12007 July 01
We started to move to the west, but i realized that i did not have the cup that i just bought. I looked around the area as i walked from the gift store of the museum. I had just purchased a cup and a decorated stick, but i did not have either. I saw the woman walking away from me, heading to the west. She had a large black canvas bag over her shoulder, and i realized that she had just put our mugs into her bag. I wanted to tell her that she had our mugs, but i felt uncomfortable doing it. I was with several other people in the museum. $F50 seemed to be to the north of me as i followed the rest of the group to the west. I watched the woman. She was slightly shorter that i and had long straight blond hair. She seemed shy and aloof. I was annoyed with her for taking the cup. She was traveling with a group, and one of the men with her had a set of long painted poles. I thought that i could get close to her and steal the mug back from her. We moved away from the railing on the northern side of the room. We were in a long dark tunnel that seemed to have an opening to the outside about fifty metres to the west of us. The tunnel curved slightly to the west-northwest, and there seemed to be some kind of depression in the ground on the northern side of the railing, as though this was a train station. I started to follow the woman again, but realized that we had grabbed the four sticks that the man, who was accompanying the woman, was carrying. I thought that we should just take the sticks and leave. I held the four sticks in my hands with two on each side. It seemed that i was holding them between the fingers of my hands so that one stick on each side was ahead of me and the other behind. I motioned to $F50 that i had grabbed the sticks, and he nodded to me, motioning that i should just carry them out and not bring attention to them. I continued walking to the west, wondering if the man would notice that he had left the sticks against the wall. I then noticed the man walking toward me and passing me on the north. He was going back to look for his sticks. I hoped that he did not notice that i had them. The sticks seemed to be a metre and a half tall. They were round poles that had been painted black and had small dots of paint all over them, making up colourful decorative patterns. I collected the sticks into one hand as we continued forward. I did not want them to be more noticeable than they needed to be. $F50 walked with me to the north. The woman with the black bag stopped in front of me and turned around as well, following the man back to the east. She passed me on the south, but i just continued to the west. I then turned to the southwest and walked into the large waiting room where $F45 was. He was sitting against the western wall, which ran from the northeast to the southwest. There seemed to be several thick cement columns protruding from the black wall. I showed $F45 the sticks as i passed him, and he seemed annoyed that i was displaying them. I walked past $F45 and leaned the sticks against the northwestern wall, behind one of the beams so that they could not be seen from the north. The room we were in seemed large. The eastern wall seemed to be coloured orange. $F45 was sitting to the south of me as i started to look over the sticks. I felt disappointed in them because they were tan with few painted decorations. I then noticed that there were four shorter sticks in the bundle as well. They were actually small wooden bows with strings tightening them. The bows were double curved and had dark-brown dots near the handles. I looked at the longer bows and noticed that they were similarly shaped, and had only a few dots of white and light-blue paint near the handle of the bow for decoration. I felt disappointed in them and showed them to $F45, saying that they were not as nice as the sticks that we had purchased. $F45 shrugged and looked back to the southeast. I looked at the large orange southern wall of the room as $F45 started to get up. We had been waiting for a tram to take us back to where our car was parked. I read the signs over the doors to the north of us. That train was just pulling out of the station, but i knew that it was heading back for the main building of the complex. I then noticed the sign above the orange doors to the west, at the end of the corridor. The sign was orange, with tall white letters that spelled out a word in a foreign language. I thought that they mentioned something about an emergency. There were small round windows in the tops of the doors through which i could see daylight. I walked to one of the doors and looked out onto a small driveway. There were shrubs on either side of the driveway, but it seemed as though the train tracks ran to the north of one of the rows of shrubs. In the distance, i could see the buildings of a large city, which i thought might be Paris. I wanted to open one of the doors, but i knew that it would set off the alarms. I then noticed that the small red lights over the doors were flashing. The alarms had already been set off, and i felt that there had been some kind of threat to the building. The people must have believed that there was some kind of terrorist threat to the museum. I hoped that it had nothing to do with what we had done. I wondered if we were allowed to be in this lower corridor or whether we had triggered the alarms. We had to get out of this building and to the city eventually. I then heard a hissing sound from somewhere near me. $F45 stayed back in the corridor as i contemplated opening the doors and running away before the guards could catch us. I heard the hissing noise again, and i realized that it was the spray can that was in the left pocket of my pants. I must have been leaning against the nozzle and allowing it to spray. I felt nervous about the sound and hoped that the security cameras did not spot the spray can or they would know that we were the ones who had spray painted the signs over the doors. I moved my hand in my pants as i returned back down the corridor. There was a black door to the north that opened as i reached $F45. Two police officers had