I was in New York City and entered the big parking lot of the car rental agency. For the life of me I can’t remember why I thought it was a good idea to rent a car in New York City. I looked around the buzzing parking lot with cars in all shades of green. People were zigzagging through the rows to find the car with their name on the sticker attached to the windshield. I joined the crowd and nervously looked for my name. Luckily I found it quickly. I was staring at an emerald green oldtimer, long, elegant and curvy. I got in and noticed there was no gas pedal. Instead I had pedals like on a go-kart.
Even in my dreams I was traveling.
I was utterly confused and ‘drove’ my car out of the row of other green cars. In the rows behind me were more modern green cars and I started to wonder why I didn’t rent one of them. I wanted to find a help desk to clarify that I had not asked for a car without an engine. I pedaled my car through a small alley on one side of the lot, only to find the help desk closed. This was the strangest rental process I’ve encountered in my life! I managed a 23-point turn and took out my phone for navigation when I was back at the parking lot. When I exited I entered the busy traffic of NYC and immediately decided I could not join the vehicles racing and honking in the streets.
The street opened up to a wide boulevard. There were a few lanes of heavy traffic in each direction, with yellow taxis and colored cars with engines. Beside it was a big pavement where people were strolling up and down with classic fabric umbrellas to provide shade. The houses of New York had made way for a green area, with lush plants sticking out of a mysterious mist. I zigzagged through the people and suddenly a man from the car rental company was next to me, showing me where to go. He just appeared out of nowhere, like the cat in Alice in Wonderland.
Next thing I know I’m in a mansion or palace. I have no clue what it looks like from the outside, or where I parked my go-kart-car for that matter. I just appeared on the top floor and felt anxious because I was not sure if I was supposed to be there. I heard something and checked out a room where I found an elevator. The elevator door looked dark like ebony, yet didn’t seem very heavy. It looked like a fairy tale door with ornate wood carvings on the door posts, but it would open like an elevator. The whole thing was going up and down without anyone entering or exiting. It was surrounded by lush yellow plants that twisted and twirled in all directions. Surrounding the elevator were some walkways in a square, with railings so you could admire the elevator.
A woman scared me and I thought she would tell me off, but she didn’t so much as look at me. That encouraged me to walk further down the hallway where I had view of a garden with wild, bright colored, almost fluorescent plants I had never seen before. I saw two other tourists sauntering through the garden. They didn’t seem to be surprised by its extraordinary appearance at all. At the end of the hallway I just saw black. A doorway led to a place so dark I had no idea what was in it. Then I opened my eyes and the light greeted me. I stretched out in my bed. The chilly morning air was coming in through my window. Time to start another day.
