Backpacks and Wedding Dresses

Ah, but to dream! Ah, and to have a good dream! It's all a dream anyway. Here's a recent one.

My wife and I have gone to bed. It's fairly late. Then there is a sudden commotion. We hear people running through the house, loud voices and laughter. I get up to investigate.

Coming down a long hallway, I see my twenty year old son, walking briskly with a number of teenagers and middle schoolers. He is showing them around the house. I can see that they are friends of his.

Apparently he has joined up with this vagabond troupe and he has brought them home. I stand and watch as he shows them around the house. He hardly notices me. I see that a few woman in their late twenties or early thirties are coming in behind. One man about thirty-five follows. He had a really cool racing bike.

In awhile I learn that these are all abandoned children that are being kept safe by the women and the man. They have no money, so they move to safe places where they can stay for awhile.

I have a big, rambling, country house on the side of a hill. Part of what we do is sell to travelers. We have a room that has racks of backpacks and wedding dresses. The wedding dresses are small, more for young girls to play with, since like dressing and wedding gowns are fascinating to them.

I see the middle school girls climbing the ladder on the wall and pulling down the dresses, trying them on. I am pleased that they like them. After awhile I look at my wife and say, "Well, we must be meant to let them stay here or they wouldn't have come." We accept the fact that we will have company for awhile.

I get up early in the morning, and step outside. A neighbor is at my door. He is an older gentleman. He is there with his assistant. He is tossing bills at me, hundreds and twenties. He is writing checks, all different amounts. But it's a lot of money.

He tells me that I am going to need the money to take care of all these kids. He is eager to help. I pick up the bills and checks. I am very surprised by all this money being given to me. It is such a shock that I wake up.