POST-APOCALYPTIC COMMUNITY

I am at a social gathering with some friends. We are on a deck of a large home and overlooking the rooftops of the small town below us. While the town is on a green and fertile land, around the town is a desert, much like it would be in some parts of Arizona or New Mexico. As we watch the beautiful setting sun, all of a sudden there is an explosion at the edge of the town. It billows black smoke high into the cloudless blue sky. As though seeing it through a telescope, I see that one of the oil rigs had exploded, and there is fear that the others around it will also be ignited.

Some time later (as is the way of dreams, time blurs), we are now in the town, looking for a place to spend the night. The world is different now, since global destruction has hit us (none of the actual destruction was part of my dream, only the aftermath). We come across an empty house, large enough to accommodate our small group of about a half-dozen. It's a split level, with the bedrooms being on the lowest level. It can accommodate about three or four people, with some rearranging of furniture. I leave the men of our group to do this, while the women go exploring the property further. We find a beautiful garden out in the back, with trellises and a patio. We decide to have our first meal there, but before we can get to making it, we hear someone call to us.

I turn around, and see a large middle-aged man with white hair and beard coming towards us. It's obvious he's a neighbour. My initial reaction is of fear - we are, after all, squatters, but his big welcoming smile soon sets me at ease. He calls me "Doctor", as though referring to the previous occupant of the house. He hugs me, telling me how happy he is to see me (and us!) again. Before I can protest, he whisks me away to meet someone else, and I find myself in the midst of another group of people, the entire neighbourhood, in fact. I also understand suddenly that it's some kind of open secret - everyone knows that I'm not the "Doctor" but I must play that part. I also seem to pick up on the sense that the "Doctor" referred to here was a woman physician who cared for this town, but for one reason or another, was no longer there.

But I know that I cannot live that lie. As an elegant lady hands me a tall cool drink, I suddenly say, "No, please don't call me the "Doctor", for that is not me. Rather (and here I suddenly flash onto "The Doctor Who" in my mind), I am more like the Doctor's Companion." There is a pause in the low hum of conversation, and when it starts up again, everyone is smiling more broadly, and saluting me, as I run to the house which is now mine, and bring my group of friends out with me to meet the rest of the community. 

There is a final feeling that there are many more groups like ours who have survived, and it will now be our job to search them out and begin the task of rebuilding civilization.