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I had a bad dream, one of those dreams that, when I wake up, I am confused and wondering if my real life is in some jeopardy.
I step out of the house and am confronted by a taller, slender latino, maybe upper-twenties, dressed in worker overalls, with longish hair. I don't know him, but he has come as a messenger. He says, "They are coming after you."
I am in serious legal trouble. In this dream world, some years ago, I had a confrontation with an older, middle-age military veteran, possibly homeless, white, long ragged beard. He is begging money, but I don't feel that I have the cash to spare. This isn't taken well. I don't think we get into any kind of fight. Maybe there's a little pushing? But he dies. Bad timing, maybe. Things aren't perfectly clear.
My messenger tells me that they will try to watch out for me. It's as though I still have some friends in high places. But the outcome is no sure thing. He tells me just to say that I don't remember anything. He leaves, looking kind of worried himself, and I am quite shaken. I'm pretty sure I didn't do anything wrong, but I am horrified by the good chance that I could go to prison.
And that is the condition in which I wake up. What did I do? Am I in trouble? I have some difficulty separating the dream from reality. Was my subconscious coughing up some kind of real signal? It takes me a while to shake off the fear. I am left wondering, however, if my student loan creditors might be getting ready to drop the hammer of the law on me and have me cuffed and arrested and brought in for a serious talk about my life plans, especially financially (though, it seems a little late for that in my old age).
Addressing the technical dynamics of the dream itself, I am astounded by the play with time and memory. There are two different time frames involved - the one with the messenger and the one with the incident with the homeless guy - and it's as though the dream somehow instantly built both in one frame. It's as though the messenger both plants and evokes the memory in me of that incident. I might have experienced this kind of dream-play before, but it's rare, and it's rather mind-boggling. It helps give the dream that much more of the feel and depth of reality and can leave one seriously confused. Where does the dream end and where does reality begin?
I step out of the house and am confronted by a taller, slender latino, maybe upper-twenties, dressed in worker overalls, with longish hair. I don't know him, but he has come as a messenger. He says, "They are coming after you."
I am in serious legal trouble. In this dream world, some years ago, I had a confrontation with an older, middle-age military veteran, possibly homeless, white, long ragged beard. He is begging money, but I don't feel that I have the cash to spare. This isn't taken well. I don't think we get into any kind of fight. Maybe there's a little pushing? But he dies. Bad timing, maybe. Things aren't perfectly clear.
My messenger tells me that they will try to watch out for me. It's as though I still have some friends in high places. But the outcome is no sure thing. He tells me just to say that I don't remember anything. He leaves, looking kind of worried himself, and I am quite shaken. I'm pretty sure I didn't do anything wrong, but I am horrified by the good chance that I could go to prison.
And that is the condition in which I wake up. What did I do? Am I in trouble? I have some difficulty separating the dream from reality. Was my subconscious coughing up some kind of real signal? It takes me a while to shake off the fear. I am left wondering, however, if my student loan creditors might be getting ready to drop the hammer of the law on me and have me cuffed and arrested and brought in for a serious talk about my life plans, especially financially (though, it seems a little late for that in my old age).
Addressing the technical dynamics of the dream itself, I am astounded by the play with time and memory. There are two different time frames involved - the one with the messenger and the one with the incident with the homeless guy - and it's as though the dream somehow instantly built both in one frame. It's as though the messenger both plants and evokes the memory in me of that incident. I might have experienced this kind of dream-play before, but it's rare, and it's rather mind-boggling. It helps give the dream that much more of the feel and depth of reality and can leave one seriously confused. Where does the dream end and where does reality begin?
