In my quest to become a better writer, I am writing almost every day in response to various prompts.  Today, I am writing in response to the prompt “write about the most important 15 minutes of your life”, and the response needs to be in real time.  Here it goes……

Now, I’m pretty sure these are not the most important 15 minutes for me, but it was the first memory that popped into my mind, so I went with it.

I think with prompts, you should always go with your first thought.  Its more fun that way.  If you think and over think your response, it doesn’t seem quite as real.

The first thought that pops into your mind, I believe comes from your subconscious.

The subconscious works in strange and mysterious ways.  I’m picturing the subconscious as a large file drawer of memories shuffled away.  When prompted, I’m picturing the “subconscious librarian” pulling a file and saying “oooh, I got a great one for you….here!”  And it pops to mind instantaneously.  Yeah, this makes sense.  I’m sure this is how it works. 🙂

So, here’s my response……

It is two days before my wedding.  I am sitting in my hotel room, doing yet another trial run of my make up application for the big day.

Even though I’m focusing right now on my make up, all I can think about is the possibility of slipping or tripping on the way down the aisle.  I am obsessing about this detail like nobody’s business.

The aisle to walk down is very long, and even though it is made of stone, still there is a chance that I could trip, fall on my face, watch blood drip down my face, falling onto the beautiful lace at the top of my gown, and ruin my whole day.

I am telling myself right now that I have taken all the necessary precautions to prevent slipping or tripping.  Just last week, I purchased ballet slippers that have a suede bottom.  I mean, a suede bottom.  Have you ever known someone to slip while walking with suede bottomed shoes?

Last week, I was so relieved to come up with the idea of suede shoes, that I had a moment of peace about this fear.  That moment has passed, and here I am two days before the actual wedding, and am nervous again.

So, tomorrow is my rehearsal at the chapel, where I get to try out my new suede bottomed shoes.

Here I am on my rehearsal day, driving over in my parent’s rental car to the chapel.  I am carrying my shoes in my bag wrapped in a plastic bag to ensure no scuffing.

When I get out of the car, I see my fiancé looking so handsome in his dark grey suit.  His dimples are huge as he smiles and opens the car door for me to get out and join him.  I am now looking up at the tall gothic style chapel adorned with beautiful stained glass windows.  Breathtaking.  We are getting married on our college campus where we met.  For more details on our story, I’ve written about how I met my hubby here.

Now, the moment of truth.  The most important 15 minutes of my life.  Will I walk down the aisle in my new white, suede bottomed shoes with zero slippage?

The wedding party is lining up right now and beginning their practice procession down the aisle.  There are smiles and giggles and jokes being shared, I can hear from a distance.

The organ is starting to play the march where I am supposed to start walking, oh no……nerves again.

I am placing my ballet slippers on the stone floor and they feel as sturdy as ever.  My face seems to be loosening up, wait I actually feel a smile emerging.  I’m lifting up my head now to look down the aisle instead of nervously at my shoes, and I can see my fiancé beaming at me way down at the end of the aisle.

Ok, now I’m actually having fun.  There is zero slippage or really any threat of tripping anywhere.  In fact, I’m not even thinking about it right now.

Its amazing how this 15 minute window is changing me from a worried little soldier to a beaming soon to be bride.  Wait, I’m actually thinking about how fun the reception is going to be and about the cool blue waters of Hawaii, where my new hubby and I will spend 10 days for our Honeymoon.

I think I’ve successfully kicked my shoe obsession.  Relief.  Let the party begin. 🙂

I received a prompt to “write about falling”.

Here it goes…..

Falling seems to show up most in my life in my dreams.

There was the dream where Mountain Man and I were driving up the most mysteriously windy and narrow road to a mountain top that could not have been more than 4 feet wide.

I remember I was terrified.  We were going out for a getaway and got lost.  This super windy mountain was something out of a Dr. Seuss novel.  In other words, nothing like this exists in the real world.

The mountain was purple and as we drove up the mountain, the road became narrower.  When we were at the top, the car flew through the air, and we started falling.

The scenery surrounding this Dr. Seuss type mountain was similar to the Grand Canyon, except there were lots of colors that do not typically present themselves in nature.  Purples, bright greens and blues all over the mountains and rolling hills below.  There was a purple stream flowing.

I could see all of this as we were driving up, and then as we were falling down.

Whenever I have a falling dream, I tend to wake up right at the point where I start to fall.  I usually wake up sweating and terrified.  They are always the most real dreams for me.

Another dream involved my son, the youngest of my three kids.  I have mentioned this dream before in my strange dream post.

I was dropping him off at preschool one morning in my minivan, and as I walked up to the front door, I noticed a swinging wooden gate to the right of the preschool entrance.

When I looked over the swinging gate, I could see that there was a huge cliff as soon as you stepped through the gate.  The cliff and the back drop resembled the Grand Canyon exactly.

It was eerie because the preschool in the dream looked exactly like my son’s preschool here in our small town.  This made the dream even more real for me.

I was trying to be brave and understand that the preschool teachers knew what they were doing, and surely they were aware of this ominous gate that lead to an almost certain death if anyone dared to push open the swinging gate.

However, as I drove away in my dark blue minivan, I was shaking and crying.  I did not feel safe at all.  All I could think about was my son falling down the cliff, after pushing open the swinging gate door.

I quickly turned my minivan around, and hastily thought up a believable excuse as to why I had to pick up my son so quickly.

A dentist appointment that I forgot about seemed like the perfect excuse, and I went with it.  I rushed back and let myself in to the preschool.

I signed my son out and placed him in the safety of his carseat in the van, and breathed a sigh of relief.  I woke up at this point, and remember feeling very scared.  Immediately, I got out of bed at 3 in the morning, and checked on my precious baby boy, and all was well.

Climbing up ladders in my dreams also happens quite often.  I will be climbing up an extensive ladder that leads up to the sky, and then start falling off it.  When the falling starts, I wake up.

Apparently, dreams can really take it out of me, especially when actual falling or even just the prospect of falling is involved.

I was in kindergarten.

We had just moved to a new desert town, where I turned six shortly after the move.

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