i had this dream...


...actually, i have this dream a lot, relative to other dreams. i guess we all have reoccurring dreams. as reoccurring dreams go, i remember very little from this dream with the exception of the opening sequence. i am some sort of superhero (naturally), and i take off flying into the night headed toward a castle on the side of a mountain. there is a woman (girl?) on the ground as i leave, and as the camera in my head shifts it's focus to her perspective, i can tell she is crying. does she know something that i don't...yet? am i flying off to my peril? will i not let her come with me? is she just emotional? i don't know. maybe i have finished this dream. maybe all of these questions have been answered at some point in my life and i've just never been able to bring the answers with me after my brain pushes the "awake" button. it's always frustrating. i want to know. i want to know where my superhero self is going. what's in the castle. why my superhero costume is so kick-ass. at this point in my life, though, i am starting to understand that i may not get the answers to my questions. that this dream may go unrealized. some dreams do. go unrealized that is. some when we sleep. some when we are awake.

i am a superhero, during my waking hours, to only one person. she is small and sweet and doesn't know any better. soon enough, she will be old enough to know that there are some things that daddy just can't do. but for now, even without a kick-ass costume, i'll take the great responsibility that comes with my great power and protect her. and teach her. and help her. and serve her.

she won't remember any of this, but maybe, somehow, it'll come back to her in a dream. and she'll wonder what it means. in the same way that i've wondered about mine. that it may not be me in my dream but my dad that's hurrying off to save the world. that it's my mom that's crying because she knows that no matter how hard she tries, it will always be him that i see as the one with the superpowers.

she won't remember any of this. the laughing. the playing. the jumping on the bed. if it comes back to her in a dream, i do hope it's a good one.