This Servant’s Life

It started on stage. Little prima donnas whirling and twirling in pink tutus and white tights.

It was THE audition, and everyone was nervous. My friend Valorie and I were trying out, but we weren’t very good. We knew we’d been cut when a stern lady in a gray suit came by and sneered at us in our tights.

I was disappointed. Valorie became enraged and threw herself at the woman, biting and snarling. I watched in shock, as two armed guards came and wrestled Valorie away. She was being taken to the servant’s dungeon, and it was clear she had gone quite mad.

I threw myself at the lady’s feet and begged for my life. She nudged me with her toe and sniffed that I would be allowed to stay on as a servant in the royal household.

My position was garment servant. I was to work in the large wing of the castle devoted to clothing, along with another servant named Klaus. We worked our fingers to the bone designing dresses, doing fittings, and appeasing the many royal ladies of the castle.

Each night after work, I’d go down to the servant’s kitchen and talk my friend and kitchen servant, Cordelia, into giving me some table scraps. I’d take the scraps down to the servant’s dungeon, and share some of the scraps with Jojack, the servant in charge of the dungeon.

We’d talk for a while and then walk down to Valorie’s cell. Jojack would thrust the food into the cage-like cell, and we’d back away as Valorie would rant and scream at our retreating backs.

Then, one day, gun-toting terrorists took over the castle. They imprisoned the royals in the large garment room where I worked. The terrorists paid us no attention, since we were lowly servants.

I remembered there was a back way to the servant’s dungeon through a hidden door in the garment room. I pressed the door and slipped quietly away. I told Jojack what was going on. He had a row of guns behind him that could be used to restore order in the dungeon if things got out of hand.

Jojack released several prisoners and told them that if they helped free the royals, they would surely receive their freedom. The men joined Jojack and me as we snuck back into the garment room and brazenly freed the royals from the terrorists!

Afterwards, the royals were reluctant to give complete freedom to their servants. Instead, they allowed us to live outside the castle walls in a deserted town that had once been overrun by zombies.

Brett and I decided to be the first ones to live in the new town. We found an empty Wendy’s and started a restaurant catering to servants after a long day of working at the castle. There was also a room in our house, and in the restaurant, just for (still quite mad) Valorie.

Some interesting notes from this dream:
The stage was the same stage inside the gym of Memorial Baptist Church where I grew up.

Valorie is the college friend who introduced me to Brett.

I think the “garment” theme and “Klause” was planted by watching episodes of America’s Next Top Model while I’ve been sick.

The stern lady in the gray suit was my second grade teacher, Miss Bull. Later in the dream, she showed up in a gorgeous gold gown along with the gaggle of girls who aced the audition.

Joe Jack is the name of the baby in The Incredibles movie which I saw advertised on a commercial recently.

The garment room was GIGANTIC. Like the biggest walk-in closet you could imagine. And it was beautifully decorated in cream and gold, so the ladies could enjoy the surroundings while they had fittings. In contrast, the dungeon was horrid. It was dark, dank, and the cells were like dog cages that held human beings.

There were still burgers and supplies in the giant freezers inside the abandoned Wendy’s restaurant. I asked my husband why the zombies hadn’t taken it. He said, “Zombie only want fresh meat.” Which makes sense in a creepy sort of way.

As for the rest of it, I’m not really sure what my subconscious was aiming for, but it made for a pretty exciting dream.