A Rescue Dream

It started when my neighbors’ son, Randy Baker, disappeared…

It started when my neighbors’ son, Randy Baker, disappeared. The whole neighborhood searched and then a city-wide search and rescue drive was organized. Next day, the county police force joined in the search. Jewelry was found, a stolen car, lost papers, a poaching trap in the forest, but Randy was nowhere to be found.

He had gone out into the countryside in the morning but never returned home. His parents Debbie and Patrick were being supported by their neighbors. Gradually the county forces withdrew and then the local police and neighbors returned to their activities. Soon we were just a small circle around the collapsed parents. Their family members took turns and we gradually resumed our usual activities.

Nothing was the same as before, no one dared to show one’s joy. I had taken a few days off from the library where I worked. I had to go back to my routine.

I felt even more alone in my big house. Tracy, my wife, had died almost five years ago. we would often meet on weekends for an aperitif with some neighbors. All that, was over. The silence was only disturbed by the passing of cars at the start and end of the work day. I had taken this part-time job as a librarian to socialize, my income from some financial operations that I had done before, gave me some ease.

A month after the disappearance, I started to think and to do some research on the internet, spending nights. At the end of the week, my librarian work began to suffer. On Sunday morning, I hung out in bed reviewing my past week. The internet had brought me more questions than answers and this story was beginning to drain my energy. So I went further down in time.

Who was Randy? The Baker family had moved to the neighborhood 16 years before. Tracy and I had moved in, just one year before, while our house was still unfinished. That summer will be remembered by us as a break from the world’s noise. The windows were not yet installed and we slept amidst the birdsong.

In the fall, houses began to spring up around us and soon new families settled in. We greeted each other from afar, and then little by little we got to know each other. The Bakers arrived the following summer. Mrs. Baker was pregnant, I pitied her in that particularly hot summer. Randy was born in the fall. In the afternoons, we could see Mrs. Baker walking the baby around. I often talked to Jim Baker over the hedge between our two houses. We were both computer scientists.

Over the next few years, I watched Randy grow up. He was a spontaneous, laughing child. He often played in the backyard with his classmates. Then he was a teenager. One day I saw him pensive in the backyard, he didn’t hear me. His face expressed sadness. I didn’t dare speak to him.

His disappearance destroyed our little community. Do his parents get along well? They’ve both walled themselves in. Deborah still does some errands, but if not, most of the time, Joe’s delivery guy brings them food.

How can we look for him when all the physical searches have been done? I felt a guilt inside me as if I hadn’t done everything in my power and had some responsability in what happened. The physical search had come to nothing, so what about the non-physical research? In the past, I had studied the field of dreams and I knew that it was possible to induce dreams.

That Sunday night, I meditated, and sent my request to the universe to receive answers about Randy and then went to sleep, promising to stay still when I wake up, to contemplate what I had brought back in my dream catcher.

That night, I had a nightmare where I saw Randy being carried away by scary creatures. He would scream and call out to me, but I was paralyzed with fear. I woke up in a sweat and my heart was pounding.

Next night, I had the same dream again. The child was swept away by deformed, humanoid creatures and he called out to me. I woke up again, frightened, this time thinking about what I could do.

On the third day, I prepared myself before going to sleep. I imagined that I would deliver him but something strange happened. I heard Deborah and Patrick arguing. This had never happened before. She was yelling at him, blaming him for not taking good enough care of Randy, that he shouldn’t have taken certain substances and that it must have attracted bad people. Then I heard the door slam and the car start up and drive away. There was a loud crash from their kitchen. I didn’t dare to come forward, almost holding my breath.

It took me a while to fall asleep. What was Deborah talking about? What substance? Finally I concentrated on my dream and fell asleep.

The dream repeated itself and when I heard the call of the child, I attacked his assailants, immediately, strangely enough, they fainted as if they had never existed and the child rushed into my arms.

In the morning, Randy showed up at my door. He was here, waddling on his legs before saying thank you.

Then he walked over to his house. The door opened, I heard Deborah’s exclamation of surprise and relief.

A few days later, Randy was in the backyard. He joined me at our common hedge.

Mr. Rowan, I have a question for you. My dad took LSD before he met mom. During this experience, he met strange beings, and became very scared. Do you think they are the same people?

I don’t know, Randy. What our loved ones do, can have consequences for us all. My wife passed away and that has consequences for me. Do you know anything about social networking?

Yeah, sure.

Well, you know, some sites steal our data and use it against us. If you protect yourself with encrypted and secure email but send your email to someone who has a non-confidential and insecure email account then it will compromise your security. If your friend also has a weak password and gets hacked, the thief can send you a misleading message and innoculate a computer virus to your machine.

Everyone’s security depends on each one of us, you understand? We are in solidarity with each other and responsible for our security, you understand?

Randy said yes and lingered for a moment as he looked into my eyes, digging inside for the answer to his mute question.