A simple definition of a dream is Imaginary
events seen in the mind while sleeping.
We all have or still experience these events
that seem so real yet uncontrollable. And that I have no power at all to
determine my actions, of others or the surroundings of my dreams is the worse
feeling always.
What
really causes dreams is a question that has troubled humanity for ages. Of
course there is the scientific explanation of the mechanisms that happens in
the brains to make one dream. But what determines what dream one is going to
have that night or moments he falls asleep is what bothers me more. I have
heard some say that we dream of what or
who we think about the most, our fears or wishes of things to happen. I
cannot completely disagree with this theory because to some extent it is true
but it doesn’t always hold.
Uncountable
times I have had dreams that are not things or people I think about the most,
my fears or wishes.
Looking
at my dreams for years now, say more than ten perhaps what in the words of the late author and academic Francis Imbuga should
bother my solitary mind is Why is venue
of my dreams almost always ABC Boarding or Meru School ? My primary and high
schools. In fact I have more dreams in the classroom where I sat for my KCPE
that any other place. Well, at times they touch on the football field and the
assembly ground.
I
cannot deny that the two places are where happy times in my school life
happened. The worse times being the university and my first primary school
Muruugi the worst. My happiest moments have been after school and it baffles me
how comes the portion of them in my dreams is very minor?
The
characters that feature aren’t exclusive, rather from school and life
thereafter. There are many times I see myself in ABC Boarding seated on the
first desk on any of the three rows in Class 8 surrounded by former classmates,
random people or friends. Usually I am in civilian clothes, a grown up and no
teacher is in class! Each classroom at the time had pupils seated in three desk
rows, Row A, B and C.
This
Friday I dreamt walking into Class 8 room in the company of my cousin Tembe,
for some reason he was the small boy I once knew rather than the lad he is now.
I sat on the first desk in Row B and him on the Teachers’ chair. Some guys
started harassing him as it was norm in school when a student of a lower class
walked into the Big Boys classroom.
The class was full and it was difficult to tell who all these people were but
there weren’t the teenage boys and girls of fourteen years ago, rather grown up
men and women, mostly strangers. The faces I could make out were those of
former primary school classmates and childhood friends: Peter Mwenda A.KA
Robot, Kelvin Kirimi and the late Mugambi Magambo.
All
over a sudden, there was a commotion at the back of Row B, a woman had lost her
phone. She walked to her friend in the middle of the Row A and said, “I suspect
the thief is in this room, please call my number”. She was right, we heard a phone call ring at
the back. Weird enough the thief was wearing a mask but as soon as we dragged
him out the room I could tell who he was. It was Ndereba, we joined school same
day in January of ’94 and studied together until ’97 December when I left for
St Theresa primary and later ABC Boarding. I hadn’t seen this former classmate
for twenty years until I bumped into him two months ago at the local market of
Kamurita. He is like me, facial appearances have never changed. We didn’t talk
a lot about the twenty years, in fact it merely an exchange of greetings. I can
say it is because it was about to rain but I am not much of a talker
either. We dragged Ndereba to some kind
of holding cell that looked a replica of Baghdad
cell in Thika Police Station.
On
the way we met with Chui, a guy who fell victim to the torture and humiliation
of class repetition for years back in Muruugi primary school because teachers
thought he was smart enough to proceed to the next class. He is also one of
those people you will almost never know their names because their nicknames are
more popular. What transpired during the meeting is unclear.
I am walking towards Assembly ground and see Mr.
Kariuki who was the deputy head teacher coming towards us. He is carrying curuba cia miraa, miraa/khat bundles,
psyched up I pick a bundle from the starch and start chewing. As I join others
who are already assembled, I sight a familiar face, Denno alias Mungi. The smile is similar to the one
he breaks into when he sees me walk into our local joint Club Vanity Thika at half
past eleven or minutes to midnight on weekends. He’s usually seated on the
second table killing invincible mosquitoes and betting, cheek-full of the
recreational herbs and downing Guinness. Whether he smiles at my right check which
more protruding than his because the taxin
(while chewing miraa one chews as he/she stores some contents in the
cheeks, it’s like a cud by ruminants), my gaping eyes am not sure. Then I ….Fish! Why
are dreams always incomplete? I never get to the very end. Somebody had called
me or was calling me or was about to call on my phone. On checking my phone I
realized I had two missed calls and two messages.
Coincidentally
it is usually my friend Daniel Mwenda alias Mwenda O Miti, the Agro Forrester
who is calling. This guy is guilty of the felony of killing my dreams for the better of this year, he has been waking
me up mid-dreams. It’s for good reasons I should add. He is a good chap though,
very jovial and good at his profession of designing and writing farm management
proposals. We get along well on many things apart from politics. His criticism
of Raila Odinga for no clearly explained reason has never settled well with me
and my Atheism with him. The fellow claims he stopped reading the Fifth Columnist Philip Ochieng on Daily Nation years ago when he wrote of
his non-belief in the existence of a super natural being. Ha-ha!! As a matter of
facts we started out as political nemesis three or so years ago at Gwa-Kianja veve base (a miraa vending shop) but as it’s said in politics there
are No Permanent Friends or Enemies. What more we live in the information age, it
is wise not to let political affiliations, ideologies or religious inclination
get in the way of doing that which makes life better. Cheers bro, I look
forward to your call killing my next dream.
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