Of Dreams, Reality, and its Evils by Manuel A. López



Photo by Yasmina Alaoui and Marco Guerra
Taken from the internet Google Search



Went to bed last night with the news that Osama Bin Laden had been captured and killed. I had the same feeling when you’ve been wanting to kiss someone for a long time, and the day it happens, you feel nothing. I think part of me did not believe the news. All of a sudden, I turned off the lights, and decided that Osama was not going to ruin my sleep. I had all sorts of erotic dreams with people, who I've yet to meet, in places I have never been. 

This morning, I overslept, and it took forever to get out of bed. When I finally did, I strolled thru the house lazily, as if I was Prissy in Gone with the Wind. I had lost all memory overnight. I put on music, and danced a little on my way to the shower. I took a moment to recover my thoughts, while seating on the toilet, and looking thru an old magazine. Without no recollection of last night events, I gazed straight ahead as if looking at an endless ocean. I realized I was just sitting in the toilet, and without missing a beat, got up and made a jump for the shower. As the water fell, and started to bring me back to reality, I slowly began exercising my brain. I realized that I had gone to sleep with some piece of important news, but did not process it, right there and there. The warm water kept reviving me, and before you knew it…I was back! Still under the shower, I realized that for years we have been needing a closure for all the events that took place that fateful 911, and its aftermath. There has been so many made-up stories, way too many people killed, and endless unanswered questions. With the capture of the man, the brain behind the operation, I wonder if this closure will materialize???

Time was running out. I stormed out of the shower, dried myself, and got dressed the fastest way possible. As I was driving to work, I felt no urge to put on the radio, and listen to all the speculations. Instead, I turned on the volume as loud as possible to a Diana Ross tune, and tried to drowned out my thoughts. I was not successful, and before you knew it, I was lining up all sorts of questions about all this. The more I thought, the more questions I had, and frankly I was becoming a little anxious, maybe even paranoid.

The moment I got to work, I realized that it was impossible to not talk about Osama. The television was on, and everyone in the office was making comments about this and that. I went for my coffee, came back and sat silently. That lasted about 2 minutes. Before I knew it, I had joined in the banter about the killing, and all the details. My boss kept asking if it was true that his body was thrown in the ocean. She was skeptical…Thank God someone felt like me.

The talks, and laughs have dwindled down, and I have become reclusive in my corner all over again. A second cup of coffee is keeping me company. While email after email is making me send people all over the world, I am in a state of denial again. I am plagued by thousands of questions, and a bit troubled I must confess. Somehow the news that finally there can be some closure to one of the most bloody events in recent years has made me more skeptical than ever. I don't feel any relief, and peace seems far away for us, as I see it.

Oh, how I long to be! ... back in the safety of my bed, in the company of those erotic dreams...