The Big Blue Bear / 1400 Stout St

Click for map: The Big Blue Bear / 1400 Stout St / lat 39.743943130634484 lon -104.99480844485107

Call 720-845-5413 extension 13 to hear this dream.

You are standing in the shade of the big blue bear. You are meeting a few old friends here, along with their partners. You have not seen these friends in a while. The group of friends turns the corner & sees you & you see them. You are so excited. They wave. You wave. They rush up & all of you hug. So, you say. I have some important news to tell you all! Your old friends all look at you wide-eyed excitement. But then suddenly you realize you don’t have anything important to tell them; & now they are all looking at you with such excitement—you can’t let them down. You look up to the big blue bear. The big blue bear’s big blue head bends down toward you & your friends. And in that moment, without even thinking, you just say it, you say My important news is that the big blue bear & I are getting married! We are engaged! The big blue bear pulls back, shocked. But then, without missing another beat, is chill again. The big blue bear slides a big blue arm over your shoulder, with casual, though delicate, intimacy. Your friends squeal & shout with surprise & shower the two of you with encouragements. You hug the side of the big blue bear’s big blue leg. You & your friends & the big blue bear stroll down the sidewalk to the restaurant. You all sit outside on the deck, in metal chairs. Your friends quickly grow to adore the big blue bear. And the big blue bear, you are surprised to find, really fits in with your friends, really seems to get them all, & you. As you watch the big blue bear react to an old friend’s story about a lazy coworker, you almost find yourself thinking the big blue bear is an old friend too, almost find yourself believing that you & the big blue bear really in love. Just then, the bear turns to you & catches you watching. The big blue bear shrugs & smiles a conspiratorial smile. At the end of the night, after your friends & you all say goodbye, you walk the big blue bear back to their spot. The bear turns to you & chuckles a little growly chuckle. You hug the big blue bear’s big blue leg again. The big blue bear hugs you back. Then the bear faces the convention center. You walk away, feeling suddenly heavy. An old woman with long white hair watches as you walk away from the big blue bear. The two of you lock eyes. She nods with recognition. A bear can love you, the woman says, but to be loved by a bear one must also be eaten by a bear. She says this not like a warning, but like an enticement. You look back & see the big blue bear stretch up to their full height on their rear legs. No longer hunched over, their big blue head reaches as high as the top of the convention center. Then the big blue bear slouches back down & places those big blue paws on the glass, adjusts them until they are in just the right place, & freezes back into an inert stature, looking into the glass, perpetually seeming as if they’ve just spotted something remarkable.