A Visit From Beyond?

Last night I had a bizarre dream.

I was sitting at a table with people from my past.  Mostly from a job I’d held a few years ago, then it morphed into a sort of high school reunion.  Everyone was grown up, and it was fun seeing them.  I saw a blonde guy named Ben Smith who was almost unrecognizable and my friend Beth who looked the same except for a few wrinkles.  I suppose we were eating and talking, and then I felt a heavy tap on my shoulder.

When I turned I saw a handsome man.  He was in a dark suit and had on a bright white shirt.  I’m not sure if he wore a tie, but his hair was dark and thick, and his green eyes sparkled above his aquiline nose.  I recognized him immediately as Aaron Kovach.

In real life, I wouldn’t say Aaron and I were friends.  I knew he was really into golf and was the school jokester.   I remember him making me (along with everyone else) laugh in class, but we never had any one on one conversations.  I’m sure we must have spoken to each other once or twice in the 12 years we spent together in the same school system,  but I can’t recall anything specific.

In my dream though, he asked me to get up from the table and follow him.  There was no question of refusing, so I got up and started walking wit him.   We talked, and I remember laughing hysterically at his jokes.  Just like in real life, I can’t recall exactly what he said, but in my dream I was in stitches.

Evidently he was  pleased with my reaction.  He would smile and his eyes would dance, glad he was entertaining me like he did 20 years ago.

Eventually, we came to a sort of palace like lobby in a hotel.  It was incredibly posh and elegant.  Everything was new and shiny, but in a style that was hard to attribute to a time period.  There was a man holding a stringed instrument wrapped in gold.  He was in a white suite and black bow tie.  There was fancy looking food available behind glass, and the walls were richly decorated with what looked like gold and expensive tapestries, but there was a fresh feel to it.  It wasn’t like looking at something 500 years old in a European castle somewhere, things looked new.

Aaron pressed the button for the elevator.  In a few moments, we found ourselves in his room.  It was comfortable, but I can’t recall many details.  There was a grey blanket on the bed, and the room was spacious with white carpet.

Before long we found ourselves cuddling on the bed.  The conversation turned serious, and he talked to me about a trip that was traumatic for him to Rhode Island around the time we were in high school.   We also spoke about people we knew.  He was baring his soul, and it felt really good to be close to him.  I didn’t feel anything sexual per se.  It was just surpremely comforting to be with someone who shared my past.  I think we kissed a little, but again, it wasn’t in a sexual spirit.  I just felt overwhelming security being with him.

I looked at him closely and distinctly remember saying “you look really good.  You only have maybe two grey hairs.  How old are you Aaron?”  I asked, even though I should have known the answer.

“33, 34.”  he answered seriously with a note of apprehension.

“Aaron, you might be a little younger than me, but not by much.”  I said.  “I am 37, so you’re at least 36.”  I argued, recalling his birthday was several months after mine in the same year.

He shrugged, and tried to change the subject.  For some reason though,  I kept trying to make the math work out.  It bothered me as I didn’t think he was lying.   How he could be 33 or 34 while I was 37?  Had we not gone all through school together?

We cuddled awhile longer, then I saw a young girl about 3 years old with pig tails playing on the floor.  She hadn’t been there before.   I asked if was his daughter.  He never said, or I don’t recall his reply, but it made me think of my own son, who is 7.

“Do you mind if I go check on my son?”  I asked him.  “I’m sorry.”

“Oh, you’re such a bitch for wanting to take care of your son”  he said, but was laughing and tickled me.  Normally I would have been super offended by the word “bitch” but in this case I wasn’t.  He was joking, it was lighthearted, and it was clear he meant the exact opposite.

He then took me down to the lobby in the elevator and hugged me goodbye.  I made my way back through the hotel that was more vast and huge than it had seemed gping in.  I saw more golden walls and servants and guests bustling around.  I went though rooms and rooms.  I even had to ask for directions out, but then finally found my way to the door find my son.

As soon as I woke up it dawned on me that Aaron had in fact died several years ago.   I quickly  looked up his FaceBook profile and looked at his birth and death  dates.  He had been 33.  Had he lived just a week and a half longer he would have been 34.  Another eerie thing was that the word “bitch” was the very first word on his quotes page.  Some lyrics from a Dr. Dre song.

If it was a visit from beyond, don’t know the meaning of it.  We were never close so I wold have no reas on to think he wold visit me.  I was effected by his death 4 years ago and saddened a great deal that someone I had known all my life had died, but I hardly knew him.  I’m sure I looked at his FaceBook page four years ago, but hadn’t thought of it since.

I was reassured by how good he looked though.  I don’t know for sure, but I am pretty sure he died of a drug overdose or alcohol poisoning.  He had the puffy unhealthy look of an alcoholic, judging from the pictures posted before his death, and although he was always a handsome boy and man, he didn’t look good at the end.  The man I saw was a perfect version of Aaron Kovach.   Tall and handsome with a keen wit and laughing eyes.

It was nice to spend some time with him. If it was a true visit with him or only my subconscious mind, I’ll never know.