Tuesday, June 10

There was a huge parade of nations around my high school. Representatives from every country in the world were there. Some people wore graduation gowns, others wore their royal outfits, some even wore different military outfits. It was a huge, huge, huge ordeal. All students--after having marched themselves--were sitting in key positions on the field to watch the event.

I had marched and was now sitting somewhere in an auditorium waiting for the rest of the procession to end. I'd seen this many years and wasn't that impressed.

At some point I got the urge to get up and go get something. I walked down the auditorium and onto the field. People were still marching and the music was still going. Some kind of Swedish or Nordic delegation was making its way through the vaulted halls of my school (only in dreams). A soldier threw himself on the ground in ceremonial pageantry and the queen lightly jumped over him.

I saw some of my cousins waiting to march themselves. One of them (Floria) was wearing a crown. She was apparently part of some royal delegation. I was looking for my little brother (I don't have one, obviously) to try and see if he was enjoying all the pomp.

Finally I ran into him and guided him back to the arena where I was sitting. He could sit with me. He'd love all this, I was sure of it. He stopped at the gates and said his teacher had told him he had to turn in his ticket. And he said it in this little child voice that had a slight lisp and it was just perfect.

I told him nobody was taking tickets and to just go up and sit down. I was leaving because I wasn't in the mood to see all of it again, but I was sure he'd love it. He followed me out. I was on my motorcycle and he was on his tricycle. He headed out towards the street on the little gravel road. He was having some trouble on the gravel on the tricycle and I was still putting on my helmet and my motorcycle trappings.

A huge semi pulled up the gravel road barely hitting my brother. I was horrified. He turned around and smiled and said he loved me. He kept going, and I knew that he wouldn't be around for long.