I start with the pretense that I am in a dream. It's not a lucid dream, but rather that I have entered the shared dreamworld between the living and the dead.
I get up from the underground concrete floor and realize that I have a Game Boy Advance SP in my pocket. When I open it, the screen displays advertisements for weaponized toys. One advertisement showcased silly bands that could double as brass knuckles.
Looking around, I appear to be in a factory room. The machinery looks bog-standard, but I don't understand what it does. It almost resembles a steam engine, or maybe an old assembly line coming out of a large cylindrical furnace. The place is dimly lit by fluorescent tubes on the ceiling. Some have gone out.
In between the furnace and rusted-metal and glass elevator, a large hole in the concrete wall appears to have something sliding through it.
The item is a tethered RCA-branded mobile phone. It's similar to those early brick phones and has a foldable latch with important numbers. Unfortunately, I didn't look at them. The man pushing the tethered phone looked gruff. He wore brown overalls, a dirty white undershirt, and a scratched bright yellow construction helmet with a white-light headlamp. He's got a large mustache but a shaved face. His skin is practically bronze as it shines from the light bouncing off the walls.
I ask him if he needs help. He looks at me with judgment, as if I would be any help. He lets go of the tether and walks away.
Suddenly, my grandmother appears. She's very happy to see me and wants me to join her. Somehow, I am transported to her side. We talk a lot but I don't exactly remember the conversation. Eventually we discuss our favorite music and she said that in the afterlife she has really taken to listening to Mexican music. She loves that it make her dance so freely. I open up the Game Boy again and noticed the date said it was 1817. I said to my grandma that I unfortunately had to go and she led me above ground.
I don't remember how we went above. We arrived to a very governmental looking city with marble walls everywhere. They were slightly slanted and gave the impression of national security. Each wall must've been at least 12 feet and warped to be beside the sidewalk around the winding roads. Tall, gray, authoritative buildings stood on top of these marble walls with perfectly green trees furnishing them.
I parted ways with my grandma and walked the opposite direction. As I walked along the road, I came across a three way intersection that had plenty of cars getting ready to go. I was going to cross but my in-dream instincts to me to stop. The cars go by and they look like typical economic-class cars. The marble on the opposite side of the street had something written in a large golden serif typeface, “?????? Tiger Believability.” I don't remember the first word.
A short young woman beside me smiled and ask if I had intended to cross too. I laughed and said yes. She said that she was meeting some friends for lunch and that I should come. I decided to join her as if she was an old friend. As we walk up the road, the large walls lower themselves to give way to an enormous white marble plaza with benches, tables, chairs, and trees placed in a grid-like pattern. It felt like a chess set.
We enter this petite cafe that already had plates of salmon dressed with orzo, edamame, and olive oil on tables. I thought one of the plates were for me when I realized I hadn't ordered yet. I walked up to the counter where there was the typical assortment of coffee-making machines. Two middle-aged women greeted me waiting for my order. I looked up to the menu sign above them. There were only two intelligible options, the dressed salmon or the goat burger. From what I remember, the goat burger was a goat patty served on a brioche bun with goat cheese, a honey glaze, and some sweet berry sauce. I ordered the goat burger but was told they were out. So I went with their only other option and one of the women took the tablet register with them to one of the tables and just sat down. Apparently, the young woman I walked in with was having trouble with her food. I went over to the table to pay. By this time, night had fallen and I sat down next to the young woman with her fixed food.
I sat for a while, not doing anything, before quietly waking up.