come down the stairs on the other side of the door and were looking down the corridor. I stood by $F45, trying to act as though we did not know what was going on. I then heard the spraying sound again and felt nervous. The police did not seem to hear it, and they continued on, leaving the corridor from the stairwell door. I walked to the east, trying to take care of the spray can in my pocket. I did not want it spraying all over my pants. I reached in and grabbed the object, but realized that it was not a spray can. It was some kind of emergency button. I pulled out the metal object and looked at it, hoping that the security cameras could not see it over my shoulder. It looked like a sprinkler head, but i knew that it was an alarm sensor from the ceiling of a corridor. I had taken it from an old laboratory building long ago and forgotten about it. I hoped that the security people here did not think that i had taken it from this building. I noticed that there was a small red light inside the cross-shaped head on the top of the box that was flashing. The head looked like a siren horn, and i knew that the light was flashing because of the emergency in the rest of the building. I thought that it could be responding to the rest of the alarms that were blinking around the building. I hoped that the people did not think that i had taken it from the building. I remembered taking it from the old abandoned laboratory long ago, when they were remodeling the halls.
12007 July 02
I sneaked into the house in the night to work on the plastic things. I remembered them from before. There were molds that were shaped like pine trees, and one could spray coloured foam into them to make solid shapes. I first thought that i could spray the inside of the mold with red lines to simulate ribbons on a tree. I would then use the silver paint to make small dots everywhere for the lights. I though that i could also use the yellow to create bulbs, but then i realized that the bulbs should appear to be on the outside of the ribbons, so they would have to be drawn into the mold first. I then thought about spreading the lights around the inside of the molds. I moved across the eastern wall of the small bedroom, aware that the others were asleep in the large bed that was against the southern wall. I had entered the room through the doorway in the eastern end of the southern wall. There was a dresser against the southern wall, between the doorway and the bed. I picked up a plastic bag full of wax tubes from the table in the northwestern corner of the room. They were used to fill the molds. As i looked at them, i realized that there was a limited colour palette to choose from. The thin tubes curved in the bag, and came in red, yellow, blue, and green. I thought that i could make the bulbs in the yellow because it was dark enough to simulate gold, but there was no white for the lights, so i would have to use blue. I thought that a tree with blue lights would be nice anyway. As i looked at one half of the mold, i wondered if i could put blue dots around the mold and then cover them with silver, giving the impression of lights. I then realized that the two sections of the mold would have to be carefully put together so that the ribbons drawn around the tree would match on both sides. I turned to the east, looking at the two molds. I had put foam into both sides of the mold and was wondering how they would get put together. Someone moved in the bed, and i thought that i should leave the room. I started to sneak back toward the exit door, which was in the eastern wall. I then looked at the molds again and thought that the foam was hard enough to be pulled out. I pulled one of the yellow pieces from the mold, noticing that some of the foam stuck to the gray plastic mold. I felt that the shape of the tree might be harder to pull from the molds because the branches would get stuck easier in the mold. It was light out now as i pulled one half of the yellow object from the mold. It was spherical in shape. I then was facing west as i pulled the other half of the object from the mold. I was facing east as i looked at the two sections of the apple. I thought that the foam was soft enough to be worked together, so i tried to seal the apple together. I realized, however, that the two different pieces did not exactly fit together. One of the pieces was a half apple, but the other seemed to be only a quarter. I thought that the mold for the smaller piece had been filled too much, and that it was now too large to fit into the space left by the other half. I compared the edges of the two pieces anyway, to see if they would ever form together. The seams seemed to fit at the bottom, so i tried to merge the edges together and create one fruit. I realized that the soft clay was not properly created, however. There was a rotten spot on one side of the apple where the clay seemed too porous. I felt that i had not mixed the recipe for the dough properly. I tried to smooth out the surface of the apple, but felt that it was just not right. I turned to the north and started to leave the dark room. I was aware that the people in the bed to the west were starting to stir, so i left the area and walked across the street to the bus stop. $Z was with me as we sat on the bench under the arched plastic roof of the stop, which seemed to be supported by dark polished metal poles. The small dog came out to greet us. It was dark in colour, but seemed to have a very happy face. I petted it as i sat down on the bench. The woman to sitting on the bench to the east of us commented on the friendliness of the dog. I told her that the dog had been abused earlier in its life, and she disagreed in astonishment. I recounted the time when we had first seen the dog here, saying that it used to cower under the bench of the bus stop and growl at people. It would bite people on the legs if they got too close. Now it knew affection, and was much happier. I thought about the area around me. In was night now and dark out, but i was aware that there was a large body of water to the north of me, just past the small park where the bus stop was.
