I'm carrying my phone and charger case and rushing to catch the elevator. The hotel hallway is spacious, but there seems to be a traffic jam of people and suitcases milling in front of the elevator doors.
"Excuse me. Oops, excuse me. Sorry!" As I thread through the milleau.
I slip in along with three tall men laughing and chatting with each other, seasoned travellers from the state of their trim but well worn luggage. I stare dumbfounded at the single silver LED panel with no buttons except for G and a blank one. Which one am i supposed to press!? I thought I was on the 5th floor, why aren't there normal buttons here? I press ground and see it flashes briefly like an error sign. The elevator doesn't move.
"in ko batao kay number dalna hota hai" I turn agape to hear urdu being spoken in Thailand of all places.
The one closest to me looks at me for a second, weighing my intellect to see if he thinks I can understand the no-doubt complicated process, then suppresses an eye roll and takes out his wallet, and pulls out a note of currency which includes bhat, rupees and a bunch of papers, and then reaches over and types out a code in the panel.
"Oh. Thank you" I mutter as I wonder how many tourists would be able to figure that out. That too with no instructions written anywhere! "Are you from Pakistan!" I turn and ask him "I am too!"
He looks down - yes I am that much shorter - and nods and one of the other companions says "yes we work for PIA".
"Oh cool!" I didn't know we had such tall good looking people in our airline. Good for them. Represent. Best foot forward.
We reach the ground and I come out, and the lobby is open air and has the usual milleau of people that are in hotels, cars, suitcases, people chattering in all languages, coffee tables and waiters amid the chaos.
I turn around, completely disoriented. Oh yes, the conference I was here for. It was right here in the same hotel. I walk through the mass, looking for signs that might indicate a conference hall, when I see one of those double-action doors that swings in and out as people push through it. That looks like it.
---
It opens up to a huge outdoor auditorium. I can see the street outside, cars trundling along under the hot sunny day. I must be late because the bleachers are completely full, and it's not standing room only. I'm pretty much in the last line, but I can see the earthen stage pretty well. The show's already started it seems, but it doesn't look like it's my conference. Must be another hall, I should go back. What looks like the Thai version of a circus ring leader and a huge white beard is pointing a theatric cane at a runway. Oh it looks like an aerial show. Wow. I catch the tail of some flying contraption that's been made to look like a Chinese dragon - obviously one of those small crop dusters - is gliding out of view. It seems too small and silent to be a plane. It must be a paraglider. The crown gasps, and I quickly look over. The Chinese dragon is looping the loop and coming back for another circle. Ok maybe a microlight, paragliders can't do that can they? It threads through an impossibly small door at the start of the runway, and the crowd aaahhhs in appreciation and claps. Then it aims perfectly for the large barn doors at the end of the runway and makes it through as the claps turn to applause.
"OMG G! What the heck are you doing in Thailand!" my favorite bakery stall owner is standing there. I had met her at another conference in Karachi a few months ago, where she had the same line up of some of the best hummus we had ever had.
---
I see a throng of people filing into a large wooden door with "Rice Room" in neon lettering above it. That must be it.
I walk through the coffee tables and noise, in through the doors and up the small set of carpeted stairs and am met by these two lovely women behind the counter, registration card in front. I diligently fill it out, as the lady looks on with reading glasses perched on her mid-nose.
I file in and try to find a seat at the back. The hall seems huge, but dimly lit and pleasantly airconditioned. But before I can sit I realize I forgot my charging case, it must be at the registration desk. Shit. Curse my terrible memory.
I walk back past the late comers and stragglers.
"Did I by any change leave my charging case here?"
The registration lady tuts "We just gave it to lost & found love, head on out back near the elevators and you'll see the gentlemen there"
----
Yet again I'm back rushing now towards a desk that clearly has miscellaneous lost & found items on it.
"Hi! I can see my charging case here, thank you! I just left it at the conference room registration desk" I chuckle as I pick it up. The three men in indolent postures behind the desk seem indifferent, but one is cataloguing the items and holds up a finger for me to wait.
I try not to roll my eyes, he hasn't catalogued my case. And then I realize something else. Shit! I left my phone back at the registration desk. What the hell is wrong with me!
The muggy heat seems to have made me feel like I'm swimming underwater in some dreamscape.
"Hi! I left my phone back there, should I leave this here for you to catalogue or can I just take it and run back in a bit?"
The man clearly speaks no English, but finally waves me away which I assume to mean that I'm dismissed.
As I walk up the carpeted steps once again, I can't help but think this feels like some sort of dream. The registration lady is looking at me highly amused, but thank God hands back the phone without incident. I grab it, and check the time and realize it's already time to go and pick up R from his class.
Gosh I haven't managed to do a single thing all morning.
I rush through the double doors aiming to cut through the arena and grab a taxi so I'm not late to pick up my son.
---
Did I walk through the wrong doors? What's going on?
The arena is completely empty, and gray. The sun blocked out by grey clouds. the runaway tarmac broken and algaed, with dirty puddles. The ring leader is still there, and I'm passing through but I have to stop and ask. He seems to have a white sheep sized animal next to him. What the hell is that thing? A capybara?
"What happened, everything was just ok a few minutes ago" I can't help but shout out to him. I can't seem to see the doors that lead out to the taxi area.
"They came and destroyed the place. My beautiful in-between space. I managed to barely fend them off. I feel like I've been here a millennia" His eyes are grey and haunted, like the sky.
I feel a chill in my spine at the words. Oh. I'm in a dream. That explains everything. Baker G must have in the same place, she had a major auto-immune that made her more spiritual than most. And those PIA guys, I realize with a chill, they were definitely angels! Not the chubby child-like ones from western mythology, the kind that dealt in souls and death as executors of God's will.
I also realize that the animal next to him must be the Chinese dragon. Of course. That explains everything. This is a dream. I should just go one and get that taxi and get my son, he must be waiting. I am about to look around for it, but can't help myself.
"Hey, you know what that means?" This is too easy, and I can't stop the wry smile from my face. He looks genuinely confused, this being from the in-between space. Time for a little human humor. "It means you beat them all and still survived"
I see the realization spark in his eyes, and go from grey to bright blue, like the Karachi sky on a hot summer morning. His grin literally lights up the sky, the clouds part, and greenery starts flowering everywhere. The Chinese dragon picks up on this, and suddenly yips and jumps in the air and the barren empty sky becomes light with a rainbow trailing behind it. He jumps into the dirty grey puddle and it becomes a beautiful blue-green swimming pool.
The ring master is grinning, and says "Yes that's the door, go there"
I see one appear right behind me. I don't think this was there a second ago. I couldn't have made it out in time without him. "Thanks!" I call out as I push through.
---
I instantly feel deep deep regret. I'm not longer in Thailand. I'm in what can only be the subcontinent. The unmistakable post-colonial buildings. I hear a muezzin's call to prayer - Pakistan not India then - and hear the unmistakeable clip-clop of a tonga. I'm near a school alright, but not the one where I'm supposed to pick up R.
I hesitate for a second, in complete panic. With dreams, you never know if you can get trapped inside forever. The door is still there, and even though I can feel like I only have seconds, I have to check. I open it and poke my head through again, to find the startled ring master and his dragon look up at me.
"This will get me back to my son, right? Right time and place?"
He nods, and it about to say something but hesitates. Oh we're running out of time. He needs me to go through immediately.
I shut the door with a resolute click, and realize I have to trust the process.
I step out into the light.
-----
I come to. My eyes are still closed, but I know I'm in my bed. My fever seems to have broken. I reach over and fumble on the bedside table for my phone. First day of school after the break, time to start!
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