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I Had a Weird Dream Last Night

The dream I had last night took place in some kind of a sitcom or prime time dramedy. It centered on a main guy that was a sort-of leader of a group of regulars. Something has always been wrong with the main guy's arm. There's a lot of anticipation and speculation, but the audience doesn't know what yet. The regulars include the main guy's annoying, bossy sister. Her motivations are unrevealed up to this point. Mostly, she exists to be pushy--especially when her brother isn't around. She gets audience irritated with her and frequently asks, "What's her problem?"

This wasn't the first episode, and was probably several episodes into the season. The main guy was in the opening teaser, but he had to leave. There's a monkeywrench: the regulars need to accomplish some group goal while the main guy is away. The sort of thing they wouldn't get done without him around. Presumably, the episode theme was to see how the regulars fared without him around. Almost right at the start, the sister begins asserting herself, stirring up angst in the regulars.

Flashback to exterior, day. Maybe some kind of parking lot. It might be autumn or winter, as there are bare trees and brown leaves on the ground. There is a tall, natural dirt-and-rocks wall next to a parking lot. The main guy is walking in the parking lot, talking to another guy. He is much younger than the audience has ever seen him. His sister calls out and he turns. She's walking on top of the rock wall. The main guy can't hear her well. She's too far. Whatever she is yelling about is trivial, but she's insistent. She angrily indicates he needs to get closer and yells again. He still can't tell what she wants and is getting frustrated. Apparently, she has always been annoying.

Cut back to modern day. The sister is bossing around the regulars. The audience might wonder if she is trying to undermine her brother's pseudo-leadership. The other regulars question why they ever listen to her. There must be some reason, but they can't think of any. She keeps bossing and trying to corral them. She's more pushy and annoying than inspiring.

Flashback again. Same scene as before. The main guy still can't understand what his sister wants. She's is fed up and moves to the edge of the wall for one final shout...but she slips. The main guy realizes that she will probably get seriously hurt so he runs forward, perhaps to catch her? Rocks and such tumble along with the sister. The fall is and chaotic but over quickly. The rock wall had collapsed under the sister and large chunks of it are now on the lower level. Miraculously, the sister is not hurt so bad, maybe some cuts and bruises. She dusts herself off and prepares to blame her brother for making her go to the edge and cause the rockfall. Pan to the main guy, who is lying unconscious nearby. The other guy is carefully trying to help the main guy. There's a small boulder on the main guy's arm.

Back to modern day. Somehow, the regulars have been getting headway in their task. A great deal of this progress apparently is due to the sister pushing the regulars to get the job done. She is not at all a natural leader, but somehow she's forced herself to develop a brute-force style of management that, at least in this case, is working enough to get the job done. One or two of the regulars even allow themselves a bit of pride in their meager group accomplishments. The sister keeps riding them to get the job done. We get a hint that she may not like what she does. It's against her nature, so why does she do it?

Flashback again. The sister looks worried, She is near the parents, who are talking to a doctor. The main guy had dove to catch the falling sister, but was barraged by falling rocks. The doctor tell the parents that something is wrong with the arm that was hit by the small boulder, and it will never work right again. The sister clearly feels guilty and regretful. It's her fault the main guy was injured.

Back to modern day. The sister is still riding the regulars to get their task done. In fact, the task is nearly complete. The regulars might have more pride in their accomplishment if the sister wasn't such a bitch. She claims not to care. After all, she says, the task was only important to her brother. She couldn't care less. So she says. Anyway, the main guy gets back and the sister is proud to tell him that she kept the group busy and the task is done. We can tell the success is marginal, and would have been better if the main guy had been there to lead the regulars. But, the main guy is mildly impressed with them in general, and his sister specifically. The regulars dismiss her impact on their group efforts, but the audience knows better. Thanks to the flashbacks, the audience knows that the sister carries a big self-imposed weight around and, however awkwardly, is always trying to help her brother and make up for her screw-up.

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