I was going on a trip to Tahiti with my college friend Kai. I saw him get into the airport ahead of me, but I stopped off for some lunch, which was at a counter contiguous with the check-in one. I ordered salmon and thick fries, with asparagus on the side. They put it on a slippery little white, oblong dish which was made more unstable by a huge helping of sauce. As I picked it up off the tray, everything slid off onto the floor. I stood there annoyed, and the customer next to me looked shocked. As I was expecting, the staff offered to make another one for free, but by then I was realizing that takeoff was in 15 minutes. So I waited anxiously, and when they brought out the asparagus first, I ate it right away. They were thick pieces, and I could actually taste them, very realistically. The rest came in a small metal takeout box, which I grabbed and ran (a few feet) to the check-in line. I kept glancing at my watch every few seconds, but to my surprise, there seemed to be fewer people in the line every time I looked up. Surprisingly, I was through in no time, and chased after Kai who had gone in long ahead of me. I couldn't wait to get on the plane and eat those fries.

The main terminal area looked small and deserted, being basically a dull-white box. It took some time for me to see a sign which pointed me up a stairwell. This was different: the walls were golden and the steps were enormous, so huge that I had to literally climb one turn, as it was one large step made out of many horizontal ones. When I finally reached the top, it opened up into a vast, tropical waiting area with restaurants, shops, and large windows looking out into the sea. I took one of the many elevators and past several colorful gift shops - which appeared to be carved out of a natural stone structure reaching into the building - over to the entertainment reservation desk. It turns out our trip was based around tennis, and we had to rent equipment and court time. Just as it was about my turn, a friend from work walked past, slapping me on the back and telling me to watch out when we play each other. I shouted after him that I kicked his ass last time. The chubby girl behind the desk perked up at this and kept trying to flirt with me, hinting that she needed help with her game. I said, no, I'm not good at all, that guy is just really bad. But she kept on flirting so I put my head down and quickly finished up.

I walked over to my coworker Steve (who was my traveling partner now instead of Kai), and started talking about the trip. Apparently it was now a cruise which would take several days to get us to a conference. I noticed Steve had a nice digital camera around his neck, and that's when I realized all I had was my crappy phone camera. So I raced up to what I remembered was an electronics shop overhanging the gift shop, as it seemed to have cameras hung loosely over the side. The dream seemed to end there, but there was something later about Steve having won a part in a Super Mario Brothers TV show. I never did get to eat those fries.

posted by Larry at 9:38 AM