The Falcon and the Bear

On Wednesday workers in my division were summoned to a mandatory “town hall.” We arrived at the appointed time to find a cold dark empty room. The heat was off. No one had set up the chairs or the mic or the phone for people dialing in. The speaker arrived late and told us what we already guessed . . . there will be layoffs. Basically, any jobs that can be offshored will be offshored. The changes will come in phases over the next couple years. Meanwhile, trouble abounds at home. The future is a molten landscape – I no longer see the way ahead.

That night I dreamt that I was back at my parents’ house. It was night. I opened the front door and a huge falcon came in. It pushed its way past me and I followed it upstairs. It went into my old room and sat on my old bed, turning to look back at me. I remained on the stairs, yelling to the others that a falcon had come into the house and what were we going to do.

I went back downstairs and opened the front door again. This time a huge black bear pushed its way in. For a few frightening moments, it seemed it was chasing me, but it passed me on the stairs and joined the falcon in my old room, closing the door but leaving it slightly ajar.

I had the feeling they wanted me to follow them, but I was afraid. I didn’t know what to do. I went back downstairs and out the front door. I found my cats outside in the bushes, exiled from the house in their fear of the falcon and bear inside.