The Discoveries of The Night
I spent the rest of the day thinking about miscellaneous things, and in general settling into my new home. I was still kind of tired from my last night's sleep debt, and started to crash a little during the day. To pass the time, I asked Marlena (only after giving her sufficient time to finish her project) if she would give me a tour of her mammoth home. She agreed, and we had a fun time going through the house. I found a few more things about Marlena during this tour. She was smart, certainly, and a little obsessive, if even in a good way. There were easily two-dozen Puzz 3- Ds (3-dimensional puzzles) in her basement that she had built, along with Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings posters ad nauseum.
I was a little baffled by the size of the house, which the tour had just seemed to increase. After the tour, I took a short nap so I wouldn't be like a corpse joining them at dinner. I remembered the riveting discussion I had been in at breakfast, so made sure to rest up.
The dinner, for which I was energized enough, was pretty good. But more importantly, I think I made some progress with the parents. I think so because Marlena was helping me throughout the meal. If I did something she thought her parents wouldn't like, a shake of the head would follow. Doing something positive resulted in a smile and a nod, along with slightly exaggerated interest in the conversation. I wasn't told of this, yet seemed to pick up hints from her eyes. Talking without opening her mouth, she was now speaking my language. I liked this form of communication. She really was able to show me how I was doing, and I knew that verbal communication was only part of the observing one could do here.
I said, "sir" early during dinner, and Marlena looked mortified, just barley concealing her shock. So I guess the "sir" was bad. Robert even said, "Please, Ponyboy, call me Robert." I swallowed my pride for the moment, realizing that worse setbacks could be suffered. I had the conversation mostly to myself, oddly, and continued told Marlena and her parents about the situation, especially the upcoming legal experience. The parents only knew about how I was not really "in need of a home." The situation was not quite clear to them. So I explained in detail, mostly for Marlena, who, for all I knew, hadn't read my theme and knew nothing about it.
"Now, guys, (I was talking more casually, since the awful "sir" bomb) I need to tell you something before you have this sprung on you." Tali was certainly interested, and looked at me in that half-inquisitive, half- incredulous look of an inquisitor. I felt put on the spot, but generally, as is greaser instinct, had a plan. I didn't have to change a word of what I was going to say. "This probably isn't what you wanted to hear, but my older brother Darry, who had custody of my brother Sodapop and me, will definitely press charges to get us back. You have to understand, (this was for Marlena only, her parents knew this already) we want to go back! So I know we'll all be called to testify. I'd love to know what side you guys will be testifying on." Marlena was bursting with excitement.
"I think we'll all be on your side, right Mom? Dad?" They nodded, and I felt so thrilled. "I have been in debate since sixth grade. I could help you there." As I responded to her enthusiasm, she nodded slowly, and I knew that she hadn't been working on any project since I last talked with her. She knew Sodapop and Darry, as well as the rest of the gang. I could tell she read the theme because when she was not busy showing me how well I was doing, her eyes would become unfocused and her mind seemed to be elsewhere. That is probably what my theme would do to someone. She was only jumping on the bandwagon with the court case because it took her mind off my sordid story. I wanted to apologize. I clammed up for the rest of dinner, and couldn't wait to retire to my room. MY ROOM! Oh damn!
As I finally went into the bed, I wondered how on earth I could spend the night here. I was scared about the possibilities of a nightmare. As it turned out, I was right on. As I scrambled through a disturbing slumber, I realized that I was going through a dream. I found out that I was about to find out my nightmare. Every time when I used to wake up, the nightmare would hide itself. But for some reason, tonight I knew it was ready to show itself. Everything was dark, then I saw a vague picture of a car crash, that in my sureness of sleep I could identify as Mom and Dad's. Then, I saw Darry and Soda, both were crying. Then, some force pulled Soda and myself away. We were taken and thrown through darkness, and landed far away from each other. Then I heard Darry's voice calling, "Come back! You must come back! Stop!" Soda and I both (I could hear his voice through the abyss) called back, "We're trying!"
I felt so vulnerable, so feeble in the face of this despair. I woke up fully capable of remembering the whole thing, and screaming. Then I heard Marlena walk into my room. "Pony," she said groggily, "you okay?"
"Yeah." I said breathlessly. "Just had a silly dream. Quite disturbing." I tried to make it as if I just had seen something gross, and pretended to be amused. "What time is it?"
"3:10. I was up because I was reading my book, Les Miserables. It is really engrossing." I could tell Marlena was trying hard to sound engrossed. Then she left, and I had time to think.
My nightmare had shown itself. I realized I was free from them! Now I no longer needed to dream my nightmare. I was living it.
