Had a dream last night that I think was worth writing down. I was in Texas. I was in a gas station in the middle of nowhere. It was night out and I was working in this gas station/convenience store. I remember the actual store was very cramped inside with shelves full of merchandise and there was barely room to walk. Everything was also very dusty and dry. I also had a person working with me. It was Coach! Coach Ernie Pantuso from Cheers! We were working all night long and we saw various travelers and other regulars. This store was really out in the Texas country. Past midnight the place got really quiet. Once and a while we would see car lights pass in the distance. Coach and I were having a good time like we had been working together for years. I remember feeling a sense of sadness as I was talking to Coach. Yesterday, I saw the Cheers where we first meet Woody and this is after Coach has died on the show. 

About 3am Coach was in the back watching something on TV. No cars or any people have come by in a couple of hours. I then climbed behind the counter and I was just looking around under the counter. I found this large club under the counter which I guessed was used for bashing someone=s head if needed. I started looking out into the desert and the darkness. I became mesmerized by looking into the empty night. All of a sudden I felt very uneasy and everything in my mind began to react instinctually to something very fearful. I looked around the store and then into the night and everything seemed very quiet. 

Out in the distance I noticed car lights coming through the misty night. I still felt very uneasy as the car became closer. I was hoping that the car would just roll on by the parking lot. But it pulled into our gas station and it began to drive slowly towards the store. I jumped behind the counter and I bent over to find the wood club under the counter. I was wishing that they had stuck a gun under the counter. I leaned the club against my leg and I stood nervously. The car lights had shut off and I could see a figure walking towards the store. I remember thinking about how in the world I had ended up in the middle of Texas on a misty night working in a convenience store. I told the Coach to come out of the back and stand here with me. 

The man entered the store and he was a big man with long black hair and an unshaven face. His eyes were glassy and he just smiled nervously as he headed back to the refrigeration section. He was looking at our selection of beer and wine. He grabbed a six pack and then began to walk around the store. Coach was sweeping the rugs near the front door as the man slowly made his way to counter with his beer and a bag of chips. The man set his stuff on the counter and he was digging through his pockets. I began to get very nervous and things began to get very slow. The man then pulled out a small revolver out of his coat pocket--the kind of revolver you would see in a 1970's cop show. I guess its called a .38 Special. The man then began to yell something incoherently and then he walked over and grabbed Coach by the neck.

The world was in slow motion on this night in Texas. The man demanded all the money out of the cash drawer and I gave it to him. There was only about one-hundred dollars and some change. The man then got very angry and he started to push Coach around. He grabbed Coach again and he pushed him hard against the front glass of the store window. As the man was doing this with his back to me...I grabbed the club that was leaning against my leg. The man was slowly turning back towards me. As his hand with the gun came around I jumped up and swung with all my might. I hit him square on his arm right above his gun hand, and the gun then went flying into the magazine rack. The man screamed out in pain recoling back towards the front door grabbing his injured arm. I squared up on him with the club in my hand and I demanded that he get on the ground. The man just looked up at me with these blank, dead eyes. I was thinking this guy had be on something. I yelled at Coach to go behind the counter and call the Police. Coach walked cautiously past the man and down the aisle towards the counter. I remember the Coach saying something like he used to on Cheers, where he was being sweetly dumb and endearing. I could almost hear an audience laughing out loud at what the Coach said.

I yelled at the man to get down again, or I was going to start swinging the club. The man just stood there and said in a slow voice that he was going to kill me. I raised the club over my shoulder and started inching closer to the man. I yelled again, man, you better down on the ground or going to beat the shit out of you. Only I distinctly remember saying this to the man in a deep Texas accent...and I think I was able to speak in a much more commanding voice than I ever have in real life. In an instant, the man started rushing towards me with the same deadened, empty look in his eyes. The man must have been high or something because I was able to sidestep him easily. He hit the counter behind me with his hands forward, I quickly turned and brought the club down on the back of his legs with all of my might. The man slipped forward against the counter and he cried out in pain. I brought the club down again on the back of his right shoulder, and he groaned loudly as he slumped to the floor. The dream starts to get hazy from now on. I distinctly remember beating him some more. In fact, I recall beating him severely until he was bloody and wounded and lying dead on the floor. The man would just not stay on the ground...he kept getting up and I kept beating him down. I remember yelling to Coach to call the police again. I remember trying to dial 911 myself as the Coach tried to hold the man down on the ground. 

The last images of the dream are of me having this crazed, would-be robber in a full nelson headlock on the ground. He was trying to elbow me and break loose. I don't understand how this man would keep on getting up and trying to fight me, after I was sure I beat him close to death on a couple of occasions. The last haunting image I have is of me looking up at the tiny holes in the ceiling, while struggling with this man on the floor. And I can see the sweet, angelic face of the Coach from Cheers, looking down at me with some concern. The whole convenience store seemed like a big rotating carnival as all kinds of merchandise was slowly flying through the air above my eyes. And I remember trying to choke the life out of this man until I finally could hear the police sirens in the background.