12007 July 04
I walked to the east of the house, where the land seemed to form a small gully around a thin creek. The creek ran to the north of the house, and seemed to form a narrow shallow gorge along the eastern end of the room. There seemed to be a wall just to the north of the stream, even though we were outside. The wall ended in a corner on the eastern side of the large outdoor space. I walked to where the creek ended in the wall. There was something special about this place, but i also felt that there was danger there. I wanted something to happen, and i felt guilty that i would be the one causing the disaster. I knew that the cliffs around the water would wash down sometime. I backed away from the steep creek valley, heading to the south. I was directly to the east of the house. I then saw $F39 and $F38 to the north of me. They had just left the house and were heading to the east, across the brush pile that was on the eastern end of the back yard. I said something to $F39 as she headed home. I then knew that the dirt had collapsed around the sides of the creek and caused a disaster in the water of the river to the north. There was flooding around the area and people seemed to be upset. I turned to the west and walked down the corridor of the dark building. This seemed like an office building, but all of the people were away because of the disaster. Ahead of me, the corridor ended in a glass wall that leaded outside. The diffuse light of the sun shined into the hallway. As i approached the door, i noticed $A103 standing in the doorway. He was responsible for some of the disaster management. I heared a beeping sound and realized that it was his pager. People were calling him to find out what to do. He took the small black walkie-talkie from his left hip and turned to the north to answer it. I felt jealous of his importance and felt that i should be able to do a job of similar responsibility. I stepped down the steep yellow stairs of the outdoor terrace, heading west from the building. The stairs seemed to be square and covered with yellow and black tiles. The tiles were arranged so that most of the stair was yellow, with a black border and a black X across the center. The stairs turned to the north and headed down the side of the wall of the building to the patio below. The patio seemed to be a large outdoor space. $A103 was walking ahead of me down the steps to the north as he talked on his cell phone. I heard several more rings and i knew that people were calling him to coordinate some of the disaster-recovery efforts. I walked to the west, across the small garden. This place seemed to be a safe spot for people to stay while the surrounding area was being cleaned up. I walked down the central aisle of the park, through the dark shading of the tall thick trees that ran along either side of the path. There was a white structure ahead of me. It seemed to be made of thin metal arches and walls arranged around the circular opening in the park. Several people were in this area, sitting around tables or standing near the white walls. The central part of the structure seemed to form a tall domed gazebo, with curving arches over the entrances. It seemed very decorative, though it had almost no detail in the structure. There was something about the shape that resembled a large boat propeller. As i reached the center of the round pavilion, i felt that something was wrong, and i knew that some more of the cliffs would be collapsing into the water. The erosion from the water was still happening, and the area would not be safe. I feeled the ground move a little, so i crouched down. The people around me grabbed on to the white structures around them for support as the ground started to gently shake. The shaking then became very pronounced. I looked to the southeast to see that i was over the water on one of the wide propeller blades that formed the ground of the patio. I feeled uncomfortable about the water as the ground shook, thinking that it might wash away the land. The oscillation then became less jagged and feeled more like rolling ground. I looked to the center of the pavilion to see the inverted cone that was the center of the propeller. The blade that i was standing on started to rotate to the southwest, around the center. I felt uncomfortable here and wondered if i could make it back to the main land before the water rose around me. Something was very dangerous here, but i did not know what to do. I thought that the current would be too strong to swim through, but i realized that the water over the inner edge of the blade should be shallow enough that i could walk through it. Then the danger was past, and i was standing on a thin strip of land that was attached to the pavilion area by the thin slightly submerged path. I was standing up now, wondering if the area around me was safe. I started walking to the west, down the narrow strip of land. There was thin channel of water between the strip of land and the mainland to the south. To the north was the main part of the river. I feeled that there would be no large tidal waves from the collapsing land anymore. The water around me seemed to be muddy. I feeled unsafe here, but continued to walk to the west, following the young children who had come with me. They were $K26 and $K27. They wanted to play on the land, but were moving too far to the west. I looked to the north, noticing that there was a disturbance in the center of the river just to the north of us. It appeared that something was pushing water up to the surface of the river. I wondered if there was something collapsing at the bottom of the river. I realized that there was something happening in the river, and that it was no longer safe to be here. I called to $K26 and $K27 to come back, but they