On the Short Story Written by My Brain

About a fortnight ago, I had what is now the third installment of a recurring dream. Rather, the theme is recurring, and the content changes ever so slightly with each iteration. In each subsequent chapter, my dream-self is aware the previous dream took place, and the story slowly develops whenever my brain decides to write a new chapter. 

The first chapter started off with a POV shot of me in my Mazda 3, shifting rapidly through the gears as I reflected on how fast my fellowship passed by. When I woke up, it took me a moment to discern my dream from reality, as this dream will soon manifest itself into reality.  

The next chapter was nearly identical, except for the fact I knew I had dreamt the previous car scene. In the second chapter I was fully aware of the fact I had a previous dream about being in my Mazda, reflecting once again how fast my time in Cambodia passed me by. It felt even more realistic as I was at home, thinking to myself the dream had become reality. But alas, I woke up. 

The third (and currently final) chapter in this book of dreams was unique in the sense there was no Mazda; yet I knew of the times I had dreamt about it. I was walking around a surreal, dreamlike version of home, filled with the desire to drive my Mazda and live out the dream I had had what felt like many times before. I'm excited to see what the next chapter will bring, as there is nothing quite like a dream you are sure will come true. 

It is hard to wrap my mind around the fact I am past the halfway mark. In my mental timeline, December is the end of an era, and January will start anew. At the time of this writing it is December 4th...and I still cannot grapple with the fact the fellowship will be over in a few short months. The adjustment period is long over, and there is nothing left but to do as much as we can with the strong footing Sydney and I now have.

I realized that many of the things I abhor about Cambodia, I will miss when I return to the states. Instead of complaining about the communication issues that simply wouldn't happen back home, I laugh. I laugh because they won't be there when I go home. There are many situations which are irritating in the moment, but if you just take a second and think about its impact a week, or even two hours later, you can laugh rather than get upset. If you stub your toe now, a week later you won't even remember it happened. And if you do, you'll most likely get a nice chuckle out of it.