Apnea Nights

(Only fellow hose-heads will understand this) In the dream friends from long ago in a strange bar gently push me back saying that they have colds and wouldn't want to infect me I am wearing a mask for breathing it supplies air from a portable fan and battery pack on my belt no one else seems to have a mask and they do not question mine I think they are lying about the colds because they really don't talk to me instead they seem to be talking around and through me this makes me very angry and I try to tell them so they just continue talking to each other and occasionally nodding to me and saying things that makes no sense "don't talk with your mouth open" "don't breath with your mouth open" "don't let the wind blow in your eyes" I leave by the back door and crawl through bins of garbage surrounded by loose trash it is difficult to walk I come to a large fenced in area the fence is six feet in height and holds back a deep pile of empty beer cans on the other side of the area is the street and easy walking I climb the fence stepping into the sea of cans I discover that the fence surrounds a hole the mass of cans is really much deeper sinking deeper with each clumsy step I am soon completely submerged in a rattling aluminum ocean some of the cans are not completely empty drops of stale beer drip on my face panic ensues and swimming sinks me even deeper eventually I discover that a combination of turning on my side and a slow gentle pushing of legs and arms works to get my head above the cans slowly I move toward the street I have lost the mask, fan, and battery pack the stale beer smell is overwhelming my labored breathing sounds like snoring reaching the other side I am frantic to get to the street the fence is now a solid sheet of aluminum I cannot get a foothold By using the weight of my body I manage to bend the fence over I scramble out a river of cans spills out with me it is impossible to take a step without kicking or stepping on a beer can the morning dog walkers stare as I clatter past my clothes are dirty and wet with beer what am I going to tell my parents? as I awake I am immediately grateful that I am older and no longer answer to my parents but the snoring wife next to me will certainly want to know where I have been and just what to Hell has been going on -then the last of the dream-fog clears I realize that all I need do is remove my headgear shut the machine off and get up as if nothing happened.