Pyramids
Have you ever heard of a dream within a dream? Well I hadn’t and I didn’t think such a thing was possible. But then I gave it some thought and realized anything is possible in dreams. ‘Specially mine. Look at my Gramps. In real life he looks just like a grandfather; a skinny, bald, wrinkled grandfather maybe, but when I see him I know he’s my grandpa. But in my dreams he’s different. If you’ve been paying attention to my stories you know my dream Gramps is a big nose. Hey, I don’t make these things up. If I did, he sure wouldn’t be a nose, an elbow maybe, but definitely not a nose.
Anyhow, this dream came to visit me about the time the year changed its number from 2016 to 2017. That’s what most people think happens on New Year’s Day but I already know differently. What we’re really celebrating is the planet making its way all the way around the sun once again and maybe selling a few calendars with all the days bumped over one square. Gramps says the funny part is the sun isn’t where it was a year ago. He says everything is moving, the sun, the stars, once in a while his nether regions, but he’s not sure why. Maybe the sun’s trying to get away from us and Mother Earth keeps chasing after her friend ‘cause she’s afraid of the dark.
That’s all beside the point of course. The point was the dream I had. It wasn’t a fun dream like the Peanuts one. Or even an exciting one like the Christmas Eve dream. It was more a gift and a puzzle kind of dream from my Gramps. But I have no idea what the gift was or how to solve the puzzle and when I told Grandpa the next day, he said, “If I knew I’d tell you. But I don’t. No, Matthew, and you too Luke, the gift in the dream is something you boys have to find all on your own. Same with the puzzle.”
My Grandpa is a dreamer just like me. He says dreams are the way God can talk to you, “When you’re little, or even a fair amount older, they don’t make much sense. I think that’s because God talks in a language that was around before there were any languages, or people, or even anything. Yeah, she’s a tough nut to crack learning that language and I doubt anyone has figured it out all the way. Most people never even learn the first word. Maybe because they don’t care. Maybe because it’s hard. Maybe the thought never enters their heads. But that’s not the way it’s worked for me. Ask me why and I’ll say I don’t know.”
So, what was the dream I told him? As best I can recall, it went something like this:
Luke and I were in a our playroom building things out of Legos. I was trying to make the Eiffel Tower or maybe a pyramid and Luke was putting together a bulldozer to knock it down. We do that a lot. We build things together that somehow don’t work together. But we have fun most of the time. Sometimes we argue and sometimes we agree but either way, we’re together a lot. Down underneath I suppose we’re best friends but it doesn’t always look like we are.
Anyhow, the house we were in was our house but not exactly like the one we live in. This one had door chimes like the ones at Grandma Lois’ house. About the time I was putting the last block on my building the doorbell over on the wall went ‘thunk-thunk’ instead of ‘bong-bong’ like it should of. Strange. We looked over at the chimes to see what was going on and there was Gramps, squeezing his way out of one of the brass tubes. Someday he has to learn to come in the front door like normal dream people.
“Hey boys. How are you doin’? Luke, you’d better make that bulldozer a little bigger if you want to doze down Matt’s tower. Anyhow, I’m here to tell you about a dream I had the other night and the three of us were in it. Also, it might not be a bad idea to clean out those door chimes. They mussed me up something fierce. Excuse me a minute, I have to go wash my nose. And seein’ as how I’m all nose that might take a minute.” Off he trundled upstairs.
Luke and I looked at each other and shook our heads. Yup, Gramps was a lot of trouble, even in a dream. A few seconds later we heard Gramps calling for help. We tore up the stairs and into our bathroom. Gramps was nowhere to be seen. We could hear him, though he sounded like he was far away. Then Luke spotted a tiny foot sticking out of the bathtub faucet right above where Gramps’ voice was coming from. Good grief! Yes, Gramps was more trouble than he was worth. We each grabbed the little foot and tugged and yanked till POINK!, out popped Gramps. He wrinkled his nose in a silly way and said, “Next time I’ll try turning on the faucet. Might be easier than climbing down the pipes.”
