September 1 nightmare
I’m in an airplane, part of my family is on the plane but our seats are separated. The woman in my row has an unruly kid with her… I know the woman (or have been talking to her enough to feel I know her) and am used to the kid climbing around. The plane is showing a movie, there is a screen some distance away to watch, or there are smaller screens in the backs of the seat headrests we can watch. I’m watching the main screen, because if I pull up the screen nearest to me it will block where the kid is climbing around, and I don’t want to force him into one spot. The woman next to me is assuring me that her son will be able to stay still for the rest of the flight, if I’d rather pull up the closer screen. I look at my watch… there is a little over an hour left in the flight… I don’t believe the boy will sit still for that long, and as I begin to tell her this I feel the nose of the plane is aimed down. I say out loud “I’m always so surprised with how early the planes start their descent” and then I hear the engines… they are very loud, way too loud. I glance out the window just in time to see tree branches, an opening in the trees to bright blue crystal water… and I feel the plane lurch as it hits the lake surface. Off in the distance in front of us is a city… our plane was destined for San Francisco but we didn’t make it all the way there. I don’t know if we’ve landed in the bay outside of the airport, or if we’ve landed in a lake somewhere on the way. The sky is blue, bright… it’s a sunny afternoon. I stand in the asile of the plane, people inside are screaming. I need to get back to my spouse and daughter, I need to make sure we get the seat cushion up and strap it to her so she can float when we get out the door. I’m picturing how to do this as I call their names. I feel the plane shift with the movement of the water we’ve landed in, I counterbalance with my legs to stay standing as I watch people around me fall with the movement. I begin to feel panic as I realize the plane could fill with water and sink before we make it out the door. The carpeting on the floor of the plane feels damp under my feet, and I look out the window to see water lapping against the glass.
August 15-16
August 15 1:
I’m a man, going to a job. I live in a dorm type place in a city. The bathroom is somewhat public, have to walk through it to get to the private area.
I’m walking through the city on my way to work, need to catch a bus. This is the bad part of the city… there’s a bobcat attacking people. The police are trying to contain the situation, I watch an intersection where the policeman is fending off the bobcat with a large mirror – when the bobcat sees it’s own reflection it turns and runs. There is another cat on the roof of a building. The cop runs down the street away from us, chasing down another cat, and one from behind us is charging. There are some children near me, I push one out of the way and turn to put my arm up, the bobcat bites down on my right hand… I can feel the teeth penetrate, sinking into the meat of my palm just below my thumb. I’m yelling at a bus, trying to shake the cat off of my hand… if I can get in the bus we can get rid of the cat, but the bus won’t stop for me. The cat is pulling on my arm hard, pulling my shoulder out… shooting pain radiates from my shoulder down my back. I finally shake the cat loose, shoving it away from me with my feet and I run out to the street where a pink bus is driving by. I climb on and take the bus to another part of town… I have friends who live in a loft, they are artists, they give me some pills for the pain.
4-15- 2
O has invited a lot of friends over from dance class. I wasn’t expecting anyone to come over, but they all thought we were having a party. I’m surprised to see a lot of people wandering around my house, I’m embarassed that I don’t have enough food prepared for them to eat, I only made enough lunch for O. They don’t seem to mind, they are sharing some plain noodles and digging through the kitchen to find what else is available. I haven’t even showered yet today, and I’m trying to make sure everything is settled for the kids while at the same time I just want to escape and clean up. One of the older students (taller than me) stops to talk to me, thanking me for having everyone over and reassuring me that it is entirely OK that I didn’t have everything set up beforehand.
aug 16
There is been some kind of disaster – not sure if it is natural or the result of war. There are camps around, people are bussed to them (internment camps? I wonder if there are buses, why aren’t people trying to find a better place to be?) I’m exiting a bus, looking around… there are chainlink fences, people behind them are huddled around a series of small campfires. Unclothed, they sit in semi-circles around the flames with heavy army blankets draped over their shoulders. A woman looks up at me from one of the fires, she looks gaunt. Someone near me sounds like they are looking over a Motel 6… “well, it’s perhaps not the best accomodations I’ve ever seen, but it’ll do in a pinch”
July 1 nightmare
I have been out of practice of recording dreams here, but I hope to get back into it again. This nightmare was particularly vivid.
