Some Extremely Strange News

For the first time in a long time I woke up feeling fantastic.

I took Koko on a long walk through the Presidio Park trees to the Marina Green, where we watched the enigmatic kite flyers do their thing. It was a beautiful sunny day. I was absolutely stress free. Having a happy ending to one of my dreams felt so liberating, like I might not be trapped in a world where I am eternally helpless. For once, I wasn't worried about going crazy, and I wasn't thinking about work, and I wasn't feeling like I had to keep busy. I stopped in a cafe for some tea for me, and some water for dog.

We sat down outside. At the next table over, a girl was watching a news video on her tablet. She asked politely if it bothered me. I replied that it didn't, not a bit. I looked down at the show; it was a story on outdoor adventures gone wrong. The usual sensationalism. Just before I was about to dismiss it and get back to my tea, I did a doubletake. The woman, the climber. Her face was in a grid of four portraits of the people they were starring in their show. I blurted out "Woah, that's - I think I know her. Mind if I watch with you?" She agrees with a flirty smile and scoots her chair over a bit to make room.

The video goes into commercial break. Giving it a second thought, I'm sure it was just a memory from the dream, like deja vu, triggered by the theme of the story and a similar looking brunette woman. No need to get all worked up. Sheesh. The girl engages me in casual conversation. I don't really remember what we talked about.

The news comes back on. I watch now with only mild interest as a man tells his story of almost drowning in the bay while trying to recreate a pontoon bicycle he saw on Kickstarter. Jeez, dude, really? The next story is of a snowboarding accident where a kid cut in front of the guy, he hit a jump, went off trail, and spent 3 hours in the snow with a broken leg before someone noticed him. I had begun daydreaming at this point, until the news guy did the pre-commercial teaser. "Next we talk to the survivor of a rock climbing fall who narrowly escaped an encounter with a wild animal, after the break."

I choked halfway through a sip of my tea, spluttering a little. The girl asked if I was ok. I nodded as I coughed the tea out of my lungs, eyes watering.

This was starting to freak me out. If this is the same woman... Are my dreams coming from news stories? Am I hearing stuff like this and subconsciously recalling it while I sleep? But I never watch the news, that crap is depressing. I generally make a considerable effort to avoid it. I guess I could've heard it while I was out somewhere, like I am now. But I swear the dream was the first time I had seen the woman.

The commercial ended. I leaned in and the tablet owner enthusiastically joined me, to the point where our shoulders were touching. She angled the screen to give me a better view. After a short recap and intro from news guy, the show cut to a female reporter standing next to an occupied helipad in a small complex of white paneled trailers and buildings.

"We're here at Plum Valley EMS to speak with a woman recently plucked off the side of a mountain after a potentially deadly rock climbing accident. That she survived the fall with only a dislocated shoulder and fractured wrist is an impressive story on its own - but gravity wasn't the only challenge that Deborah Wilkins had to face." Cut to the reporter walking into what looked to be an emergency care room, similar but not quite like a hospital, equipped with only the essentials. I'm watching, wide-eyed. "Deborah" is sitting on a gurney, smiling weakly at the reporter, who sits down next to her.

"Thanks for speaking with us so soon after your ordeal, Deborah."

"Oh, you can call me Debbie" she says shyly.

The reporter laughs softly with her. "Ok, Debbie. So you mentioned earlier that you were out on a weekend hike, something you do pretty often, and you were almost to the end when your troubles started. When did your hike take a turn for the worse?"

Debbie fidgets a little with the wrapping that was now around her wrist, looking for the words. "Well, it was my fault really. I wasn't using all of the safety equipment the way I should have, and as I was climbing the last face, I... Well, I saw something that gave me a scare, and I lost my grip."

The reporter jumps in. "And what was it that you saw?"

"It was... a mountain lion." The reporter does some dramatic face gesture and leans in with the microphone. "It was just sitting on a ledge, watching me. I don't know how long it had been there. It was so calm. It was terrifying."

"I can't even begin to imagine! So, it was the mountain lion that caused your fall?"

"Well, it didn't do anything to cause my fall, it was just that seeing it really startled me. If I had been secured to the rope like I should have, I think it would've been fine. But I slipped, and without anything to hold me, that's when I fell and hurt my arm." She begins to lift the injured limb, winces, and lets it fall again.

"Incredible, that you weren't hurt more, isn't it? Your rescuers said that the cliff you were climbing was almost forty feet tall!"

"Well, I wasn't too high up yet, but yeah, I'm really lucky it wasn't worse."

"And so there you are, with a broken arm, stuck on a mountain, with a mountain lion lurking nearby."

Debbie laughs nervously. "Yeah, ha, it sounds pretty bad when you say it like that."

