DATE: May 30, 2026

My family decided to go on a trip to the beach. The day of, but before we left, my mom and I went to the Walmart in my hometown to get some stuff beforehand. I planned to just sit in the van and wait, so I didn't wear much good. When we were pulling in to the parking lot, I noticed one of my friends from college. We pulled into a parking spot and she happened to be right next to us (we parked at one of those spots next to where you put back your shopping cart). Naturally, I said hello and we started talking. She had the audacity to ask, "What are you doing here?", so I replied, "What are you doing here?", as she lives a whole state away from my hometown and also there is no reason for someone like her to ever need something in my hometown. Not to mention she never even said anything about coming down smh. I remembered also that when she last said goodbye to me, she instructed me that the next time we meet, I must be in costume. There were a few bags at my foot so I slipped one's handles around my legs and got out of the car to show off, as if it were anything, and then I realized that I had no pants on out in public. I ashamedly and quickly got back in the minivan and tried to separate myself from the situation. She left and some time passed.

I saw a parking spot open closer to the front of the store, so I decided I was going to try to get the van over there. I started driving it--still within the passenger seat--over to the parking spot. There was some big truck also coming through, so I pushed the car around to work with it, but in my being too lenient, I missed getting in the spot and I turned all the way around to the other set of parking spots. As I reached the end of the row where the stop sign is, I realized I was kinda fucked for turning, as that (naturally) was the car operation that I couldn't make from the passenger seat. I hit the turn signal, but stopped. There were a few cops around too. They came up to me, and were like, "We know what you're doing. We're gonna let you get out of the car and properly make the turn and stop, but we're gonna have to give you a ticket." I understood, drove the car over to the next set of rows of parking spots. I waited some in my car, and a scary bee had entered. I slammed the door on it, which flattened it, but it was still stuck to the threshold. I flicked it down, but it landed on my seat, which I didn't like much more. I flicked it further onto the floor of the van. I got out and the police started talking me up about what I did. I knew they were kinda friendly, but I was so scared that I didn't make so much conversation, which really just made things suck. They also explained me the process of how they will get my fingerprints.

By now, my mom's minivan became my dad's work truck. Obviously, my fingerprints and my father's fingerprints would get mixed and crossed on the steering wheel, so they needed a method to truly get my fingerprints. The process involved two specialized bags filled with clean water. You take the license plates of the vehicle in quesiton, put them in the bags, and place one's hands in the bags. Seal them good, and then pull the red string on the bag. This pushes the water out of the bags through the top and suctions one's hands to the license plate, creating a true identification of who they are. I don't think I had started the procees yet, but they had at least explained it to me. My mom had also gotten done at the store. She came by the truck and was chatting up the police officers like nothing was happening. She was acting a lot more careless (in all dimensions of the word) than in real life. She seemed pretty indifferent that I was getting a ticket.

Here, the dream diverges some. I remember that this next part I will describe exists, but I do not remember if it comes now or later. I know it does not come at the very end. There is a good chance it ran parallel to the main plot. I don't know, but I will put it here.

I became at my highschool. It was in the present time, but it looked like it did before the tornado damage from last year. Everything looked nice and remodeled, but not in the sense that it was repared, just that everything was upscaled (maybe rose-tinted) from how it actually was. There was some sort of party or gathering. I noticed that outside of the doors, there was a group of people trying to get in. I thought I recognized one of the group members (funilly enough, as the friend who was the subject of "Friend's Jeans") through the dark-tinted glass, so I opened up the door as I figured she just didn't have an ID card or something. I opened the door and I realized it wasn't her. I recognized none of the group, but suddenly I thought I understood. There was a group of students from Africa touring the school, and they were waiting outside. I went outside and started a conversation with 4 of them in the group. One of the people in the subgroup accused me of being an uncultured American (not entirely untrue) for not understanding some words or reference. She doubted that I even knew much about language. I informed her that I knew a decent amount about Latin America, Europe, and Asia, and that I was trying to make it a point to know some more about Africa. I asked if shstakes_and_bugse knew about Benin, and of course, she did, so I told her that I had been listening to Angelique Kidjo. I also thought I had been listening to another African musician, but when I opened up my music app to jog my memory, I found nothing, and I felt embarrassed (although after the dream, I realized the artist I was looking for was Baaba Maal). I told them I wished I could talk more but I have to get some work (doing the license plate bags) done urgently and I had to go.

Now I ended up at a lilac house on a hill. The road was almost gravel, and the grass around it was very thin. It was to be the house I would live in for the next academic year of university. I was getting some early unpacking done in May. The house layout was weird, and it felt more like a store. It was a very quiet ordeal, but I knew some people there. My GTA from Ling110 last semester was there, for some reason. A roommate from this most recent academic year, the odd-roommate-out in the group, was also there. I was very confused as to why he was still my roommate, but I also was able to act like it was no matter. The police had also come with me, and inbetween unpacking/unloading boxes, I did my fingerprints. For some reason, this was a long process, even though, logically, it took maybe 15 minutes max. The police left and I was practically alone. I got out some more boxes, and then planned to head out. During all of this, my former roommate was in the room were sharing along with a new boyfriend they had and that boyfriend's mom. They had been talking throughout this whole process with the door cracked, and I had not at all entered. I had only understood this situation by peering in at brief moments. The only odd thing about this scenario was that my old roommate had gotten a new roommate, everything else about their behavior was typical. Before I left, I figured it would only be right of me to say goodbye. I peered in some and tried my best to slip a goodbye into their conversation. They awkwardly said goodbye, and although it was probably just the way they talked, I knew that they had socially disliked that I interrupted to say goodbye. I had also barely made as little eye contact as possible, still not having any idea what the mom looks like. Even though I have put no emotional weight to them, it still soured the end of the night.

I dejectedly left the house to get to my car and leave. The sky was beautiful with blues, oranges, and purples. The high hill, sparsely-leaved trees, light grass, and gravel driveway had created a very beautiful image to behold. As I reached my car, I enountered another large bee or wasp that was trapped in my car. I was able to open the door and let it free. As I reapproached my car, another large bug came my way. It was a flying fortress of a bug, maybe being about 6 inches large. It flew with what looked to be 5 heads that resembled the Pokémon Genesect but somewhat more natural. Some of those dome-things may have also been wings. It had quite a few limbs dangling too. It was a very well-put-together bug. It was colored a purple-to-grass-green gradient throughout it's body. It horrified me. I ran to the garage of the house to find something to throw at it. After finding something sufficient, I aimed, and tossed the object at the bug. I did hit it, but it did not do much because of my slightly weak through and the bug's flight. It was enraged and charged at me. I ambiguously was able to escape the situation.

Later, I was scrolling on Tumblr when I found a comic explaining that bug. This type of bug frequently changed colors which indicated it's general mood/temperance. A red, orange, blue, or full-purple body signified (or at least, signified at the least for my purpose) peacefulness. Light green meant something slightly more than peace, but I cannot remember. However, a gradient of purple to green did signify agression and danger, so it was somewhat justified that I used self-defence.