the phone rang. in my dream, the first ring didn’t make sense; the first half of the second ring was like a bad omen; the second half of the second ring was a dose of reality; and the third ring delivered fear that something terrible had happened. who had died? was someone in an accident? was there a fire somewhere?
it turned out to be honeywell security, calling to tell B that the alarm was going off at the shop where he works. B is the second name on the policy; when honeywell called B’s boss (the owner of the shop) they only got his answering machine; their policy is to keep calling whoever is on their list until someone answers.
the conversation went like this:
B: hullo? yes, this is B. (me: ok, it’s not someone related to me.) B: yes, i’m an employee there. (me: huh, it’s about the shop.) B: yes, ok, if that’s what’s normal. (honeywell asked if they should call in dispatch to the alarm going off.)
i’m glad it was nothing, but i still couldn’t fall back asleep. here’s what kept me up: everyone i know and love is one day going to die, and i sure hope i don’t find out in the middle of the night. i’d be so vulnerable: no glasses, no sense of time, total darkness, grogginess, disbelief. and what does one do at 2:45 in the morning? if something happened close by, i could go to the hospital. but what if the catastrophe is far away? would i call the airlines and book a flight immediately? would i log on to expedia? would you go back to sleep? i’d probably get up, make some tea, think, and do. i’m definitely a doer when it’s important.