Em and I were in a mall, but I'm not sure where it was located. I got the idea it was somewhere in Virginia, and it seemed that both Em and I worked there for the mall, at large, rather than a specific store. It was also almost as if we even lived there, working in one part of the mall and living in another part.
I was walking through the busy shopping part of the mall, working on some task that required me to go from one store to another, and passed by a group of people that suddenly seemed very familiar. It turned out that it was the family of an ex from high school, including the ex.
At first I worried that they'd spot me and recognize me, but I realized that I had changed a lot in my appearance since they last saw me, and I figured between the added weight, the buzz cut hair and the beard, I was safe. I just walked quickly past, but wondered briefly what brought them there as I thought that they lived a lot farther away.
A short time later I was walking through another hallway past a music store on my right, and there was a line of people waiting to get in. I quickly glanced over and saw my ex and her mom in line, and they immediately spotted me and recognized me and started calling out to me. I turned away quickly and acted like I didn't know them and made my way towards the "dead" end of the mall where the living quarters were. There were some divider screens that were up that I just walked around, and I hoped that if they decided to follow me, it would be enough to deter them from continuing to follow me. I was hoping to be able to just wait it out for them to leave.
I made my way to one of the bathrooms in this living quarters area. It was basically a giant public restroom that was huge, full of stalls, and very much like other bizarrely huge bathrooms that have shown up in other dreams. I went in and and was looking for an empty stall to just go sit and hide out in, but so many were occupied or broken. It was amazingly busy in there. As I was walking around, a couple of my "coworkers" and "housemates" were asking what was up, and I told them about my situation. They seemed sympathetic, but didn't have any good suggestions and basically just wished me luck.
While I was still wandering around this huge bathroom for somewhere to hide, my ex and her family came in and found me. They started talking to me, asking me how I was doing, what I'd been up to, and things like that. My ex, of course, started asking me why I ran away when they had called out to me. I wound up telling her that I just didn't have any interest in talking to her. She seemed slightly offended, but it also seemed to feed off of it in a way that meant that she was going to start needling me even more about why I didn't want to talk or something. I remember feeling angry about that and feeling like I was ready to start yelling.
This part got kind of fuzzy, and the next bit was about being out in a fairly hilly area. I think at first I was kind of disembodied, kind of like flying, and it was like as if this part was almost showing me background story of what was to come. It kind of had the feel of Warwick, NY during the late summer or early fall.
There were a number of small farms and farm houses around, but things seemed to be very close to the road. I remember seeing one farmhouse on the right side that was only maybe 10 feet from the side of the road. There was a very old blue pickup truck parked near by, and it had something on the license plate that made me realize it belonged to Em and me, and that this was supposed to be our house. (I think I knew when I first woke up what the plate said, but now that it's several hours later, I only have a vague impression that was something cutesie like our current plates, alluding to my and Em's relationship.) I had the feeling that I was on my way to see Em for a bit, but it ended quickly
The next thing I knew I was driving through the same area during the winter. There was snow all around on the grass and trees, but the roads seems fairly clear. Normally this would make me very happy, but I was feeling very sad. It was strange because I wasn't actually 100% aware of why I was sad or where I was going. I knew I wasn't going to my house, and when I got to it, I drove past it and kept going without slowing down.
A short way past the house, I saw the old blue pickup truck, this time on the left side of the road. This area had a lot more trees, and while the truck was close to the road as before, this time it was among the trees near a cobblestone driveway with an open gate. When I saw the truck, I knew I had to turn left and drive up the driveway.
It went back quite a ways from the road, and it was kind of a steep rise that seemed to wind around to the right and the back to the left. I eventually came to an open area that was a large circle made of the same cobblestone and with short, knee-high walls on either side. It appeared to be one of the parking areas for this residence, as there were a couple of cars there. The driveway continued out to the left a short way and then hooked right into a garage that was under a gigantic stone house. Another part of the driveway wrapped around the house to the right and continued up the hill where there was another parking area behind the house. The house was huge and gray stone, about 4 or 5 stories tall, and it was almost castle-like in appearance.
I stopped my car in the middle of the first parking area and got out. There were a few of people around, a couple of men an at least one woman, and I got the impression that they might have been expecting me they were talking in hushed tones as I walked in their direction. They greeted me and I greeted them, and I suddenly realized who they were. They were my exes family from the mall! But that realization didn't come with the shock of surprise, and neither did the realization of why I was there.
Somehow, between the time that I had seen the farm house and truck in the first "fly by", and now, Em had passed away. It was why I was feeling so sad while driving, but now I finally remembered why.
My ex and her mom came out of the house via a door to the left and above the garage. There was a long set of stone steps that matched the house and came down to meet the cobblestone of the driveway, and as they were walking down, I was walking up. I still wasn't sure exactly why I was there at their house. My ex stopped about halfway down and held out an arm and made a "come on" motion with her hand and said, "Come on in. I know exactly what you need."
Of all the things that could have meant, I somehow knew with every fiber of my being that it meant she was going to make me pancakes, and I started to follow her inside.
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