Prompt 3 (Creative Non-Fiction, 10 min.) : A Time When You Retreated

It was on the front lines during the Iraqi war. Enemies were closing in all around us, we stood no chance. ‘RETREEEAT! RETREEEAT! FALL BACK TO MINISTIRITTTTTHHHH!’ Faramir cried. And so I did. I woke up. It haunts me to this day, as I casually sip tea in a college class, or during long in-depth conversations with friends. Flash guilt feelings. Why really did I retreat in that dream? Was it because I was scared, or because I knew that Faramir, already so misjudged and un-loved by his own father, would feel immense guilt if our death was on his hands? Was I just doing him a solid, or am I cowardly at center? And then I wonder about the real advantage of bravery and whether cowardice instead is simply realistic. And then that starts me thinking about the meaning of dreams and how Freud’s been all but discredited which brings me back to psychology class where I always drank tea, which brings me back to the present, as I casually sip tea in my college class. I love the days of self discovery.