Well the dream had all the weird aspects of a dream without things making much sense, but I do remember being on line for tickets with other phans, talking about how excited we were, and I just remember being really happy, the happiest I had been in a while. When I woke up rather than passing it off as a stupid dream, I was mad at my brain for concocting such a tease. All day I thought about the dream wishing it would be true.

Flash forward a few weeks, to August 13th. As usual I check the phish sites for news of whatever is going on in the world of phish, and i skim through the message boards because I get some sort of cheap high out of reading rumors and letting my mind think of the possibilities. August 13th was filled with rumors of the best kind, the kind that come true.

You never hear a rumor to the extent of "Phish is returning, it will be announced tommorow." Normally I believe people make up rumors with vague details so, if they come true, they can have a sense of power or something. These were the kind you don't say if they're false because people will know if you're lying the next day. Excited, I went to sleep, with visions of page, mike, trey, and fish in my head.

The next day I woke up early before work and checked the usual sites, still nothing concrete but the day was young. I left for work at the last possible second for what I knew would be a long day (not only was I anxious about Phish, but it was my last day before leaving for college as well.) All day long I thought about Phish, oh the possibilities. People would come up to me and talk to me about going to college and I would get sidetracked. Moments after the conversations ended I would think to myself, "oh yeah...Phish"

Now I wasn't supposed to get off until 4, yet my boss let me go at 2:30, probably because she could see me glowing. I wanted to leave instantly but my friend in the kitchen insisted on making me a quadruple decker grilled cheese. I wasn't hungry, yet I politely took the sandwich, said all my goodbyes and got on my bike for home. I enjoy riding my bike and usually take it slow when I'm on it, but not today. I biked home full speed and went right to the computer.

When I finally got on the internet I loaded several sites at once and would go to whichever loaded first. My mom all of a sudded comes downstairs and starts asking me why I haven't packed. I said something rude like

"Mom, just relax."

At this point I saw on phishhook.com a post that read Phish dates confirmed at phish.com. At this point, my mom is talking to me but I don't hear a word she says. Phish.com finally loads up and sure enough, I read before my very eyes about the second coming. My mom is now angry because I've been ignoring her for some time. "What is so important on that computer that you can't even focus?" "Phish is back mom, new years eve at Madison Square Garden."

My mom is happy only because my happiness is shooting off my body like radioactivity or something. She tells me she has better news. I told her she couldn't possibly. Turns out my mom won 2 tickets to a Paul Simon benefit concert where the tickets were $2000 a pop. Paul Simon's great and all, but you guys know why that news doesn't come close.

The rest of that day I was glowing like a million light bulbs or something, really really bright. The dream of weeks earlier to some extent had come true. Well sorry for the long story about a simple thing, but I'm sure you can all understand. What was August 14th like for you?

- mike wright

Editor's Note: What was August 14th like for you? Ahhh, the question I've been meaning to ask you all for the past few days.  Where were you when you found out about Phish's return? How did it make you feel? How did you react, and how did people around you react?  Let's try to stay creative with this... I need you to provide as unique an answer as possible.  Repetitive responses will get boring, but original, true responses will keep us all interested.  Submit Your Story>>