Dream of: 18 March 2001 "Serrano Peppers"
My mother and I were picking serrano peppers. The little green peppers were dangling from bushy shrubs about two meters tall set in a row which stretched for about 30 meters. Other people on both sides of the row were also picking the peppers, and most of the best peppers had already been plucked. I was mostly finding small ones which other people had passed over. Or by kneeling down on the ground, I was able to find some larger peppers at the base of the plants. A heavy-set black woman picking near me was obviously trying to grab as many of the peppers as she could before I could get to them.
When my mother and I had finished picking, we carried our bags to our car and got in. We now had to go and pay for the peppers. My mother climbed into the front seat behind the steering wheel, and I got into the right hand side of the back seat. My brother Chris was waiting for us in the car, sitting in the left side of the back seat. My mother started up the car and we headed down a dirt road which wound down a hill. At the bottom of the hill, the road curved off to the right and back up a second hill to the place where we would pay for the peppers. Also at the bottom was an intersection with a paved road. Clearly, if we wanted, we could just drive onto the paved road and leave without paying for the peppers. I wondered how many people did that.
By the time my mother headed up the second hill, rain had begun to fall and the road had become muddy and slippery. But instead of driving more cautiously, my mother actually speeded up. She drove so fast, she began skidding, and the car wildly spun around twice on the narrow little road. Upset by the way she was driving, I slapped her on the back of the head. She immediately became angry and asked why I had hit her. I told her I had simply been trying to wake her up. But she paid no attention to me, and again began driving just as fast as she could up the hill. Now I saw that we were in serious trouble. Up ahead, part of the road on the right side (the side on the downward slope of the hill) had been washed out by the rain, and clearly the road wasn't wide enough for our car to pass. If my mother continued in her headstrong race, we clearly would capsize over the hill. I could just see the car rolling over and over, with the three of us trapped inside. My only hope was to open my door and jump out before we reached the washed-out section. I would have to act quickly, and I wouldn't have time to pull Chris out with me. I would only be able to save myself. But it looked as if I had no other choice, if I wanted to live.
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