Dreams just have to be fulfilled. Have would one otherwise find true peace?

The "uni-season," as I call it, is great for people who need security. But there are those who want to wake up and be shocked by nature, who see a thrill in having to push the door through two feet of unexpected, fresh snow in order to leave the house in the morning. To them it is like New Year in China when a flood fills the street with water and forces them to stay home and listen to the heavy rain hammering on the roof, while they drink hot chocolate in front of a fireplace. None of this ever happens in San Diego, where weather changes appear as often as civil wars. It is always the same mix of summer, spring and fall. You can, at any given time, see dead autumn leaves dangling on the same branch as light green buds and leaves in full bloom. It's pretty in its own way, but also boring at the same time. I think most of us need the real miserable weather once in a while, to remind us how nice the good weather is, and also to clear away the dead, so the new and fresh can take over. Because sometimes we can have summers that are just remarkable, but then they fade away and all that is left is a faded dead memory. The winter clear this away to give room for new wonderful memories. A man in a desperate need of a new summer was Oedipus. His life had had winter for years. He was one of the bus drivers in the city's transit system. Frequent passengers recognized his friendly face, since he had been working on the same route for years. Oedipus was never sick, never in a bad mood. He just did his job every day, the same way. This work ethic had rendered him the "employee of the month"-award numerous times. The thing with Oedipus was that he never just came to work and struggled through it, because he felt off. He followed all the rules of his profession; company rules as well as traffic rules. Co-workers described him as strict and sometimes anal, but also as friendly,trustworthy and helpful. Sometimes when I rode with him I watched his face in the rearview-mirror, just to see if he would show any emotions, just a curved lip, anything. I paid extra attention during the frustrating rush-hour traffic or if lightly dressed women entered the bus, but I never saw any signs of emotions. He just drove the bus,as if he was driving through a cloud, not seeing anything. One night I had a dream in which Oedipus stood up and ripped face off with his bare hand. Behind the skin were wires and cumputer chips. Oedipus was a little bit different today. I noticed it as soon as I entered the bus. My first spontaneous reaction was, " He finally got laid!" His brown hair was not as neatly arranged to the side as it normally was. Strands of hair waved on the side of his chin. His eyes had something new in them. Their brown depths had been filled with, I don't know what exactly, but something was there. His uniform was immaculate as usual, the shoes well polished and his tie was beautifully arranged in the french way. The change in him appeared sort of inside of him but I could still see some of it on the outside. I know it sounds weird, but that is exactly how it was. His polar opposite entered the bus. A young man who seemed like he was making his meager living in an undiscovered trash-metal band, entered the bus in a careless way, holding a guitar case in his left hand. He had long wavey brownish hair, reaching just below his shoulders. The mass of hair rested on a green t-shirt with the text "Fuckin' A" printed on the back in a pastel yellow. The shirt was sloppily tucked into a pair of black leather pants with back pockets made out of imitation zebra. The bohemian looking fellow just passed Oedipus and started to make his way towards a seat in the middle, when a familiar voice said, " I'm sorry sir, it is a dollar twenty-five if you don't have a monthly pass from SDTS." The bohemian turned around, unsure if the voice really was adressing him. When he saw the stern eyes shooting out from the driver's seat aiming at him, he let his arms out and begged, "Come on man! Don't turn rectal on me. Dam! I'm broke, but I really need to go downtown." "I can't do that. It's the same rules for everyone. If I don't charge you, I'll have to let everyone on for free. I wish I could, but it's not up to me." Oedipus' face was neither stern nor soft, just plain and professional. " It is up to you, dude! You're in charge of this bus. Are you gonna some fat, rich owner of a bus-fucking-company rule the whole city. You can charge whatever you like," the bohemian pleaded, while letting his head sway like a doll with a spring-neck. Oedipus replied, "If they find out, I'll be fired." "Do you like your job?" The bohemian asked at the same time as an irritated voice from the back of the bus shouted, "Come on's go! We can't sit here all day while you guys bicker over a dollar twenty-five." "All right," Oedipus said, as he closed the doors and pulled bus back out in the street.
"Thanks man!" "Don't thank me, and don't think you can make this a habit." "Thanks anyway!... By the way, I'm Seb," the bohemian said as he leaned towards Oedipus'in his driver's seat. "Sir, You have to be beyond the yellow line while I'm driving, and're not really supposed to be talkin' to me when the bus is moving," Oedipus said without taking his eyes off the road. The bohemian's face wrinkled in distaste, as he chuckled, "Dude, your mother must have read the lawbook at your bedside when you were a kid." " And what did your mother read? The biography of Sid & Nancy? Are you an anarchist or something?" Oedipus still kept his eyes on the road, without showing any emotion in his face. " Naae, I just think we all should chill a little more, that's all. Everybody is so anal wherever you go. Give you static and stuff. Just like yourself, when I entered this bus. Nobody never gives me a break!" Seb made a waving gesture with his arm as if it was jointless. "You want a break? Don't we all want a break?" Oedipus said it with an expression of disgust, as if Seb was a no-good low-life. But as he said these words, it was as if Oedipus heard himself speaking for the first time. It was as if he suddenly got separated from his body so he could distance himself and see and hear his own voice from a stranger's point of view. His face started to look real strange. I don't think he really liked what he saw. For the first time he seemed to realize what he had become. He saw someone he had promised himself never to become, a boring whiner. A moment later he seemed to come back to himself. He looked at Seb, now in a different, more regretful way, and said, " Sorry Seb...eh... Well today is your break... My name is Oedipus, but call me 'Dippy,' please, I hate that old greek name. Mom gave it to me because my older sister was daddy's girl, so mom hoped that I would be more likely to be a mommie’s boy if she gave me a name like Oedipus. But I'm not about to kill dad, marry her and then rip my eye out, if that's the career she's hoping I would pursue." ”My name, Sebastian, isn't exactly hip either," Seb added. "By the way, Dippy, do you like this town?" " Not really. I want to leave as soon as I can afford to. Go to Rio, Buenos Aires or something,just about anywhere. I pass this travel agency, every night when I go home from work. I always dream of the day when I can just walk in and buy a ticket for the same day,and just leave." " When will you have enough money?" Seb asked while crossing the yellow line. He grabbed a hold of the steelbar next to the door. ” At this rate, it seems like never. New bills keep on popping up in my mailbox every day. Bills for weird stuff I never understood why I bought. Some bills are getting ready to have a birthday in my drawer, so it seems like forever before I can go. But I still got hope...look at this thing, I always carry it to remind me of what could happen.” Dippy handed Seb a brand new, unstamped, unused, unopened passport. It was a little worn on the outside, from being in Dippy's pocket every day, but every page was as clean and open for new adventures as Dippy's dreams. "Why don't you just go," Seb said. "What do you mean? You can't go without money." "I've been lotsa places without money. Like on this bus. Money is overrated. Let's just go today, I'll tag along with you if you like." Dippy didn't answer, nor did he show any signs of response to the brave idea. He kept on driving another full block before he spoke again, "How are we gonna go anywhere?" "You never answered MY question," Seb said. "What question?" "Do you like your job?" Seb asked as he looked straight into Dippy’s face. "What does that have to do with leaving?" Dippy asked, puzzled. " Well we're sitting in a fine reliable vehicle right now, and the Mexican border is only a half hour away." Seb smiled as if he had solved the mystery of the Etruskean language. Dippy did finally show signs of emotion in his motionless face, You could see how his brain was working, a personal debate was going on inside of him. His eyes shifted color for a second, don't ask me why or how. " Do you mean...?" Dippy asked. " I suurrre do," answered Seb,imitating Goofy.