THE JOSHUA TREE, a short story by actung. Date added: 2009-09-28. Times viewed: 1035.
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- Intro: Can reality exsist in a dream?
It's Monday the 4th of April 1988, 8.25am and I am sitting in the school oratory just before morning mass is to begin. ‘It's way to early', I think to myself before my thoughts continue ‘why would I think it's way to early?, school starts at 9am and I am always either early or on time'. My mind is wandering very strangely today, thoughts that feel natural but are not making much sense to me.
My left hand is clenched in a fist, I open it to discover a small black object which fits right into my palm. It has a screen. There are buttons below the screen, I press one of the buttons and music begins to play. It's playing the U2 song ‘Where the streets have no name'. Everyone turns and looks at me. I don't know how to turn this device off, nor do I know how it got into my hand in the first place, so as I fumble around trying to turn it off I wrap my hand around it, the music stops, I open my hand and the device is gone.
I am so confused I don't know how to react. ‘Where the streets have no name' is one of the songs that I just can't get out of my head lately. It's from an album called ‘The Joshua Tree', it's been my favourite album for 22 years now, 22 years? I am about 5 weeks or so away from my 14th birthday so how could it have been my favourite album for 22 years?, besides it was only released last year.
8.30am and father Carr arrives and begins mass, father Carr? It's been so long since I have seen him, long? I have only seen him a few days ago. Why am I thinking such strange thoughts today? I am so disorientated I don't know why.
After mass I decide to go home, sure I can always explain to my mum, that I didn't feel too well and I can bring a note in with me tomorrow. As I make my way up the road I pass by a pub thinking that it has been a long time since I have been in there and that it is kinda strange that it is no longer open, no longer open? Why would it be open, it's only a little after nine in the morning, of course it wouldn't be open. That place had been so much more than a pub, it's a leisure centre too, with golfing - pitch n put and a driving range, it also had go carts. I have no idea why I am thinking of this place in the past tense.
My grandfather would often pick me up from school in his little white subareu car and bring me home, but I knew he wouldn't be doing so today, not because I decided to go home rather than going to class but for some other reason that I can't quite place.
I continue on my way home and my mind continues to wander. Things are to become a lot more weird for me, for as I walk I think of how good I feel today physically, as I am at a point in my life where I am only beginning to put on weight and my left knee feels so free, sure it's not for another 5 years of so until I have my accident. Accident? What accident? I don't ever remember being in an accident, and why would I think I am going to be in an accident in 5 years time.
‘Remember to go to the right house' I think to myself as I don't live in the house I grew up in. My thoughts really aren't making any sense to me at all. The town has changed so much in the last 20 years. There I go with the years thing again, I am not even 14 yet so how could I know of how much anything changes over 20 years.
I begin to sing ‘I still haven't found what I'm looking for' in my head, ‘The Joshua Tree' is just such a great album, and what a great version of this U2 played when I went to see them in concert 2 months ago. 2 months ago? I have seen them in concert before but that was 10 months ago, in June of 1987.
My mum understands when I get home, she knows I wouldn't just come home for no reason. The weirdness continues as for when I see my youngest sister, it was a sort of shock to see that she is just over one year old. I don't know why this should shock me so, as she was just over one year old yesterday so why shouldn't she still be just over one year old?
I get such a strange feeling of de ja vu, like it's been years since I have been in this house, but I hadn't been gone for much more than an hour. I became extremely dizzy. My mum suggests I go lay down for a while. I went to bed and it didn't take long before I fell asleep. When I awoke it was no longer Monday the 4th of April 1988, it is Monday the 28th of September 2009. Some things began to make sense. I am not 5 weeks away from becoming 14, I've been 35 for over 4 and a half months.
Did I go back in time and have an experience of being my self at a young age with some memories that I just couldn't process as at that time in my life they hadn't happened yet? Or did I just have a very vivid dream, for when I awoke I was clutching onto my mp3 player, mp3 players didn't exist in 1988, and ‘The Joshua Tree' was the last album I had played on my mp3 player. What happened was far to real to be only a dream.... But there is no other way to explain it.
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