I dreamt that you were lost and I could not find you.

I think I am in the city.

The world was in a nuclear winter. The skies were static, cloudy and grey and it was lightly snowing. A thick white blanket lay over the rubble and ruins. Under a wonderful silence, the tired and tried earth slept.

At last, we could play in the streets! The cars that were parked alongside the curb had transformed into hilly, snowy slopes that we could climb up one side and slide down the other; life-sized toys, we pretended to drive off to nowhere. Our minds were always racing; our imagination, always tested to fill in the blanks…

Most of the grown-ups are gone. The few that are left are already trying to rebuild our world. Only a few buildings still have electricity. I am living or taking shelter in this small coffee shop with some other kids. I had just finished eating. I walk out of the coffee shop and into the brisk air to see how the world is coming along. The kids spend the day watching cartoon movies on this one big TV set we have and play in the snow. They are oddly happy. A few feet away from me, a young toddler girl jumps in joy next to her snowman. Once in a while, even the grown-ups will stop to take a break from their work and throw huge snowballs at each other. A man with an indistinct face almost chunks one straight at my face. He ran over to me and apologized before returning to his friends. I remember seeing the red and blue lights of the big rigs and machines they were operating. I am walking through this construction zone surrounded by laughter and smiles only to realize that I was alone. I grew sad. Looking at the street beneath me was the muddy footprint of a tank.

Alone, I keep walking until I come upon this tall apartment building, several stories high. Against the gloomy sky, it had prevailed. The ground around this building had sunken and I was standing at the edge of a tall precipice. I looked down. At the bottom of this rock face, lay a pile of rusty metal debris and other things that were difficult to distinguish. Though the building was sinking, it was still trying to stand tall. Its faces were heavily powdered with snow and all of its windows blown out. No other signs of civilization were near; the surrounding areas were perfectly leveled. It was a miracle. It was impossible to pierce into the blackness of the windows. There were no lights there except for one room a couple floors above ground level or what used to be ground level. A long metal ladder stretched down from that window to my feet. It looked like a desolate place but I knew in my heart that you were alive and if you were anywhere in the world, you would be there. I started to climb. The cold wind whipped at my face and the icy snow was sticking to my jacket and my hair. I looked down to see how high up I was and I became deathly scared. The metal ladder squeaked and bobbed with every rung I climbed. I only had a little more ways to go so I kept climbing.

In that room lived a group of kids and they looked at me as I climbed through the window. I had forgotten about the cold outside as soon as I saw them. They were wrapped up in their woolly hats, jackets and scarves. They were also surrounding the warm glow of their television set. They did not say anything to me but they seemed to understand why I was there. I glanced around briefly to realize it was just a one room apartment. No bed, no chairs, no lofty couch. Just four corners and a rug on the floor to sit on and of course, the television set. I rushed past them and burst into the dark corridors of the building and started to search. Strangely, this place was beginning to look more and more like the house that I used to live in before I came to live in that little coffee shop. I started running. I shouted your name again and again and ran into every room trying to find you. I even went through some of the rooms twice. I grew scared: one, being the darkness and two, you never appeared. I cried. I returned to the room in that desolate apartment building where the other children were waiting. They held their breath as they saw me come through the door. Their faces were eager to hear something hopeful.

"The Social Network" was very good. Even if you are not an avid Facebook user, I think it is something definitely worth watching. The movie was well cast. Good drama. Witty and smart dialogue. I like.

My mind keeps going back to one person today. I was hanging out with a friend and helping gather some things for her new apartment. She shared some chilling news.

I learned that a former co-worker is being abused by her boyfriend. (I can't really call her a close friend but I liked her. She is a sweet person and the customers like her, too.) She recently had a baby boy with him. It was not something she planned and she was scared. All throughout her pregnancy, she had doubts about becoming a mother and having this baby. In spite of her fears, she took care of herself and gave birth to a healthy baby boy. He has the widest eyes I have ever seen. That static, surprised demeanor is cute now but I hope the kid loses it as he grows older....

Her boyfriend is no stranger to me. He was the night manager at the store I used to work. We made small talk here and there--mostly as I was closing up the office for the night. I can't say that I liked him too much and I did not care for his buddy-buddy persona. It was a facade to me. Simply immature and very much a live-in-the-moment-don't-think-about-tomorrow kind of guy. My friend gets irritated by his childish behavior, too, but not to the point that she would consider leaving him. Until now (I hope).

Ever since she had the baby, their arguments have become more frequent and more intense. He doesn't help around the house. He's goes out for hours at a time day and night without telling her where he is going. He squanders his money on clothes and shoes instead of supporting his family. He doesn't even console his newborn son when he starts crying.

My other former co-workers say that he has started badmouthing his girlfriend and their child to other people. There have even been some suggestions of physical threats and death threats...but so far, everything I know has been based on hearsay. We don't know if he has actually physically abused her. There have been no visible markings yet. There are also rumors surfacing (yet to be verified) that he has a second "family" by another woman.

My friend is still on maternity leave until October 10th and her car has been broken for a few months. Actually, the cost of repairing and maintaining it would exceed that of just buying a new/used car. So, she is basically a prisoner in her own home. Today, as I was learning about all this crap that has been happening, I suggested to our little concerned and informed group of friends that we needed to get her out of there. But the problem is really not a simple fix. Much of this has to be accomplished by her own doing. We can tell her to pack her things and come live with one of us for awhile but ultimately, she has to decide whether or not she wants to walk out that door. I've explored different avenues but I don't know how I should proceed or if I should get involved.

Can we bring this to the attention of the store managers? Do they even have the power to get involved in domestic affairs between dating employees? Should my friend return to work at the same store her boyfriend works? (I told the others I did not like this idea). My gut tells me, though, that if she left him for good he would not bother tracking her down. He does not care about his family. From previous quaint conversations with him, he considers them a nuisance.

There is also no telling that she may just run back to him, because despite all his selfishness and irresponsibility she still believes she loves him. Well, that's enough for now. I told the others to keep me informed about any changes.