#3 Tangetically Speaking

This post is a slight tangent from our scheduled programming, so I appreciate you bearing with me.

Recently, I've had a recurring dream popping up every few nights. In the depths of what I don't always remember, I pull out a sliver of a memory from my childhood. In this memory, I am maybe eight or nine years old and in my old family's home, talking with my older sister. We have just finished watching the film Titanic for the first time. 

    When I was even younger, I was absolutely petrified of this movie. The scene towards the end 

Tangent to the tangent: spoilers ahead. The movie is over 25 years old... If you haven't seen it by now, that's a YOU problem-

    The scene towards the end with frosted bodies floating in the Arctic waters spooked me like a plastic bag and a thoroughbred horse. A few years prior, I had peeped around the corner of my living wall to catch glimpses of the film as my parents watched. They were in the midst of this ending scene, and I was petrified by what I had seen on the screen. Finally, having the gall to face my fears and watch the movie was a monumental moment. To this day, I still wonder what it must have been like to be aboard that ship on that fateful night.

    "Wanna feel how cold the air was there?" My sister queried.

    "How?" I asked. Being in Arizona and without an automatic icemaker... I was unsure what she meant.

    My sister races out of the room and re-enters only a few moments later with a tin and a glass of water.

    "Here, take one of these." She opens the tin, filled to the brim with tiny, white hockey pucks, maybe a in diameter each. I outstretch my hand and she places one little tac in my palm. It has no ridges or bumps.

    "What is this?" I asked. 

    My sister cocks her head and gives me a look before questioning, "Do you trust me?"

    "Yeah. I do." 

    "Okay, then put that in the mouth and then take a sip of this."

  She references the glass of water. I give her a quick worried glance, before placing the little hockey puck in my mouth. In just a few moments, a bright, refreshing breeze escapes my lips on every single inhale and exhale I take. It's as if a tiny little bit of artic dust was compacted and released in my mouth. 

    "Do you taste it?"

    "Yes. It's really strong."

    "Just you wait. Now take a sip." She hands me the glass.

    I chug back some hefty gulps, and the moment the water passes my teeth and hits my tongue, I can't tell if I'm being frozen or burned by the water. Where I believe my tonsils are engulfed in a flurry of evergreen refreshment. Without even thinking, I crush the chalky little disc in my mouth to a fine dust. I washed the residue down with a couple more sips. The intensity of coldness seemed to level out, and the pain is mitigated as I retort to my sister, "Is that really how it feels to be on the Titanic?"

    "Yeah, but even worse."

    "That was like chewing Five Gum... time five."

       She gives me a disappointed head shake as the dream ends right there.

 I'm not one for analysis and messages to come through, but I can only wonder what my subconscious mind is trying to tell me. Maybe I have halitosis? I need to sleep in a cold place?

You guess is as good as mine.