Gotta Go

[Iris]

I was in Florida, either a resident or working there temporarily. In a high rise with a couple of my long time female friends from high school. Many grey storm clouds were in the sky, but no rain yet. I was anxious, and my friends were as well. We agreed we all had an urgent feeling to leave, we weren't sure why, and that we probably were not coming back. So we hurriedly packed a few small bags. As we were packing, a man I used to work for 20 years ago came riding by on a bicycle. He was a bit confused but genial. (In real life, he was brilliant yet ruthless). We were now with a few other neighbors and we talked with him. He couldn't remember his name but he kept looking at me, talking about how he used to be someone important, and he asked if I knew him. I told him his name, and wrote his name down for the neighbors so they would remember. Then I told them I was in a hurry and I returned to my packing. Note others were not feeling the anxiety or planning to leave, and we did not tell them how we felt the urgent need to leave now.

We were again on the top floor of the building and heard the engine roar of a helicopter is it landed on the roof. Our anxiety increased; time was short. We wanted the female pilot to fly us out and we thought we might lose too much time convincing her to take us. As she came in the door we grabbed her and ran for the helicopter and she was agreeable to our destination, which I do not recall the name of. She looked at our bags and said we had too much and would have to leave some behind. I had 4 bags with me, my laptop backpack bag, a small duffle bag, and 2 small plastic grocery bags, one of which contained sandwiches and oranges. I started to leave 1 behind but when she turned around I grabbed it back and we all climbed in the helicopter.