breaking free

I woke up in a dimly lit room inside a castle. I knew not who lived there, but soon met a young Asian woman who greeted me. Though I could not understand her I knew she was willing to help me find a way out, but of course, help came with a price tag. I checked my wallet and handed her Mexican cash.  I knew it was more than she would have expected. She opened the window and showed me the way out. I could have figured that out. I stepped outside to another room filled with dining room furniture. Tea sets were showcased on each table. I wished I could keep my home so ornate, but knew it would never work that way. The amount of furniture was overwhelming, I found out that it used to be a restaurant and that now the Asian woman and her husband were out of business but nonetheless kept living there because that was their home. I was outside, it was dark in the streets. looked up at the windows of the castle (or what I thought it was) and happened to be  just another old apartment building in NY. I saw the woman's shadow through the curtains going about her business. A coworker appeared from nowhere and wanted to install his dish network in his small room inside that apartment building I just broke free from, and he could not find a tech to install it. He was desperately trying to get tv reception, so he can watch soccer. I felt bad for him, it would have been nice to watch some tv. I had an appointment at 7pm with a counselor from my son's school that I didn't realize I had booked, but obliged to attend. It would be held in my elementary school's cafeteria. His counselor asked me if I knew where it was, and I did remember. Before long, I met up with a few cousins from Mexico I barely knew. They were about to have diner and owned a dog that wanted to fight my puppy, but we managed to keep them apart. We awkwardly had small talk. We were family and barely managed to have enough in common. It was time to go to my appointment and I was already half an hour late.