Dreams of New Jersey

[fbhjr]

I dreamed I was in New Jersey visiting friends and relatives.
I started at one cousin’s house and was going to ride my bicycle to another’s in a near by town.  ckcorey lived about half way between them, so I was going to stop in and see him on the way.

I left my first cousins and rode over to ckcorey’s place.  It was off in the woods a good ways off of the beaten track.  It was a big house with lot of big glass windows looking out into the woods and several fire places along the walls.
We visited for a while, then I told him I had to get going so I could reach my other cousin’s before dark.
“Which way are you going?” he asked.
“The map says to go out the south road from your property and pick up the main road there,” I said, showing him the map.
“You’ll never make that on your bike,” he said.  “Let me loan you something to get you to the road.  Just leave it parked on the side road when you get there and I’ll pick it up later.”
He took me out back to what appeared to be a “duck” type landing craft.  We loaded my bike in and he pointed down a very steep hill in his back yard.
“Follow the trail,” he said.  “Try not to stop or even this may get stuck.”
The hill start was very steep and after that there only appeared to be swamp with a very rough trail through it.
I drove over the edge and it go going quite fast.  It splashed through the swamp jumping over logs and through mud.  After weaving along the path this way for a while, I saw a fence coming where the swamp ended.  The trail led to a gate in the fence, but it was closed and locked.  I knew I’d never be able to get back to where I started, so I hit the gas and rammed the gate.  It burst open and I shot out onto the street.
I felt bad about the gate, but parked on the side of the road and took out my bike.
I could see I was on the edge of a small town.  I started to ride towards the main road.

As I got closer to the main road, I saw three men in ski masks coming down the road towards me.  As I could not think of any good reason for them to be wearing ski masks in summer, I tried to avoid them.
On grabbed the handle bars of my bike and stopped me.
“You’ve seen us,” he said, pulling out a knife.
“Not your faces,” I replied.
“Hurry up,” one of the other ones said.
“What you got on you?” the first one asked me.
I opened my wallet.  There wasn’t much in there.
“That’s not even worth my time,” the guy said.
“Sorry, it’s all I’ve got,” I said and put the wallet away.
“I didn’t say I wouldn’t take it,” he said.  “Only that it wasn’t worth my time.”
“Then, I won’t keep you any more,” I said and jumped on the pedals of my bike.
I could hear him chasing me as I pedaled away.
Something hit me in my upper right back and I knew he had stabbed me with the knife.
“Stop fooling around and get going,” the other one shouted and he stopped running after me.

I rode out onto the main road in town.  There was an old man walking down the street.
“Call the police,” I told him.  “There are three guys in ski masks down there that are up to something.  I don’t know what, but it isn’t good.”
"Son, you're bleeding," he said, pointing to my back.
"I know," I said. "Where's the nearest hospital?"
"It's just up the road past the big buildings," he said, pointing.
"Call the police."
I started pedaling up the road, hoping I wasn't bleeding too much.

The road ended in what looked like an older college campus. It ran right up to one of the old red stone buildings and ended.
I didn't know what else to do, so I picked up my bike and went in.
It looked like an older college building on the inside as well. As I walked through with my bike another old man came down the stairs.
"No bikes inside the building," he said.
"I'm looking for the hospital," I said. "I've been stabbed."
"Oh my," he said. "Keep going the way you are. Once you get outside, the hospital is in the first building on your right."
"Thank you," I said.
I went out of the building and turned right. The building there was similar looking to the one I just came out of, but had a big entrance to an inner court yard/parking area.
I went into the courtyard. I couldn't see any sign of a hospital. Over on the right side was a big sign for a sports bar in the basement.
"Sally's Sports Bar, the best burgers in town," the sign said. It had a drawing of a young woman with blond hair on the sign.
There didn't seem to be anyone else in sight, or anywhere else open, so I went in.
The place was very crowded and looked like a typical chain sports bar. It started in the basement, but had several levels going up stairs as well.
I picked up a menu from the bar.
On the back side of the menu I saw a notice that read "If you are here for medical treatment, hold the menu upside down and we will get to you in the order you arrived."
I held the menu upside down.
A man dressed as a waiter in a white smock came up to me.
"May I help you, Sir?" he asked.
"I was stabbed in the right back shoulder," I said.
"Very good, please come with me."
He led me up some stairs to an upper level and down a corridor that ended with the bathrooms.
"Lets have a look at it," he said.
I looked around at the corridor, but shrugged. I took my shirt off. There were splotches of blood on the back, but not as much as I had feared.
"Looks like he hit the bone and didn't go deep," the waiter said. "Still, I should give you some stitches to make sure it stays closed. Do you want anything to drink or some appetizers while I do that?"
"No, just the stitches," I said.
He worked quickly and had it done, there in the corridor, quite fast.
When he finished he handed me a bill saying they took all major credit cards and health plans.
Dream ends.