Walking in Her Shoes

 

Photo by Shahzad Faisal on Unsplash

January 31

This dream took place in a mall. I was walking around with my brother, and by chance, I noticed that I was walking around while wearing my mother's shoes.

For the most part, nobody noticed because they were not looking down. "People tend to look up unless given a reason to look down." I could only hope it was true. Over time, it proved accurate; people did not notice anything for one reason or another because they failed to look down. How fortunate. However, LadyLuck's powers were limited, and foolishness would break whatever spell she had cast. 

I don't know why I decided to climb a ladder, but I did; it was set next to a bar inside of a busy restaurant. As I attempted to accomplish some forgotten task, I momentarily forgot my shame which was now on full display. Behold! A man is wearing his mother's sandals! The restaurant was well lit and had a clear view of the parking lot. Guests coming in, staff, and those already seated were all witnesses to my thoughtlessness. I immediately rushed out of the restaurant, too ashamed to look anyone in the eyes as I passed.

As I walked, several people stopped me as they took notice of my shoes, some of whom had come from the restaurant. At first, they were simply tickled that I could do something so thoughtless. How could I have made such a mistake? They laughed about it for a bit, and I tried to make light of it. Out of nowhere, an alternative explanation was proposed. No longer was it some silly accident, but now it was an artistic act of genius, avant-garde. The crowd only grew more significant as the scoffers began to philosophize. At first, it was a cordial discussion. "To walk in another's shoes literally is a beautiful analogy for how we should live life." A voice from the crowd proposed light-heartedly; this was the simplest of the ideas to come. The group shared in the laugh that concluded his proposal. "In this way, could I hope to understand her pain?"

But as we continued walking, the growing crowd began to propose counter ideas and then to argue; despite the above being agreeable to me, they all began to impose deeper and sometimes contrary meaning to the situation. Curiously, all of their arguments were identical, the main difference only being in its semantics. I wish I could recall the details of what was said, but the ideas became lost as my thoughts began to tangle around this one phrase that had been proposed. The others were so similar that I didn't bother to remember them.

But I digress. As people continued to argue, a woman approached the crowd and said to them, referring to me, there is nothing special about this situation, and by default, this man. A man then grabbed me from behind, looping his arms under mine, and while others continued to debate and divide in front of me, he carried me over to a nearby railing. The man then cried out with a loud voice that what they saw, me in my mother's shoes, was nothing special and not worthy of the attention it was garnering. He continued his decree by stating that a man at the railing near us was Jesus and that he had a plan of sorts. 

I was then lifted higher and nearly over the railing, where he attempted to hurl me over it. I fought back, pushing against the barrier and a nearby wall; the crowd tried to save me but were almost powerless against the strength of this Goliath of a man. They did manage to prevent him from throwing me over the ledge, but that was all they could do. Looking over the ridge, it was almost beautiful. Below was an elaborate indoor park, something akin to Central Park in New York.

As I gazed over this beautiful sight, the dream began to conclude as a voice spoke from within me, saying, "I'm Jesus."

It was at that moment that my mouth was stretched wide open, and the head of a horned beast with black fur and glowing eyes (yellow, I think, and fox-like) rested within. The animal seemed similar to a sheep or possibly a goat. It is here that the dream ends, staring into a growing black void behind my teeth that eclipsed everything else with the face of this beast staring directly at me.