Chased by Tourists (S&D)

by Erich Schloss
(Stanford, CA, USA)

I come into this dream like a regular Monday morning on my way to my Physics lecture. Like always I bike through the middle of the quad, passing fellow cyclists and skateboarders as well as the unfortunate souls who, either by choice or force, walk everywhere on campus. As if trying to dodge all of these moving parts wasn't treacherous enough, there was an abnormally large group of tourists with their various cameras, fanny packs, and of course fearless leader complete with orange flag and/or umbrella.

I did the best I could trying to weave in and out of the mobs of people but just one man stepped right in front of me too close for me to stop. I hopped off of my bike to make sure that he was ok before continuing on and it was then that I realized it was in fact the leader of the tour group himself. This did not make me very popular in a crowd of angry tourists. They were beginning to close in around me so I jumped on my bike and tore off towards the oval. Class could wait, this was a matter of life and death.

I maneuvered through Memorial Court and down the ramp. Thinking I must've gotten away I casually look back and see a massive mob of Asian tourists, young and old, men and women, all chasing after me. At first I was flabbergasted but then I was scared. I took off down Palm drive and then ducked into the business school and hid behind a pillar. Just when I thought the coast was clear, I stepped out and heard a cry of "There he is!" accompanied by the footsteps pounding of hundreds of people giving chase. After twenty minutes of feverish peddling I finally made it back to my dorm room with no sign of the tourists behind me.

A feeling of relief came over me. As it was already lunch time, I walked into Wilbur Dining Hall and got my food like normal. I went to sit down at the table our dorm normally chooses without even looking. When I did finally glance up I realized that my dorm mates were replaced by the same tourists that I had previously been running from just minutes before. As a second wave of terror flooded over me I instantly woke up.