Escaping

Imagine me with a small houseboat. I know we are in danger and need to leave the place we are at, so I gather my siblings and a few supplies and we set off down the river through the mountains.

All is well until we pass by the village and suddenly the river ends.

I am embarrassed, surprised and also shocked to realize that I really didn't know how we were going to do this. I only thought if we got on the boat and headed out, it would work, so now we have to turn around. You cannot cross dry land with a boat that big.

Back in our old place the water is filled with predator fish like sharks so disembarking has to be done very carefully. My teacher is there to meet us. He tells me I am late, but I can still take the exam. I sit down at my desk, but I don't have a clue what the answers are.

I get up and leave, but realize I left my purse in his classroom. When I go back to get it, he rummages through a pile of things along the back of the room and I leave wearing boots. They fit. They are the same color, but they obviously do not match. One has a rounded toe and the other a pointier one. I go back and try to show him that one of these boots is not like the other and they are not a real pair.

He doesn't see it and I have to reconcile myself to wearing mismatched boots. I think, I can do this. No big deal. We will just walk out of here. I start walking and pass a small fancy little shop where Aunt Lela is tatting lace and selling dresses decorated with it. I know you can't wear lace with mismatched boots, so I pass on by.

I make it through the town and am walking up a mountain path when I see a bunch of alpacas. I imagine them harnessed to the boat, pulling it through the narrow straits so we can escape, but then I remember I no longer have the boat.

There isn't any water here anyway. Let alone a strait that might lead us out.

And then I woke up worrying about those mismatched boots.