A Lab Assignment

Yet another school dream. I must have a lot of trauma or regrets if they keep coming up after all these years. I made some immediate notes on my phone after waking up because I didn’t want to forget this one. It was really strange and probably trying to tell me something.

I was in a large physic classroom, probably a University lab since this layout was very familiar to how my physics lab was in Uni. It’s those large tables with stools that make you sit up high and on these tables were some measuring tapes, a marble, and a little incline sign. I don’t remember the experiment in great details but I felt like it was a bit too simple for a college physics lab. I know for a fact that I was taking measurements and writing them down on paper. I was sort of sight reading the assignment instructions, because I didn’t feel interested in reading the procedure because it felt too obvious to me what I was supposed to be doing. I wanted to get this done early so I could leave.

I didn’t pay too much attention to my classmates. All I know is that none of them seemed familiar to me. A blur of personalities that I was quick to forget. But something tells me, I’m not myself. I might be a blur too. My thoughts are indeed my own but physically, I feel like a different guy. I run these trials with the marble ball and slide, take a measurement, and record it on my paper. Rinse and repeat. I manage to get it done early. I don’t submit my paper. Instead place it into my backpack and head out to go to the bathroom. I was coming back anyway and I wanted to see my reflection to make sure I wasn’t going crazy.

I leave the classroom and walk down this brick hallway, it reminds me a lot of my Engineering building in university because our building was the most unimpressive, boring and traditional out of all the other majors. You’d think an applied science building would be a little more creative and soulful with it’s design. But I suppose that’s too much for a specialty which is supposed to make something like a bridge not collapse and kill hundreds of people at the lowest possible cost to performance. Again, I’m crossing paths with people I don’t know or recognize other than just being a blur in my memory or perhaps entirely new people. Hard to say. But when I come up to the bathrooms down the hall, the restrooms are completely closed off by yellow tape. Worse, there is what appears to be piss coming out on the group. The sight of it is making me feel sick and disgusted, frankly I wasn’t even sure if I had to go to the bathroom. So with that mission being blocked off, I guess I’m not going to see my own reflection so I head back to the lab room. But couldn’t I just look at my phone? Well I thought so too but I realized by patting around in my pockets that I didn’t have anything on me. Did I leave it in my backpack? What if I didn’t have one on me? I’ll never mind out.

I come back to the lab room, feeling unsatisfied with my trip. I sit back on my table and place my assignment in front of me. Feeling bored, I start to go through it and realize something alarming. No, I wasn’t looking for my name though I should had. Instead, I noticed I did the laboratory completely wrong because I skipped over an important step. Typical of me. Worse yet, the “lunch” break was coming up in a few minutes. Some students are already getting ready to leave. I’m looking at my work and feel like I cannot submit this. I know I messed up somewhere! I look for the instructor and ask if I can stay behind and finish my lab to which she easily allowed me to. She’s a middle age woman, dressed in a semi-professional button up and pants. Typical teacher look. Not much to say about her other than she wasn’t intimidating. But she also lets me know there is another class coming in to work on the lab too. I just tell her it doesn’t bother me. It’s going to be embarrassing to be the one student left behind but when it comes to Uni, grades are everything and missing one lab, essay, or assignment can ruin your chances of being in the program. That shit will haunt you for the rest of your life. Ask me how I know.

I go back to the desk and erase everything that I’ve written down on my notes. I’m starting over completely from scratch. All of my other classmates are off to lunch already. I’m on my own...so I thought. But right beside me, I notice there’s a group of other students also staying behind to finish the lab. It’s three guys and one girl who really catches my attention, for a more frightening reason. She’s a tan, brunette with a short fluffy haircut and a casual t-shirt and pants. Not exactly the most girly of outfits. But then the realization hits me and it hits me really hard. She’s a character from one of the stories I’m writing! (Emi!) What the fuck?! Why? How? Am I going insane!? Now way?! Even in my dream, I don’t just treat this like it’s a part of the life I’m experiencing. No. I’m questioning the very reality of my being, even if I’m not myself or feel like myself in this world. I’m not anxious about approaching either. I wave to them and say something along the lines of “Hey, I’m redoing this lab too, do you want to group of and finish this together?” But sadly, they ignored me. It was as if I was completely invisible to the three guys and the one girl in their group who I swear looks exactly like the girl I create in my story. I guess even in this dream, I’m equably as invisible in the real world.

But then there’s this old man. A guy with a gray beard, with a growing baldness on his head coming up to our table. He has an Englishman’s accent, in a way reminiscent of someone like Dave from David’s Little Beasties. He comes over to our table and explains that we could go out to our lunch break and come back later to finish the lab if we wanted to. Turns out he was the guy who designed the lab experiment for us with the instructors assistance. He must have been the professor for sure. He was very kind and understanding. So now I’m debating to myself if I should stick around or go for lunch break. The other four classmates had already left without a second thought. I didn’t get to make my decision because my dream ended. A lot of dreams leave me in a daze when I wake up but this one in particular left me confused, concerned, and a little anxious. A lot of minor details were foggy as I’m writing this, but seeing one my own characters from my story project being present in this dream was something I’m going to remember and writing this memory here is how I’m intending on preserving this fact that I’m starting to feel like I’m losing it.