I Open The Doors To My Dreams

Even though I've been retired for over two years, my former employer - a global pharmaceutical company - has invited me for a brainstorming session. It will take place in a local bar, not in the office building where I've worked for so many years. When I arrive I recognize a lot of my former colleagues, of whom A serves as the sole bartender. What surprises me is that no-one is ordering any drinks. No-one seems to recognize me either. When the session starts it appears that not only am I unable to participate, I'm also unable to hear what's being said. Not that it matters much, because within minutes the brainstorming session morphs into a meeting of the Council of Leiden, the Dutch city where I live. Subjects being discussed are bicycle routes, parking regulations, construction permits, etc. And though I can hear what's being said, I can't talk back. Well, I can talk back, but nobody hears me. After the meeting, when people start to mingle, the situation norma...

There is an emergency situation at work and many employees are working late. The company restaurant has remained open, and the kitchen has improvised a dinner. I collect my dinner at the counter, and sit down at a table near the window. Looking out the window I realize that the company is no longer situated in Leiden, but in Den Haag. Something unpleasant happening in the street outside the window captures my attention; I jump up and run outside. At the bus stop in front of the company building I get into the first bus that arrives. Inside it's dark, and I can't see the other passengers properly, even though the bus is very full, with many people standing. The passengers are ghost-like, as if made of smoke, and none of them move or speak. The bus doesn't produce any sound either. I nervously wait for the bus to arrive at the final stop. However, before this happens I once again experience something urgent, and I jump off the bus at the next stop. This appears to be the stop...

It is autumn. I am in a forest with my manager and some of my colleagues. During the past months it has been my task to report on a dead tree trunk that has been lying on the ground where we are standing. The forest is part of the office, but situated a few kilometers away at the same time. Would the trunk deteriorate? Would it be visited by animals? Would it be eaten by insects? Would people come to take bits of the trunk for firewood? I have not done a good job, because the tree trunk is gone and I don't have a clue what happened. My manager and my colleagues are unhappy with the results. Months have passed, why haven't I provided any information on the situation of the trunk? I suggest to put down a new trunk and start all over again, but the proposal meets with indifference. And rightly so, because where would I find another trunk, and if I did, how would I transport it to this location? Everybody starts walking back to their cars. Nobody talks. There is an atmosphere of di...