El Roi

 June 15th or 16th

My brother and I were in New York with some friends. We took two separate vehicles because there were a bunch of us. In one car were me, my brother, two of my close friends, and maybe 2 others. As our group was driving down a street, we witnessed a car crash down a street to our left as a couple was leaving a parking lot and were hit by two other cars. We happened to be turning down the street already and immediately pulled over to see if we could help. At our approach, everybody else evaporated away.

It was suddenly just us. We asked if they were ok and the couple got out of the car. At first, saying they were ok but suddenly stopping and asking if we had room in our vehicle. I said, "we have a whole second car!" It was being driven by a blue-haired female friend and maybe a few others. I thought they were headed home, but at the gas station, they asked me, could y'all drop us off at a casino. This totally threw me off. “Sure, why not,” I said.

We all walked into an ice cream Boba shop nearby the gas station. To our left was the Boba counter, to our right was an ice cream sandwich place which also did ice cream brownie sandwiches, some with only the bottom brownie and all kinds of combinations.

At the back wall in front of us, to our left and to the right of the boba tea shop, was a place to get ice cream and not ice cream sandwiches. This guy managed both this counter and the sandwich counter, which later became a station full of hot cookies and a self-serve frying station for deep-fried desserts.

As we walked around, we saw a young man approach us. He was only a child, and he was watching us as we got food. I forget how but we started talking and found out he was on his own, no family, just a street kid. However, the child, anywhere from 8-13, was dressed in black slacks and a white button-up. The design of which was quite interesting but hard to describe. It reminded me a bit of something I once wore at a wedding.

So I led him aside and began talking to him in a bathroom and said, bro, I'll buy you some candy here, and if you surely need the help, I will buy you some things that you might need like toilet paper, snacks, and whatever else I can afford. The young man started to cry before stepping out the back door in the bathroom. To which I followed him and found myself in a collected backyard. Other backyards led to this space, and there were playgrounds and all kinds of stuff. It looked like a child's wonderland where parents could also keep kids safe.

There was a tall fence separating this building from all of the playing children, keeping them out of the store, unsure how the young man passed through. My first thought was, this kid deceived me. I could see children going down staircases into homes, and there are homes all around connected to this safe space. He must have lied to me. In the middle of my offense, all the children playing stopped and looked at me. They then began walking towards the fence while looking at me, and a disembodied  voice asked, "Do you intend to feed/save all of these?"

I was shocked and overwhelmed. My first thought was, "I need to buy lots of candy, but the little money I had was not enough to provide for the many kids that stood beyond the fence. I saw no parents, only children who were hungry and who lived on their own. This is where they gathered. They might have had families, and they might not have, I don't know. What I do know is that these kids were street kids and needed help. They were poor and trying to be kids regardless of the hunger pains because they could die miserable or die as kids.

My heart is heavy; this dream hurt. Looking at the faces of numerous children like that was hard.

June 20th

I had a dream wherein a friend of mine revealed a strange truth. Despite being blackmailed into remaining in the states as a prostitute and her first child and soon-to-be second were not actually her husbands, she still believed life was worth living and loved those kids. She was excited to greet us despite the situation. Her pimp was not nice, and yet she worked and did not complain. I struggled to comprehend how she could be fine being blackmailed into prostitution, and she was not. It was a mistake to assume that. However, she knew that there was no way out for the time being and accepted her fate for her family. What about her and her family? Should they be left to their own devices? Should they be expected to fight this battle alone? Can they resist the force of an underground operation that enslaves millions each year and kills the rebels? People don't always choose the next opportunity that comes their way. She was not given an option by her employers. This is the reality for some. Is her pain to be ignored because she goes to work each night without a gun to her head despite how much she hates it because the gun exists and the owner knows where she lives.

This dream hurt more than the one described above because the one suffering was a dear friend and not a stranger.

Both dreams left me feeling powerless and entirely overwhelmed. My heart breaks for the broken, but I can't allow myself to freeze in response to such great pain. I know I can't help them all, but I can help at least one. I can only hope that those I can't help are reached by someone else with a heart to help.