Dream of: 03 November 2004 "Napoleon"
I was in training as a paramedic. A slender black-haired man (probably in his mid 40s) was going to be my teacher. We had already gone out on one call together. Unfortunately, for some reason, he didn't like me and he told me I wouldn't succeed. So as we started out on our second call together, I was down-hearted and uncertain of myself.
I was carrying the medical bag when we arrived at the house which had called for help. We walked into a spacious living room and found that another paramedic had already arrived. The patient -- a man -- was lying on a blanket on the floor in the middle of the room. The other paramedic was lying next to him on the blanket. A woman was sitting in a big chair in front of the two, looking at them.
My teacher told me to open the medical bag and spread out the contents on the floor. He, meanwhile, lay down next to the patient on the other side from the first paramedic. As the three of them lay there together, the patient suddenly vomited on my teacher's back. My teacher stood up, disgusted, and someone put a towel on the pool of vomit.
I still hadn't taken out the contents of our bag, because the first paramedic had already taken out the contents of his bag, and I saw no reason to duplicate our efforts. After the vomit, my teacher seemed to be of the same mind, and he indicated that we should pack up and leave the patient in the care of the first paramedic.
I looked more closely at the room. The house appeared to have once been quite elegant, but had deteriorated over the years. A hole had been cut in one wall for a passage to the next room, but no door had yet been installed. The room seemed chilly and the woman was all bundled up in blankets. I concluded that the gas was not turned on and I doubted the water was turned on either.
Before we left, my teacher and I sat down on a couch together and he once again told me I wasn't going to be successful as a paramedic. He seemed quite angry. I starred at his angular stubbled face, trying to understand why he seemed to bear such animosity toward me; but I simply couldn't understand. Clearly, however, he didn't like me.
I finally gathered up the bag and walked into the next room. Only now did I notice that although the people here seemed to be living in poverty, the house was filled with many works of art. In the room I entered, many green jade statues -- 20-30 centimeters tall -- were sitting on the shelves. One group of statues seemed to depict Napoleon Bonaparte and his retinue. Other statuary could be seemed in another room around the corner. I was uncertain if it was proper for me to look around like this.
I walked back into the room where the woman was, still sitting in her chair. Now I noticed two splendid mirrors hanging on the wall, each about two meters long, encased in intricately carved dark-wood frames. The house was obviously full of treasures. I wondered if the woman might be interested in selling the contents. I figured the items I had seen alone were worth as much as $10,000. I had heard of people selling the contents of houses like this. Maybe I should make the woman an offer.
Copyright 2004 by luciddreamer2k@gmail.com
