Reading Test

In my dream, Sir Paul came over to my house to have dinner. Do not ask me how that came about, it was just a dream. While we waited for dinner to be ready, we sat down to watch some television. The History Channel was on with a documentary about the Vietnam war. As we watched the show, we fell asleep. I know, a dream about falling asleep. But, that is not all. While we slept, we dreamed—a dream within a dream. Yes, Sir Paul and I went all Inception with the dream within a dream.

The dream within a dream took place in Vietnam. Sir Paul and I flew in a large helicopter in a convoy of choppers along with civilian reporters and some US Marines. North Vietnamese Army Regulars managed to shoot down the helicopters. As our chopper neared the ground, Sir Paul and I jumped out, hit the ground hard, and rolled with the momentum. Sir Paul pulled out his pistol and shot dead two NVA Regulars. I picked up an M-16 from a dead Marine and we ran away from the crash site.

Sir Paul said that an airport was nearby, and that we should make for it if we wanted to get out alive. We encountered more NVA Regulars, killed them, and moved on as fast as we could. We also rescued other survivors from the other crashed helicopters. The NVA Regulars pursued us all the way, and we engaged in several gunfights with them.

When we reached the airport, we ran into soldiers from Australia. In case you did not know this, the Australians sent troops to Vietnam during that war. At first, the Aussies tried to shoot us thinking that we were the enemy. But, Sir Paul yelled at them that we were friendlies in need of their help. They quickly disarmed us and took us to their commander. The Aussies recognized Sir Paul and apologized for shooting at us.

As we boarded the evacuation helicopter, Sir Paul looked back at the jungle we escaped from and said, “Let it be.” The dream within a dream ended.

I woke up and looked at Sir Paul, “I had the strangest dream.”

"Me too," he replied. "We were in—"

"Vietnam!" I said.

"Yes," he said surprised, "our helicopter crashed…"

We discussed the dream.

As we walked to the dining room to eat dinner, I asked him about the picture. “Was that really you with the pistol and your eyes closed?”

"Yes, it was…"

I woke up at that point. My dog Roxy wanted to go outside and she knew that she could wake me up by shaking her collar so that her dog tags jingled. I went outside and waited for her to do her business. I thought about the dream, and felt sad that it was just a dream.