had run too far to the north. I started to feel panicked. I looked to the north again and saw the water start to collapse into a sinkhole, which looked like an inverted funnel or a whirlpool. I started to run to the north, wondering if we could run to the bridge that crossed the river to the north of us. I yelled for the girls to come back to me, but, as i looked ahead, i could see that the strong current was washing away the thin strip of land to the west of me. I realized that i was in danger and turned around to head back to the pavilion area, but the sandy bar behind me was also washing away in the churning current. I was trapped. I yelled back to the mainland, hoping that $F45 would be able to hear me and come for me in a boat. I yelled several times, not saying anything but just making noises. It seemed that the girls had run close to me now, but they did not seem to be near me. I yelled to the shore, but my voice broke, and i could not make any sound. I had to get out of this area, but i did not know what to do. I looked at the shore to the southeast of me and though that i could try to swim for the trees along the edge of the river. If i could make it to the trees, then i could run into the forest to get away from the collapsing river. I thought that i could have the girls grab onto my legs as i swam for the shore, thinking that i did not need my legs to kick. The girls would have to hold on to each other, and i wondered if they would do that. There were really no girls around me. I jumped into the water to swim, but then thought that the current was far too strong. I would not be able to make it to the shore before getting washed into the sinkhole of the river. I would be dead.
12007 July 05
I walked away from the young man. He felt sad, and i thought that he might kill himself before i returned. It seemed like a cool summer day, with overcast sky and bright sun. There were green trees all around us, and i thinked that this area was part of a park. I was walking along the top of a hill, heading to the west. The hill sloped steeply down to the north of me. In the valley, there seemed to be a river. I came to a gravel parking lot, where the cars had been parked. The road from the lot seemed to head to the east, along the southern side of a wooded area. There were only a few cars here now, and i feeled that there was something out of place. I turned around and started walking back to the east. It seemed as though some time had passed since i had come here the first time. The dirt path was narrow, and i passed the area where the cars were parked. The area was to the north of the path, and was now filled with cars. It seemed later in the day, and i was relieved to see that there were no emergency vehicles here. If the boy had killed himself, there would have been emergency crews here. I was with several other people in the vehicle as it moved to the east, across the dirt road in the park. The long grassy slope headed down to the north of us, and i looked out the window to make sure that i did not see the boy here. I hoped that we did not find his body, but i was interested to know if he really killed himself or not. I decided that he did not, because there seemed to be no commotion in the park. I then looked farther into the distance, down the hill at the small place below. There was a train track running on the near side of the river, and i felt that i had to make it to the town to catch the train. I was riding on the bus now, and i felt that it would not let me off in time to make it down to the train. I could see the train coming from the east, and i thinked that i should simply hop off of the bus and run down the hill. I then noticed the guards in the town below. They were walking along the train track. They would be looking out for me, so i would not be able to sneak onto the train easily. I wondered how i was going to get on the train from the bus. I could not jump onto the moving train as i had planned. I then wondered if there was a train station in the small town. If the train stopped, it would make it easier for me to get onto it. I had to get out of this are before they blamed me for the boy.
12007 July 07
$F45 and i started back up the hill of the campus, heading to the west. We had been to a show or to dinner and were heading back to my car. As we reach the top of the long grassy hill, i looked to the northwest, across the parking lot. I knew that my car was in there somewhere, but i did not know exactly where. $F45 had driven it here. I spotted several cars that looked similar to mine, but they did not have the bumper sticker on the back. I then noticed mine on the northern side of the lot. $F45 was standing next to it, on the eastern side, and said that the car had gotten a ticket. I thought that it was because the car was left here overnight. The car was facing south, and i could see a red ticket under the windshield wipers. I walked over to the car as $F45 said something to me. I readed the ticket, but it seemed to be a noticed that the car was here too long. It was not an actual parking ticket. I wondered if there was another ticket on the car. The red card had several boxes on the front checked off, noting what was wrong with my car. I felt that this was not right, and i wondered if i should send it to court saying i am not guilty. I looked up, noticing that $F45 and i were traveling to the west down the road. We had just left the place and it still seemed early in the morning. We drove down the suburban street. I said something to $F45 as he drove the car around the two people who were walking to the west along the northern side of the road. I then wondered why he was driving my car. It seemed strange that it was so natural for me to get in the passenger’s seat of my black car.