I am in some kind of office building… it is… a TV studio or market research place. The entire place is a front for the mob or worse. I realize this place is a front, but I pretend not to know, with hopes that they will release me. They have drugged me. They have intended to brainwash me into doing some kind of task for them. They believe the drugs are successful but I’m still aware of what they are trying to get me to do. I pretend not to know, I pretend to go along with it. I have my jacket draped over my left arm and I’m shaking hands with people as I leave… telling them it was nice to meet them. I believe if I can just get away, out the front door and around the corner, I can run for help. I walk out the door and turn to my right, walking down the street. I want to run, but I don’t want to attract attention until I’m out of sight of the building. I see someone out of the corner of my eye walking the same direction. I realize I’m already being followed, so I try to casually change direction, trip them up… they can’t be obviously following me or the brainwashing won’t work. I’m not able to shake them… I make eye contact with them and they realize I know what’s going on. They don’t take me down, but continue to follow. Now I’m trying to run but I can’t… the drugs are affecting me too much… I can’t see clearly – everything is warped. I see people up ahead and I run for them… a cop directing traffic, some people walking across the street. I run towards them and begin to ask for help when they stop what they’re doing and come towards me.
They are in on it too.
I turn to the left, running up another block… the hill is steep and I have to claw my way up the pavement. I can feel the grit from the pavement digging in under my fingernails. I see up the street and around the corner there is a large group of people coming… a parade of some kind. These people are not in on it, but now I have police and firemen following me, observing me, waiting for the drugs to take full effect. I run towards the parade, the people in the parade are happy… celebrating… until they see me. I’m screaming for help, but they look horrified… the parade stops and they are trying to get away from me.
April 3, 5, 6
Notes from April 3:
*I’m in a dorm room – I have to change clothes. There are several people here, guys and girls, but as there is no other space to get changed I go ahead and change here in front of everyone. The people in the room aren’t really paying much attention, it seems like we must change in front of each other quite a lot. We are getting ready to go put on an educational show about the environment.
April 5:
*I’m going out to lunch with S, S’s brother, and another family member I can’t quite focus on. The four of us are waiting for a table at a restaurant… the wait is long so I wander off down the street to look at other shops in the area. I run into people I know from school and get to chatting, then I realize that a lot of time has passed and I forgot about the lunch with the family. I go back to the restaurant and see that the 3 of them are seated and already eating. S has ordered me a bowl of french onion soup, I see his brother has taken a couple of bites before I get to the table. I look at it and wonder if I should eat it at all, since S’s brother has been sick and I don’t want to catch whatever it is that he has.
April 6:
*I’m in some kind of living history village – it’s a temporary event that is in town for a short while. O’s class is here on a field trip, S and I run into them here and there, but they have to stay together as a class. Near the end of the trip I see the class leaving, loading up onto the bus. They are going back to the school and from there will get on the buses to go home. I need to get home before the bus arrives, S walks back to his car in one direction but I’ve parked further away. I’m trying to get to my car, but I’m getting lost in dark hallways trying to get out of the building where the event is being held. I run into people and I ask for a way out of here, but I can’t keep up with them as they walk towards the exits… I keep making wrong turns and getting lost again… I talk to another person and they direct me out, but I can’t make it. I’m concerned now, looking at the time… the bus should be arriving at our stop and I’m not there, and I’m not going to get there for at least 20 minutes.
March 26
I’m in a house with friends, it’s out of state from where I currently live. My friend has had too much to drink and I need to get him home. The driveway is circular… he drove a truck here and I drove a car. I pull my car around to the front of the house, it is attached to his truck by a long band of fabric, but attached to the back of his truck so that when I drive forward the truck would drag behind me in reverse. I’m explaining to my friend that we have to get to his house quickly, because if a cop sees us we’ll get pulled over, it’s illegal to tow a car in this manner.
As we drive out of the neighborhood I see a building in front of me, at the top of the hill where the street I’m on hits the main cross street. The building is gray and not well maintained, there is something (a sign?) broken and propped against the wall on one side. I know that we are near TS’s house and I think about stopping by to say hello, but I need to get moving because I’m already late and have a long way to drive. I’m not entirely sure how to get to where I need to be, but I see a sign for the freeway (I-84) and I head in that direction.
My car has now dissolved away from me, people on the freeway are not in cars, they are moving along by sitting (as if on a skateboard) and pushing with their hands to pick up speed. I’m pushing hard, trying to get a decent amount of speed going… and I come to a tunnel. The tunnel curves to the right, and is lined with photos, memorials… family members are pulling over to visit the memorials of the dead. I’m disturbed by the conversations I’m hearing as I pass through this area – this is a society that eats their dead… They are talking about it as if discussing recent sports scores in the news. There is a robot device trying to find my friend – our lives are in danger and we have to hide. I’ve turned down an alley and I’m ducking behind a dumpster.
