I remember thinking it was unbelievable. Someone who I cared about, who made me happy, had been killed. I was amazed to think that he wasn’t going to be around anymore. I felt as though I’d have to sorta pick up where he left off, compensate for that which he couldn’t carry out.

I went to a church service where, I guess at the time, I thought he was a member. They didn’t even speak of his name. So I went back to my church where they had already discussed the matter. It was a car wreck and he was the victim. All that talent, all those songs which he wrote, now part of his legacy cut short. What was I to do?

I then remember hearing another friend of mine was killed. Next thing I knew I was standing on the road side, seems like it was somewhere along I-45 north of Houston. I remember seeing a cross and her picture. Such a young life taken and so much potential lingering. What was I gonna tell her father? How could I face her family?

It was then I woke up. This all seemed so real. I could swear everything had happened. Before I woke up, I remember visiting a website where it shared how he died. There was a link below his usual information and said he had been killed. That was so weird. But it wasn’t real. It couldn’t have been.

Just to prove my mind was playing tricks on me, I immediately got online like I usually do after waking up. My homepage is set to the Houston Chronicle and that’s the first page I saw. It was approximately 12:07pm MST. The spaceship Columbia had blown up, it went through the sky like a fallen star, all passengers aboard were dead.

I was startled when I read this. I immediately turned my TV on to CNN to check and see what happened. I saw the reruns of amateur videos of the spacecraft falling apart in the sky over North Texas. That was so unreal; visions of the Challenger exploding entered my mind.

Now knowing that something tragic had actually happened, I had to go verify my thoughts about my two friends who I dreamed were killed. I visited the same website that I visited in my dream. No sign of anything bad. What a relief.

My imagination led me to believe something that wasn’t real, but my mind wanted me to feel it to be too real. It was ironic to have such a dream on such a morning where such tragedy happens. I usually don’t remember many of my dreams, but one conclusion that I’ve discovered is that my dreams usually are the opposite of reality. So basically, those two people who were killed should be fine. If I ever have one of my dreams come true, I would pee my pants.