Stretched Stairs and the Gray Weather Warning

Stretched Stairs and the Gray Weather Warning

I dreamed I was late for work again and kept checking my phone, but the screen only showed a gray weather warning I couldn’t dismiss. The subway entrance by my apartment was still there, just darker, and the stairs went on too long, like they’d been stretched. Down on the platform it was the same tiled walls, only dusty, and no trains, just people standing around in coats like it was winter. I ran but barely moved. My coworker Maya was there, except she also felt like Mrs. Chen from next door, and she asked if I’d brought batteries for the office fridge. I said I left them on the kitchen counter. We walked to the corner shop near work; the shelves were mostly empty except for bottled water and cereal. I kept thinking I’d missed the last train and that everyone would notice I was still in yesterday’s clothes. I woke up relieved my charger was actually plugged in.