The 8:15 Bus, Maple Bakery, and Overlapping Calendars

The 8:15 Bus, Maple Bakery, and Overlapping Calendars

I dreamed I was late for the 8:15 bus and kept missing my keys on the kitchen counter, except the counter was also the one from my old apartment on Maple. I finally got outside and the street looked like my current neighborhood, but the bakery on the corner was the one from college, still with the same faded sign. A guy from accounting was waiting at the stop and I was sure he was also my roommate from freshman year, same voice, same jacket. He asked if I was coming from the other Tuesday. I didn’t know what that meant. The bus arrived already full of people I vaguely recognized from work, all sitting in my living room chairs. I sat down and my phone showed two calendars overlapping, same dates, different meetings. I felt embarrassed I hadn’t dressed for either office. When I tried to get off at my usual stop, the doors opened onto the hallway of my building stretched way too long, doors repeating. I woke up still checking my pockets for the keys.