You Made Me Forget My Dreams

Lawrence looked out the window into the morning rain. The northeast was a nice change after the dry heat of the Southwest. He had covered the miles between Salt Lake City and Boston in a few flighty days and was dropped off by the last of a kindly slew of motorists in the Commons. He put his sachel in a locker and idly wandered the streets until he came to a quaint little coffee shop just off one of the main cobblestone roads.

It had been drizzling on and off since his bleary-eyed introduction to the city, and he'd finally gotten sodden to the point that he could no longer deny his discomfort. So, at the first sign of warmth and a good cup of coffee he stepped into said coffee house. He ordered some lunch and sat down on one of the barstools near the window and let himself get lost in his thoughts.

Then the waitress came over, bringing him his coffee with a sad smile. She was probably a college student working a summer job. He'd have to get one of those himself sooner than he'd like. Her eye caught a shabby little paperback that Lawrence had placed on the counter. It was All Quiet on the Western Front and she told him warmly that it was a great book. She wiped the countertop a little with a rag, idly, and sooner than he would have liked, she turned and went back to the kitchen.

Lawrence had it tough. He couldn't understand why he had this constant urge to move. There was so much he wanted--needed to do, and seemingly so little time to do it in. Sharks need to have water moving past their gills constantly to survive, so they've always got to move. He couldn't bear to sit still, he was like a shark, always in search of prey--always the same hunger, in his heart, if not his belly. Transit releases one from obligation. You might be headed for something big--you might have the biggest event of your life just over the horizon--but whether you can see it's ominous outline or not, the time you spend just moving, drifting slowly towards it--during that time you've got no responsibilities; all your cares are put on hold.

But for Lawrence, there would be some startling changes ahead. He had analyzed every facet of his life and thought he understood what caused what and why he lived the way he did, but he would soon meet someone who would turn his perspective inside out. This was refreshing for Lawrence, who learned that when you've spent too much of your time examining yourself under a microscope this can be a very good thing.

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