Open To Interpretation – Speakeasy #155

Signs and people:  open to interpretation

“Without a word, she dropped to the ground.” I took a drink of iced tea. “Such a bizarre dream… I have no idea what it means.”

“A wooden cheetah climbed the tree?” Pam tilted her head to the side and scrunched her face.

“Yeah. She almost reached the wooden eagle, but then she just stopped, leaped from the trunk, and ran away lightning fast.”

She shook her head. “That is strange. Cheetahs don’t even climb trees.”

“Whatever. Maybe it was jaguar or a leopard. That’s not the point.”

“Oh yes, the point is you give up too soon.” She jabbed a ketchup-dipped fry in my direction.

“What?”

“The leopard almost reached her goal and then turned tail. That, my friend, is you.”

“Maybe she decided she wasn’t hungry.”

“Doubt it. Leopards are hunters by instinct.”

“Maybe I’m the eagle.”

Pam laughed. “Nope. Eagles symbolize freedom. You’ve trapped yourself.”

“Maybe the leopard decided the bird wasn’t worth the effort,” I said.

“Or she was afraid of what would happen if she actually caught it.”

I rolled my eyes. “It was just a stupid dream. Can we talk about something else?”

“You’re either stressed about that job offer in Chicago or the lack of proposal from Ian- or both.”

“You got all that from a dream?”

Pam looked over the rim of her eyeglasses. “It makes more sense than the literal interpretation of wooden animals in a tree. The subconscious never rests and our conscious worries tend to manifest in our dreams. The way I see it–”

“Okay, okay. I am a little anxious. Just stop already.”

Pam smiled… her smug smile. I hated that one.

“I don’t think Ian will ever be ready to commit.” I picked the sesame seeds off my burger bun and dropped them into a pile on my plate. “I’m done wasting my time.”

“Then why not take the job in Chicago?”

“I like it here.”

“You like the safety of here.”

“Dang it, Pam! Stop analyzing me.” Her scrutiny always made me squirm, mostly because, as my best friend of fifteen years, she pegged me more than I planned to admit.

“Fine, but you really should find out why the leopard turned away.”

“Right. I’ll go to bed tonight and tune myself into the dream channel and pick up where it left off. Better yet, I’ll chase the wooden leopard down and ask her why she didn’t devour the eagle.”

“Funny,” Pam said in a sarcastic tone. Then she shrugged. “Maybe you should stay. That way, we can still discuss your deep-seeded insecurities over lunch.”

I sighed. “Chicago might not be so bad.”

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This is my response to Speakeasy’s weekly writing prompt.  The challenge this week is to write a piece in 750 words or less (mine is less- 438 words, to be exact) (1) using “Without a word, she dropped to the ground.” as the first sentence, AND (2) make some sort of reference to the photo prompt (which is posted on the Speakeasy site.)

The challenge is open to everyone, so if you want to play along, click the badge below to check out the guidelines.  Stories can be written and posted on your blog now, but we can’t add our link to Speakeasy until Tuesday.

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