12007 July 08
I moved through the area, thinking about the creek that curved through the area. There was something special about this area. I looked at the complex curve to the creek, thinking that it could change course easily. It had some kind of special power to it, as though it was alive. I moved down the curving road to the southwest of the creek, looking at the intricate cliffs to the north of me. The gray rock had large bubble-like openings with sharp edges between the bubbles. These openings formed twisted caves where dry driftwood formed tangled structures. As i drived, i catched a glimpse of a small truck of a young tree standing up in one of the openings, its roots dry and out of soil on the ground. There was a small white candle burning on the top of the trunk, and i realized that this was being used as a prayer. I felt that the candle was to charm the river into changing course. I wondered if the water would bore down through the rock from above, where the creekbed was, and start moving the river in another direction. I imagined the water eroding the rock and changing the land. I was then near my parents’ house, and i thought that the creek was running to the west if the house. I wondered if the creek could change course enough to threaten the house. I felt concerned that the water flowing from the south would start to change the course of the creek until it started eroding the dirt on the hill under the house. I decided that the house was too far from the creek for the creek to erode the hill anytime within my life. I then remembered that the creek would have to cross the road, and thought that the road would stop the erosion of the creek because the town would make sure that the water could not damage the road. I thought about this as i turned to the east and walked back down the hall of the house. This place seemed to be a cottage, and i was staying here with several of my relatives. I still felt uncomfortable thinking about the special powers of the creek. It felt foreboding and ominous. I said something to the woman in the eastern end of the cottage as i turned to head to my bedroom. I had been sleeping here several nights, and i thought that there was something strange here. I looked to the north, into the small room where i had been staying. There was a small bed against the northern wall with a dark-blue spread over the top of it. I headed to the east again, looking into the rooms to the south of the hall. I started turning off the lights, thinking that the spirits from the creek might get to the house before i could finish. I turned off one light in a room and noticed that there was still a light on to the south of me in an adjoining room. I was uncomfortable taking the time to turn it off, and continued down the hall. I kept thinking about the creek wanted to get myself safely into bed before anything happened. I walked into the large room on the eastern end of the house. The walls seemed to be dark red, and there were objects scattered around the room, as though someone had not cleaned up in a while. I felt nervous.
12007 July 13
$F45 and i had just arrived at the place. Something seemed familiar here as i looked around. I looked to the north, across the street of the suburban neighbourhood. The lawn to the north of us was open and green, with a curved western edge where it ran along the curving road. There was a small house set back into the lot, with deciduous trees along the north side of it. I instantly recognized the house, even though i had never been here before. I looked to the east, and it seemed as though the scene had changed suddenly to show me a separate photograph of the surrounding houses. I was looking north at the house that i recognized. It felt special to be here, and i tried to get $F45’s attention to tell him that there was something special about the house to the south of us. I told him that i had seen the surrounding houses before. There was something important about this place. I then looked to the east, noticing the large gray stone church on the corner of the block. I pointed it out to $F45, saying that it was the church near my grandmother’s house. It did not look the same, but i felt that there was some relation. The church had two square towers at the front of the flat chapel. There seemed to me vertical openings in the structure where the stained-glass windows were. I noticed a dark green trim along the roof of the church that was quite different from the church near my grandmother’s house. There was something about this place that felt important enough for me to take notice of it. $F45 moved toward the north, heading toward the alley between the church, which was to the northeast of us, and the large school building, which was to the northwest. He said something about this place, as though he was also interested in what was special here. I then felt a sudden jerking sensation from the ground beneath my feet. I instantly though of it as a ping, and related it to a round wave moving out across a drumhead. I knew that it was part of an earthquake. I felt anxious and told $F45 that an earthquake was coming. I said that it was just the first jolt, and that the rest of the quake would come soon. I pulled $F45 to the middle of the street, telling him that we had to get out into the open. The ground started to shake suddenly, and i thought that it was the small rough vibrations of the start of a quake. I knew that we should get away from falling structures, but i did not see anyplace were it would be safe to run, so i ran to the south, into the middle of the street. I told $F45 that we had to go where there were no power lines above us, because i knew that they could fall on us and be dangerous. I looked up and saw the black lines running on both sides of the road. There was no place that we could be safe from them. I was then aware that the motion of the ground was smoother. There were children suddenly running from the north, into the street around us. They had not come from this area. I knew that the man had brought them through the special portal that he had opened up. They were being brought here to be safe. The man who opened up the gate had some kind of special powers, and i felt as though he was a superhero. I looked at the large black cast-iron gate to the east. It was closed. The surface of the gate was covered so that i could not see through it, but i knew that it surrounded the church and was part of the outer wall. Someone said that the clapper on the large doors would ring when there was an earthquake. I knew that there was a large black metal bar with a spherical end hung just on the inside of the gate. It would swing back and forth, clanging against the doors as the ground shook. I moved to the north, though the old neighbourhood of this suburban area. I seemed to be in the middle of a small city, and all of the buildings around me were house, surrounded by tall old trees. I was riding my bicycle up the road to the north, but i mentioned to someone that i would need to turn to the northwest to get to the area. As i came to an intersection, i saw the diagonal street that headed to the northwest. I was traveling on it, and it seemed that $Z was traveling with me. $Z mentioned a famous store that was in this area of the town. He said it was called “Husgee”. The name sounded familiar, and i though that there should be a K in front of the G, but then realized that it would be something different. I thought about the name and decided that it was a good name as i spotted the white plastic sign stretching across the top of the store with red san-serif letters spelling out the name in two words. I concentrated on the words, thinking that there was something special about them and that i should remember the name. It had something to do with reproducing the same idea over and over again to try to remember it.
12007 July 14
I turned to the south and started down the hill and onto the golf course. I had been walking on a dirt trail that ran east to west along the top of a short grassy hill. I had wandered away from somewhere. It seemed to be early in the morning, and i thought that i should have been back with the others, either sleeping or studying. I wanted to explore. The sun seemed low in the western sky, though i knowed that it was just after sunrise. It still felt cool as i came to a small mound is the middle of the cut-grass field. I looked down at the tan patch on the ground as i stepped over it. I then realized that the edges of the patch seemed to be spray painted on. There were some areas where the tan edges seemed to be uneven, as though the people who put it down were using a stencil to get the shape correct. I knew that this was just sand that had been layed in the form of a sand trap. I was then aware of someone watching me from the road to the north. It seemed to be an old dark truck driving from the west. I hoped that they would just ignore me as i moved to the east of the tall mound, which was the western side of the sand trap. I stopped to look at the tan surface of the steep side of the mound. I touched the sand and realized that the surface layer could be wiped off with my finger. I then thought about drawing designs in the sand of the mound. I wondered if the man from the car was watching me as i started to move my finger over the surface of the sand. I thought that i could draw some very interesting designs on the several surfaces around the golf course. I thought about which design i should draw, and i decided upon a circle with an open-bottom square next to it. The two shapes would be connected across the top by a bar with two lines down from the ends of it. This was an old symbol that i used to uses when i was younger for some of my stories. I started to draw the circle, but realized that the sand on the hill was collapsing. I moved my finger around in a circle several times, but the lighter sand fell over the darker sand that i had exposed so that it looked like two different liquids swirled together. I walked to the south and into the small cabin, which was sitting at the edge of the woods. As i entered, i was aware of the truck pulling onto the green of the golf course to the north of me. I hoped that the man did not see me enter the cabin. I thought that i could hide here. The inside of the place seemed bare, and i felt as though i had been here before. I looked around, feeling that there was something welcoming here.
