A Night In the Tree

MORNING OF DECEMBER 6, 2008

I was leaving a strange house late at night. It was in a secluded location surrounded by woods. I drove my car down a road in said woods, but the road was very narrow and almost entirely covered in dry, fallen leaves, so that it was hard to see or to follow.

Suddenly I realized a police car was behind me with his lights on. I couldn't imagine how one could get a ticket driving alone on a trail in the middle of the woods at night. As it turns out, when I pulled over, the cop just kept right on going.

The next thing I remember, I was up in the top of one of the trees. There was a makeshift treehouse of sorts in the branches. It looked like it had been modified from an old golf cart (which is weird because I don't play golf or ever ride in gold carts, so I have no idea where this came from). It had obviously been up there for a long time.

I tried to sleep in one of the seats of this "treehouse". It was very cold out, so I was bundled in blankets, and I remember tossing and turning, pulling them around me as I tried to get warm. (I think I was actually barely waking up at this point, actually turning trying to get comfortable and warm in my real bed). Every time I turned in my perch, it would shake and waver precariously in the branches.

There was a noise from below, and I looked down over the edge with a conveniently placed flashlight. I located a little gray tabby cat that appeared to be lying dead nearby. I was afraid either I or the cop might have run over it earlier, but then it suddenly turned over and I realized it was only asleep.