Gramps toweled off and left the bathroom a terrible mess. One of these days he’ll come up with Little Gramps One and Two to clean up after him. Oh well, it looked like Luke and I had our work cut out for us after he left.
Once we were back in the playroom Gramps said, “How about we go someplace you’ve never been so I can tell you about my dream?”
Luke and I shared a look that asked, “Do you think we should say yes? Lord knows what Gramps has in mind.” Before we could get a word out Gramps put his hand on Luke’s head and started pushing down on him. Luke grew littler and littler till he was the size of a lego man. Then Gramps gently set him on the table next to the tower I was building. Then he did the same for me. Finally, Gramps blew air out of both of his ends and began to shrink. A moment later the three of us were sitting in my Lego tower and Gramps began his story:
“The dream I had began with the three of us sitting on a Lego table kind of like the one in front of us. We were discussing what color we’d be if we were fish. Guess we were bored. Odd thing was, I had this big bag of jelly beans with me, all of them green. Now, I don’t like the green ones and the ones in the brown bag looked like I’d had them for a long time. Old, lint-fuzzy and cracked. Next second we were off and flying somewhere but I had no idea where that somewhere was. Matthew, had this been the dream you’re having now, I’d have known. But since this was a dream I had before the dream you’re having, none of us had a clue where we’d end up or what we’d do when we got there.
“As usual we were blasting across the sky and zipping past airplanes like they were standing still. One second we were here in your house, the next we were over the ocean. Mid-Atlantic we hung a right down toward Africa and a moment later were cruising aover the Sahara Desert. That’s when the idea hit me. We slowed down just as we were passing over a caravan. Hundreds of traders were strung out across a mountain-sized sand dune. All of them atop camels. Quickly I passed both of you boys the jelly bean bag. Didn’t take but a moment for the two of you to catch on and you began to drop the beans, one at a time, on the lead camel. Plunk! Plunk! The camel looked up and smiled. Seems having green jelly beans dropped from a flying nose on a camel’s head is an invitation to dance. Then the two of you began to pelt the entire caravan. Bam-biddy-bam-bam. Next thing you know all of those camels stood up on their hind legs and began to dance and sing. Of course the traders didn’t like that one bit and started screaming and yelling ‘cause their trade goods were strewn across the dune. And what’s worse was the song the camels were singing. Seems camels are terrible singers. Loud, scratchy, out of tune, painful on the ears. But they were sure having a good time.
“ I guess what we did wasn’t a nice thing to do but remember, it was just a dream and dreams do what they want.
“Then we were off and zooming once more. Next thing you know we were over the pyramids in Egypt. That’s where I set the two of you down. What happened while we were there still puzzles me and I have no Idea why I did what I did. So, take what you can from it and tuck it away in the back of your minds. Someday, maybe a long time from now, remember what happened out and give it a thought.
“Anyhow, once you two were safe on the ground I began to fly around one of the pyramids. Faster and faster I flew. Around and around. Finally, the pyramid began to rise. Higher and higher. Then slowly, it began to turn over. Kept turning till it pointed straight down. And began to spin. Faster and faster. Like a huge drill. Then down, down, till it began to bore into the desert floor. Lower and lower, till finally the upside down pyramid was all the way into the sand and its floor was level with the ground.
“Next I flew to another pyramid, spun around it, raised it and set atop the upside down one. Why I did that I have no idea. Remember, this was a dream and dreams go where they want. What I do know is there’s a treasure buried somewhere inside those two buildings and there’s no door or opening to pass through to get at it, just solid, huge blocks of stone. Guess it’s one of those dream mysteries. Kind of a puzzle or riddle. Maybe you Matthew, or you Luke, will figure out how to get at it and what the treasure might be. I have my ideas but that’s all they are. And whatever the treasure is, it’ll only be a treasure for you.
“Anyhow, that’s my dream. Next moment we were back here in your house and for all I know, back on the Sahara Desert those camels are still dancing up a storm.”
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