Escape from Camp / College

In last night's dream, I was at some combination of summer camp and college:  the surroundings were tall stone gothic buildings and lovely landscaped grounds, but the activities were standing on cafeteria benches and singing, and being silly with kids of all ages.

As I was packing up to leave (folding sheets and towels, trying to remember how I had packed them in the first place, wondering if I'd need to get a garbage bag to stuff everything in), I saw, from the corner of my eye, a streak of light.  I looked out the window of the tall stone tower I was in, and saw a fireball explode on the ground right beside our tower.  I said, "We've got to get out of here."

My companion (a person I was in sixth grade with, and haven't seen since...) and I scrambled down the winding staircase and burst out into the courtyard.  There were cars lining the circular driveway.  We looked around, panicked, not sure what to do next.

Then someone who seemed to be in charge said, "You, you have to be evacuated.  You're going with her."  He pointed at this small, approaching vehicle:  the width of a wide motorcycle, but without the large motorcycle wheels.  (I don't know how it went.  Was it a hovercraft?  Did it go on a track?  No idea.)  There was a large windshield and a small platform for the driver to stand on; we had to kind of hang off the back, awkwardly clasping the side of the windshield and each other, hoping to not fall off the back as we zoomed off.

We zipped up narrow sandy roads, dodging pedestrians.  I kept wondering how we were actually going to get out; why wouldn't they notice us?  Wouldn't someone stop us?  (Clearly, my brain has co-opted some of the drama of Argo).

But then suddenly, we were back in the tower, packing up again.  I was, once more, folding pillowcases, when the same streak of light rocketed through the sky, the same explosive sound, the same hurrying down the stairs and being ushered onto an escape vehicle.

In the second iteration, we got farther. But then I was explaining all of it to my mom, almost narrating the second escape.  I said, "They made us do it again, because they really want us to understand what it's like to say goodbye.  How it feels, and what it means."