed a little loud to me, but I ignored it, pretending it was normal.

One of the boys was sitting at his desk with no clothes on except for his briefs. I asked him where his clothes were and he muttered, "They took 'em." "Who's 'they'?" I questioned. He didn't want to say. He seemed embarrassed and even a little afraid.

Two of the other boys motioned me over and told me that there'd been some trouble recently with a group of older, tough kids. I went back and asked the child if he was cold. He said that he was O.K., so I told him he could stay. The rest of the class didn't seem to notice anything different, so we went on with our lessons.

While having lunch in my office, I decided I'd go out and walk for awhile. My calves had been sore, and I figured that I needed the exercise.

First, tho, I needed to put something on. (One of my favorite things is being in the altogether when I'm alone and in private.) So, I grabbed my robe and headed out with just a huge smile on my face! It wasn't quite noon yet and I had a little more than half an hour to enjoy myself.

Once outside, I went directly across the sidewalk into the Boy Scout building. For some reason, I had never been inside before. The first room I went into had lots and lots of dogs in it ... all different kinds ... some with their puppies.

It wasn't a dog show or anything like that -- no handlers, no leashes, just a very benevolent-looking man sitting on a straight chair towards the side of the room. I figured he must have been there to watch over the dogs and play "show and tell" when visitors arrived.

Several minutes passed before I was able to make my exit from the room. I was getting sniffed like crazy, and then there were all these doggie demands to be petted and held.

On the way back, I was going down the sidewalk when I noticed (what looked like) a road rage incident occurring right beside me. Two high-rise (don't know the proper terminology) trucks seemed to be trying to force each other to topple over. To make matters even worse, they both had trailers behind!

I scurried up on the grass to get out of the way and watched as one of them rammed into the other from the side. (My mouth was wide open, I'm sure, in astonishment!) I couldn't believe it when, just a few seconds later, both drivers jumped down from their cabs, grinning like crazy. One said to the other, "Gotcha!" Evidently a common occurrence with those two.

Well, time was now a factor. I only had ten minutes to get back to the school, and I had to make a stop at a locker where I'd stored something earlier. I sure hoped my glasses were in there!

Just before I got to the storage place, a man came up to me and said, "Excuse me? I've been hoping you'd come back. These are yours, I think." And there they were, my glasses! Evidently I'd stopped to have coffee and chat with him earlier, but I hadn't remembered. I'd been totally focused on getting back to my class on time.

Then he said, "I know we've just met, but I wondered if you're doing anything in particular Saturday night? The hotel just down the street hosts an 'open to anybody' event. People get together, talk, maybe have a drink or two, and dance. Do you like to dance?

I usually go by myself and have a good time. But, I thought, after our conversation earlier, perhaps you might be interested? It wouldn't have to be a 'date' or anything."

"What time does it start?" I asked. "9:00" I said, "Listen, I've really got to run. I'm going to be terribly late! I'll try and make it ... and, by the way, I love to dance!"

And I took off, running, clutching my robe around me. A few moments later, I stopped for breath and glanced down again at my watch. It was almost 12:45!! My class was supposed to have started at 12:30 ... ... ...

... ... I woke up with a start, but thank goodness I woke up. It would never do to be terminated in a dream!