On my commute to and from work I sometimes call into radio contests trying to win tickets to concerts and events.  I have my Blue Tooth on and if there is something that interests me, I make a call. “Trying” is the operative word here though, because I never get through.  There is one particular venue that I have been attempting to win tickets for over the last two years with no luck.  Two entire years.  I never call fast enough. There must be scores of people sitting out there with their fingers poised on their phone buttons, just waiting for that crucial fraction of a second to get their call through and win.  I am slow on the draw and I am always met with a busy signal. That is, except once.

That one time, I could hardly believe it when the DJ picked up the phone and said “Congratulations, you’re our winner!   I felt an incredible rush.  But as I began to give him my identifying information, I happened to be passing through that zone-where-there-is-no-cell service, and the connection was broken.  I could not believe it. I wanted to scream.  I did scream.  When I got through the dead zone, I kept calling back so I could say “It’s ME! The Winner! We lost our connection!”  But the line was busy, and soon they were congratulating a different winner.  I tried to rationalize that it was meant to be.  Or that it was the Universe making a joke.  But I was seriously bummed out.

Conversely, one evening last year, on the way home they announced free tickets for a concert happening which was not in my area, but I thought one of my kids might want to see the show.  It was a strange moment;  I took my time and everything seemed to go in slow motion. As soon as I hit “Send” I knew that it would be me.  As I exited off the freeway and cruised down the ramp, they answered my call and told me I had won Chrissy Hynde and the Pretenders tickets.  I wasn’t the one going to the show, but it was still exciting, and it was a first.

Yesterday morning I found the radio was left set to a station that I don’t usually listen to, one that The Significant Other had turned on.  As I was just about to change it, they announced free tickets for a show to Caller Number Three.  I was heading towards the no-cell-service-zone again, but my hand automatically reached for the phone. I could not stop myself.  As I pushed “Send”, I suddenly realized I was not even going to be home this weekend to see the show.  I also knew with absolute certainty that I was going to win these tickets for a show that I could not see. The line rang.  And I was Caller Number Three.

I passed the tickets on to a friend.

Last night I dreamed that I was looking out the window at a very tall tree which stood in a field.  A feeling came over me that the tree was going to fall down.  I knew that it would, I was totally sure, and then it did.  I watched the tree spontaneously topple over. It made a loud, aching sound as it slowly slanted towards the earth.  It was very strange to watch.  Instead of coming up by the roots, it fell rather as if sawed off at the base.  There appeared to be no one in sight who had cut the tree.  As it was coming down, I yelled out into the house “Did you see that?”, but there wasn’t anyone else around to witness it and I was met with silence.  It was like being Caller Number Three with nobody to share it with. Then I woke up.