I’m on a very familiar lake with a group of very familiar people. We are all gathered behind a house talking and discussing what we are about to do. I look out over the water and notice that there are multiple floating cones or buoys wobbling back in fourth a great distance out. There is one buoy near the shore marking the starting point. It is orange with fluorescent tape wrapped around it making it shimmer in the light. It is starting to get dark so we decide to get started. It is clear now that this is going to be a race. Everyone starts scrambling and forming teams. We start boarding the boats which are like row-boats, but longer. Eventually, I notice that everyone has paired up and some people are even in groups of 4-5, but I am all alone. I don’t have a team, I am all alone on my boat. It doesn’t matter, we start paddling as hard as we can. There is no distinct starting point we are just going, and if you haven’t gone yet- you better catch up. There is a lot of competitive talk and bragging about an individual team’s chances of winning. Everyone seems to think they are the best and they will win. It turns into a psychological mind game where people are trying to psyche out the other teams and make them think less of themselves. I am paddling as hard as I can, but the talk doesn’t phase me. I already think I am going to lose. I am all by myself, how could I possibly win? As it gets darker and darker, I slowly hear the talking fade into a light whisper. I look ahead at the cones and I see no one in front of me, just two cones marking the point where I turn around and head back. Now I realize that I am winning. How could this be? I look back and see all the boats clustered together, but way behind to the point where they just look like dots on the horizon. This is where things start to get fuzzy. I start to get dizzy and my vision becomes blurred, but I am still paddling. I feel tired and I slowly drift off into a deep sleep. I wake up to the sound of screaming and water splashing. They are gaining on me. How could I have fallen asleep? I start frantically trying to make up for lost time and rush to quickly make it around the two distant buoys and start my journey back to shore. The only light left is the little shimmer of moonlight reflecting off of the lake and lighting up the water and buoys. I am still seeing blurry and feel as if I cannot open my eyes. I collide with the other boats as our paths intersect. I am bumping into boat after boat and apologizing, but still paddling. They are all heckling and getting frustrated with me for getting in their way. Before I know it I drift back up to the dock by the shore and exhaustedly get out of my boat and lay down on the grass in the backyard. I am in the yard behind my Grandparents house. I am not even excited about it, but I won. My time was 128:55. No one was on shore keeping track, but I specifically remember my race time being one hundred twenty eight minutes and fifty five seconds. I stumble up to the house and crash through the door to tell everyone inside about my accomplishment. My whole family is there, but they all seem busy and nobody seems to care about the race or who won. I go into the bathroom and wash the dirt from my hands, face and from under my fingernails. I have no idea how I got so filthy. My Dad starts to talk to me about an apartment. He is telling me to hurry up because we have to go over there and move things in. Then, he tells me not to rush because we cannot even get in yet, they still have to change the locks first. I am confused, but as I start arguing with him about why they need to change the locks, everyone from the race barges into the house in a fury. They are all mad at me because I won. They cannot believe that I won, the only person racing alone. They start to explain that it was only because my boat had less weight and then go on and on about how it was unfair. I drift off in thought about my apartment. Do I even have an apartment? What does it look like? I imagine a narrow tall building with long, winding, skinny halls and steep stairwells. I am trying to haul luggage up to my room. I am there now… then I woke up.
