Dreamland

Tune In, Turn On, Drop Out

I can't stand it anymore, I've had it with my job, the city traffic, all the bullshit of my day-to-day life. I decide to get away from it all. I get myself a place on a Rainbow Family bus, headed out for the annual Gathering. I kick in a bunch of cash to help keep the bus rolling. I stuff some clothes and camping gear into a big old backpack, get on the bus & hit the road.

We're on the road for a while, and the furthur away from the city we get, the better I feel. Someone breaks out a bag of weed and starts rolling...

The guy next to me passes me a joint, I take a small puff and pass it on. (I used to be a pretty heavy toker years ago, and I still have friends that smoke a quite a bit, but now I limit myself to the occasional puff or two to be sociable when people are passing the pipe.) A few minutes later another joint is passed to me but I wave my hand. "No thanks, I've had enough."

"Man, you're so uptight! You really need to unwind, clear you head from all that shit that's weighin' you down!"

"Yeah, you're probably right. I'll take another puff or two," I reply, accepting the joint.

Before too long I'm taking full tokes every time a joint or pipe is passed my way, and I'm higher than I've been in years. Reality has slipped away, replaced by the mellow feeling of oneness with the people I am with. I can only smile... The bus rolls on, deep into the National Forest...

The driver pulls the bus into a parking lot in the forest, near some public restrooms. "We'll stop here for a while, take a break," he announces. We all get off the bus.

After hitting the bathroom to take a leak, I wander alone down a trail into the woods. The scent of pine in the clear mountain air is intoxicating. The sight of the trees against the clear blue sky, mountains in the distance, it's amazing. I feel truly at peace, a part of nature, a feeling I haven't felt in a long time...

After a while I walk back up the trail into the parking lot. The bus is gone! I see an Oriental woman I know from work, she's walking away from the restrooms. We greet each other, and she tells me she is here camping. "Did you see a painted bus full of people?" I ask.

"The left a few minutes ago... It's nice seeing you again, but I have to get back to my campsite and get dinner ready for my husband and son," she says, as she walks away.

I'm totally alone out here, and my backpack with all my stuff is on a bus somewhere down the road, probably miles away by now. It's late in the day, the sun will be going down soon...

I feel so lost... I don't know what to do...