I WAS IN MY TWENTIES and in a relationship with my first girlfriend, Rebekah, but she was being very distant. We were at my parents’ home. A group of Jehovah’s Witnesses turned up for the field ministry group. I decided I wouldn’t go preaching that day, but stay at home with my girlfriend, but to do that we would need a chaperone. I tried to find someone who would stay in with us, but to no avail. Meanwhile, an old friend, Tim, was flirting with Rebekah and she seemed to like it.
Then I found myself talking to Jo, one of my current neighbors, who was standing next to a white ornate fireplace. Jo was in a wedding dress. She was getting married and had been keeping it secret because she didn’t want me to feel left out for not being invited. I told her I didn’t mind and that I didn’t really like going to weddings anyway. Jo said she would stay in and chaperone Rebekah and I.
The field ministry group began. It was being conducted by Richard Gilliam, an old circuit overseer I used to know well. There was a wooden bookcase with the shelves falling out. I started fixing the shelves with a staple gun. Richard stopped his group and waited because I was causing a disturbance. I felt very awkward.
I was running down a country lane at 90 miles per hour. I was quickly coming up on a group of racing cyclists. One cyclist was behind me. As he overtook me he commented on my incredible speed. Then I was on a homemade skateboard made out of a piece of pallet board and some roller skate wheels. We got to a part of the road where the cyclist and I dismounted and started walking.
The cyclist who had overtaken me asked me what the group of Jehovah’s Witnesses were doing earlier. I explained they were having a meeting before going out preaching. He asked me what Jehovah’s Witnesses believe in. I told him about Jehovah, Jesus, the great tribulation, Armageddon, and paradise. My mum (who is now dead) joined us and took over the conversation. I wasn’t very impressed because I was just about to tell him I didn’t believe any of it.
We came to a fork in the road. My cyclist friend and I went to the left. The other cyclists went to the right. One of the cyclists had a chimpanzee with him.
I found myself in a dump. There were copies of Watchtower publications piled high. I rode my skateboard across planks of wood on the pile of literature. Then I crossed a bridge over a canal. The water was deep and black. I felt scared as I looked down. On the other side of the canal I jumped onto a concrete step just below the surface of the water.