"Now, most people would have had a nervous breakdown in that situation. But you kept your wits about you. What was running through your head at that point?"

"Well, 'OW', mostly" Debbie laughs again. "My arm was hurting pretty bad, and it made it hard to think. But I felt like prey. The look in its eyes..."

"The mountain lion?"

"Yeah. When I saw it, it was so... Predatory. Feeling hunted really overrides pain, I guess. I don't know where the crazy idea came from, but I set up a sort of trap to scare it off."

"The rescue team took some photos of the 'trap' you're talking about, we'll show those to the viewers now." Cut to on-scene photos of: you guessed it. A reflective blanket tied to a rope. Chalk dust is scattered on the groun"They said you used an emergency blanket you had with you, and the climbing ropes, to scare off the mountain lion when it approached you. How on earth did you set something like this up with a broken arm?"

"I really don't know. I don't feel like I had the mental capacity for anything so elaborate. But, I broke my arm in high school during a soccer game, and I guess doing things one-handed is kind of like riding a bike - it comes back to you. And I've always heard that you're supposed to act big and intimidating if you ever come face to face with a mountain lion. Maybe it was the adrenaline. Survival instinct. I felt like I was on auto pilot." The reporter nods along. Debbie is fidgeting again. "To be honest, I didn't think it would actually work. " She looks down and speaks softly. The camera zooms in for a more intimate shot. "I thought, 'This is it, I'm cat food, that's how I go.'"

The show cuts to the reporter speaking outside again. "But that's not what happened. The mountain lion did come back for her, but Debbie managed to scare it off by making herself appear larger, and by making loud noises. In the U.S., mountain lion encounters are becoming increasingly frequent as hikers and campers explore their territory..." The show starts displaying statistics, meanwhile, I start freaking out internally. Seeing the woman and the images of the scene was like reliving a memory. It was surreal. While I was still in shock, they returned to Debbie for one final shot.

The reporter reaches out to Debbie to shake her good hand. "Thank you again, Ms. Wilkins, for sharing your story with us. After your incredible encounter, what advice do you have for other outdoor enthusiasts?"

"Well... Always use the safety equipment. Even when you think you know what you're doing and you've done it a thousand times before, nature always has more surprises for you. And if you do find yourself in trouble... Listen to your instincts."

I rocked back in my chair. Tablet-girl looked up. "So, that's a friend of yours?"

I blinked, wide-eyed, back at her. "Um." I swallowed and shook my head to try to clear it. "Yeah, yeah. She was an old... You know... College..."

I struggled to find something to say other than 'Yep, had a dream about her. Just like that story, actually. Weird, huh? I often dream about people in danger.' Instead of that, I spit out whatever words I thought sounded most normal.

"That's insane, I can't believe that happened to her." I looked around, still stunned, and stood up. "Um. I should probably." Full sentences were beyond me. The girl was watching sympathetically, trying very hard to show that she understood my emotional upset, and felt for me. "Thanks for sharing."

I turned abruptly and pulled on Koko's leash. He had stood up with me, guessing it was time to go, but I interrupted his post-nap stretch as I hurried away from the cafe. He trotted along dutifully but gave me a big, breathy huff to voice his discontent.

"Whaaaat is going on..." I said softly to myself as we power walked in the direction of home. I tried again to remember if I had ever seen that news show before. But seriously, I don't watch that stuff, ever. And I'm sure the dream was the first time I saw the climber, or 'Deborah Wilkins'. I stop suddenly, mid-stride, unintentionally jerking the leash again.

Koko is now thoroughly confused by my erratic behavior. He cocks his head and hesitantly tries his 'play' stance, feet out, butt up, tail wagging, wondering if this is maybe a new game. I give him a distracted, ear-ruffling head rub.

A thought had occurred to me. What if the whole day had been a dream? All of mine had felt so real lately, it didn't seem that unlikely. The only difference was that I was never in them as myself, or anywhere near my actual life. But there was nothing to say that couldn't change.

In my recent research on dreams, I had read about reality checks, to be able to tell the difference between dreams and real life. Stuff like looking around for signs, clocks, written stuff that should make sense. Checking to see if physics still worked - if you jumped you fell at a normal rate, if you pushed on something it remained solid. Writing down a few math equations and seeing if they made sense when you reread them. I tried all of them that I could remember, and for all I could tell, this is still real life. I've now written a whole blog post, and I still haven't woken up yet. I started writing as soon as we got home, out of habit - what happened today was as unsettling as one of my dreams, and it felt good to lay it out in writing. I still have no idea what to think, though.

I have some research to do. I need to Google Deborah Wilkins and see what more I can find out.