Fragment of first dream:
I was walking through the town, looking for a place to eat, when I suddenly realized that people were being taken hostage by men with knives! I slowed down and walked very carefully while being stared at by hostages and hostage-takers alike. The other townsfolk seemed to be telling me to sit down with their eyes. They were all lined up against the walls and even filling up the medians. No one had been hurt yet, but several people had knives to their throats. Eventually, I sat on a corner stone wall, but my entrance hadn't gone unnoticed. Two bad guys walked over and asked me what I thought I was doing. I sat still as a rock and hoped they would leave, while feeling my mortality close in. Just as they made stabbing motions towards me, I woke up! But just before then, it flashed into my head that I should stand straight up and do a claw hold into their throats. I wasn't sure if it would protect me or get me killed faster. Either way, I was relieved it was just a dream.

Second dream:
I was on an island with a guy and a girl, and we were dressed like knights and a princess. It seemed to be a video game (I had just watched a video about the old game Ghosts and Goblins), and there was a dragon protecting his castle in the middle of the island. The island was shaped like an artist's palette, with the thin peninsula providing some type of overhang where the princess could hide while we fought the dragon. Our armor provided us enough protection for a few hits, but we were running out of time to figure out the pattern. We knew that the princess actually had some sort of mega-attack we were supposed to use, but couldn't find a way to get her out safely. The only chances seemed to be to create a fire-proof pathway from things we found, or else to try to distract the dragon.

As we planned things out, we started walking across a gridded asphalt parking lot, which represented the game board. My knight partner turned out to be John from work, and that we were wearing our normal clothes now. We started looking around for a certain game piece that was two pixels large. It was a love seat, and we desperately needed to find it before the dragon saw and destroyed it. John kept saying that we would never see anything so small (each "pixel" was about the size of an ant), but I kept saying that two-pixel pieces are huge. I pointed to a fat little pretzel piece that was about the same size, and said see? It's so easy to see. John was unconvinced. We finally reached the other end of the expansive parking lot and got frustrated that we had only seen single-pixel specks of white so far. I grunted angrily and started back for a second look.

I was now an employee of the apartment complex that had had the loveseat go missing. The admin asked me to look into the fourth floor, which had reports of stolen communal furniture in some of the apartments. I reached room 404 and saw a large bed and some chairs disorganized in the hallway, as if someone had hastily thrown them out there. They looked a lot like our standard communal sets. I knocked on the door, and a meek woman answered. She seemed very apologetic, but wouldn't admit outright to stealing. I guessed it had been her husband, so I gave her a break and told her that I was only there to take the stuff back. I also noticed that there was another stolen chair further down and made a mental note to look into it later.

While we were talking, I noticed a freshly-delivered pizza box on the bed that had "406a" written on it. I looked all around but the room numbers were wildly out of order, and some had an "a" while others didn't. I was confused until I took a second look at the next door over, and now it was 406a. I shook my head. Being a true professional, I knocked on their door to let them know. The man denied buying a pizza, and we argued a little bit before his wife ran up from behind. They were getting dressed to go out, and she apologized and quickly signed the receipt with a Sharpie. Apparently they were going to dinner and she had forgotten. The people in 404 also mentioned they had to go to dinner, and I decided to take my break then too. I told them I would help them move the stuff after dinner, though I knew that it would fall to a different employee. As I left, I briefly considered giving them my cell phone number, but then got too lazy and forgot about it.

I got excited about eating out and decided to go to the little Chinese eatery just outside of the apartment grounds. I knew it was dirty and cheap, but it was also cozy and rather authentic. I was so happy I skipped down the long path leading away to town, even though the road was slick with earlier rain. It was dark out, and occasional flashes of lightning revealed a gorgeous set of trees, all identically shaped and angular, and neatly rowed out on both sides. I shouted "Oh my God! It's so beautiful!" I briefly wondered if any of the security on the path thought I was shouting for help, but I decided I didn't care.

When I reached the highway, I was suddenly driving a car. It was then that I remembered the Chinese place was on the other side of the subway into town. I couldn't remember where the subway was, so I kept using the iPhone to look it up while also keeping an eye on the shops to my left. I saw a Dave and Busters, and the app kept highlighting it as one of three subway entrances. I didn't believe it and kept trying to reload the app. Finally I sighed and accepted it, and parked in the lot. While driving, I was listening to a podcast that was hosted by two young Korean guys, interviewing the princess' uncle. He has some controversial views about rape, I think it was. His name was Sam. As I got out of the car, the princess was there as well, and she told me that that uncle had died last Saturday. I gave my condolences, but she didn't seem too broken up about it. I shrugged and headed in to Dave and Busters.

posted by Larry at 11:17 AM