Dream A Little Dream of Me

Today was one of those rare mornings when I actually wanted to get out of bed. Well, not the first time I woke up, when Isabella decided she needed to be fed, but the second time. I had been having a wonderful dream.

The dream unfolded as a series of brief scenes showing the progression of a new relationship. He was handsome and about my age, and it began with a hookup arranged through one of the apps. Later, we saw each other online again and decided to meet up a second time. Eventually, we exchanged numbers and became regular fuck buddies. There was no longer any need to search the apps; all it took was a horny text.

Each time we got together, though, we talked a little more and began genuinely getting to know one another. One evening, I was cooking when he texted. After we finished with the usual reason for his visit, I invited him to stay for dinner. Then he invited me to his place for dinner. That led to a few “Netflix and chill” evenings that involved more Netflix—and more conversation—than our earlier encounters had.

Eventually, I had an event to attend and was allowed to bring a plus-one, so I asked whether he wanted to come with me. After that, we began seeing each other outside our apartments. We went on actual dates. We even took a trip together.

The dream was made up of all these small moments in the building of a relationship. It was almost as though I were watching everything from above. Each scene lasted only briefly, yet somehow I understood the larger story connecting them.

After watching us go on a few dates, I woke up before the dream could progress any further. Sadly, it was only a dream.

Of course, there are couples who met on Grindr and eventually built lasting relationships. Still, if you’ve ever used Grindr, you know that it tends to be more of a “come and go” situation—although “come” might be spelled a little differently. That was fine when I was younger, but these days, it would be nice to find something more: someone to talk to, cook with, travel with, and share all those little moments that gradually turn a hookup into a relationship.

But, as I said, it was only a dream.