I spent the rest of the day thinking about miscellaneous things, and in general settling into my new home. I was still kind of tired from my last night's sleep debt, and started to crash a little during the day. To pass the time, I asked Marlena (only after giving her sufficient time to finish her project) if she would give me a tour of her mammoth home. She agreed, and we had a fun time going through the house. I found a few more things about Marlena during this tour. She was smart, certainly, and a little obsessive, if even in a good way. There were easily two-dozen Puzz 3- Ds (3-dimensional puzzles) in her basement that she had built, along with Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings posters ad nauseum.
I was a little baffled by the size of the house, which the tour had just seemed to increase. After the tour, I took a short nap so I wouldn't be like a corpse joining them at dinner. I remembered the riveting discussion I had been in at breakfast, so made sure to rest up.
The dinner, for which I was energized enough, was pretty good. But more importantly, I think I made some progress with the parents. I think so because Marlena was helping me throughout the meal. If I did something she thought her parents wouldn't like, a shake of the head would follow. Doing something positive resulted in a smile and a nod, along with slightly exaggerated interest in the conversation. I wasn't told of this, yet seemed to pick up hints from her eyes. Talking without opening her mouth, she was now speaking my language. I liked this form of communication. She really was able to show me how I was doing, and I knew that verbal communication was only part of the observing one could do here.
I said, "sir" early during dinner, and Marlena looked mortified, just barley concealing her shock. So I guess the "sir" was bad. Robert even said, "Please, Ponyboy, call me Robert." I swallowed my pride for the moment, realizing that worse setbacks could be suffered. I had the conversation mostly to myself, oddly, and continued told Marlena and her parents about the situation, especially the upcoming legal experience. The parents only knew about how I was not really "in need of a home." The situation was not quite clear to them. So I explained in detail, mostly for Marlena, who, for all I knew, hadn't read my theme and knew nothing about it.
"Now, guys, (I was talking more casually, since the awful "sir" bomb) I need to tell you something before you have this sprung on you." Tali was certainly interested, and looked at me in that half-inquisitive, half- incredulous look of an inquisitor. I felt put on the spot, but generally, as is greaser instinct, had a plan. I didn't have to change a word of what I was going to say. "This probably isn't what you wanted to hear, but my older brother Darry, who had custody of my brother Sodapop and me, will definitely press charges to get us back. You have to understand, (this was for Marlena only, her parents knew this already) we want to go back! So I know we'll all be called to testify. I'd love to know what side you guys will be testifying on." Marlena was bursting with excitement.
"I think we'll all be on your side, right Mom? Dad?" They nodded, and I felt so thrilled. "I have been in debate since sixth grade. I could help you there." As I responded to her enthusiasm, she nodded slowly, and I knew that she hadn't been working on any project since I last talked with her. She knew Sodapop and Darry, as well as the rest of the gang. I could tell she read the theme because when she was not busy showing me how well I was doing, her eyes would become unfocused and her mind seemed to be elsewhere. That is probably what my theme would do to someone. She was only jumping on the bandwagon with the court case because it took her mind off my sordid story. I wanted to apologize. I clammed up for the rest of dinner, and couldn't wait to retire to my room. MY ROOM! Oh damn!
As I finally went into the bed, I wondered how on earth I could spend the night here. I was scared about the possibilities of a nightmare. As it turned out, I was right on. As I scrambled through a disturbing slumber, I realized that I was going through a dream. I found out that I was about to find out my nightmare. Every time when I used to wake up, the nightmare would hide itself. But for some reason, tonight I knew it was ready to show itself. Everything was dark, then I saw a vague picture of a car crash, that in my sureness of sleep I could identify as Mom and Dad's. Then, I saw Darry and Soda, both were crying. Then, some force pulled Soda and myself away. We were taken and thrown through darkness, and landed far away from each other. Then I heard Darry's voice calling, "Come back! You must come back! Stop!" Soda and I both (I could hear his voice through the abyss) called back, "We're trying!"
I felt so vulnerable, so feeble in the face of this despair. I woke up fully capable of remembering the whole thing, and screaming. Then I heard Marlena walk into my room. "Pony," she said groggily, "you okay?"
"Yeah." I said breathlessly. "Just had a silly dream. Quite disturbing." I tried to make it as if I just had seen something gross, and pretended to be amused. "What time is it?"
"3:10. I was up because I was reading my book, Les Miserables. It is really engrossing." I could tell Marlena was trying hard to sound engrossed. Then she left, and I had time to think.
My nightmare had shown itself. I realized I was free from them! Now I no longer needed to dream my nightmare. I was living it.