12007 July 16
I heard my cell phone ringing. It was early in the morning, and i just come in. I walked across the bedroom on the second floor of my grandmother’s house, heading east. My mother was sleeping in the large bed that was against the center of the southern wall, and i was supposed to be sleeping on the mattress on the floor to the east of the bed. I walked around the foot of the bed, looking at my mother as she slept. I could see my thick black cell phone still lighted on the bed next to her. It stopped ringing after only a few rings because she must have heard my phone ringing and realized that it was in the room with her. I walked to the mattress on the eastern side of the bed and realized that someone else was already sleeping there. It was a tall thin dark-skinned man with graying hair. I kneeled on the bed, thinking that i should pretend to get into the bed as though i did not know he was a stranger. I put my hand on his ribcage as i crouched down to the east of him. He woke and looked at me in the darkness. We could not really see each other in the dark. I acted as though i was going to be affectionate as i lay near him, but stopped once he made a noise. I told him that i thought that i would not be sleeping here. I stood up and started to move to the west again. I then noticed that my mother was sleeping on the floor to the east of the man. The bedroom was crowded with people. I thought that my mother must be displeased that she had to sleep on the floor. I felt that it was bad planning on my grandmother’s part that forced everyone to sleep where they did. There were not enough beds in this house for all of the people that were staying here. I turned to the northeast and looked out the back door of my grandmother’s house. It was still early in the morning, and i thought about what i had been doing the night before that made me so late. I was supposed to meet $F1 somewhere, but i remembered going to the movies by myself. I had stayed out most of the night, and i suddenly felt bad that i had been alone. I then realized that it was just before sunrise on a Monday morning. I thought about this and decided that i had been out Sunday night to the movies. I realized that i was supposed to be at work this morning, but i was too far from home to make it in time. I was supposed to be packing my car to leave, but i knew that i would not make it to work on time. I thought that i would have to take a vacation day, but realized that i did not want to spend the time. I thought that i would call in sick instead. I looked at the dark wall to the east of me as i considered getting the stuff in my car. I felt as though my mother had given me some stuff to take with me. The man was doing something against the eastern wall of the room as i started to the north. I had been in a short hallway, which seemed to be a stand-alone structure in the middle of a parking lot. My car was to the east, and i would have to get it packed. The man with me seemed to be a friend of mine, although i felt as though i did not know him that well. He said something about what he was doing, and i realized that he was trying to tell me that he had done something wrong. I turned around to see him at the northern entrance of the hallway. I noticed the head of the roofing nail on the underside of this chin. He had managed to pound the nail into his jaw. I wondered how he had done it, and told him that he should go to get help. He started walking down the city street to the north. I looked to the east, where my car was parked in one of the rows on the southern end of the lot. I felt that the man was a friend of mine, but i really just felt that he was a good person whom i got along with, even though he could not think very well. I watched him walk across the street, which ran along the northern edge of the parking lot, and up one of the narrow streets to the north. I continued to the east, thinking that i should pack my car. I then realized that i had many things to get from my grandmother’s house. I would have to get back home, but i felt that packing the car was a large task. I started to walk to the west, down the city street. I could see the main road crossing the street i was on a few blocks to the west. As i moved, i started to fly, thinking that it would get me to my grandmother’s house sooner. I looked at the power lines stretching across the narrow road from the four- or five-story tan stone apartment buildings on either side of the road. I would have to stay under them until i could get higher. I then wondered if i would be able to fly higher. This place felt like $P3. I thought that the main road was the avenue, where all of the stores were. I could see the hill rising over the top of the buildings just to the northwest. I thought that my grandmother’s house was to the southwest. I felt unsure about flying over the hill and the buildings, but realized that i would be turning to the south of the hill. I then started to feel as though i was having trouble flying. I could not get high enough. I felt that i would not be able to make it over the buildings. As i approached the main avenue, i tried to get higher, but there was a strong wind coming from the west. There was a wall of buildings on the western side of the avenue. They all seemed like apartment buildings, and were all made of dark-brown stone or brick. I could not fight the wind, and ended up standing on the ground. I looked to the south as several cars drove up the street. One of them was an old red and white pick-up truck. Its style reminded me of a car from the early seventies. There was a young man sitting in the passengers seat as the truck passed. There was something about him that caught my attention, but i could not see him as he passed. I felt strange here. I realized that everything here was old, as though part of a memory and not part of reality. There was something out of place. There was a man in the back of the pick-up truck as it passed me. He commented to one of the other young men in the truck that the building really was the cathedral. I was surprised and looked to the west. I realized that he was talking about The City. I looked over the tops of the lower buildings to the west when i spotted the large dome of the cathedral. It seemed to be framed by a rectangular opening in one of the tall modern buildings near me. I recognized the large dome instantly as the cathedral of Eurivvonerga, the city in my dreams. The dome was covered with what appeared to be a large tent. The lower part of the tent ran over the top of the dome, covering it with yellow and white stripes, like a circus tent. On top of the dome was a puffy mushroom-shaped bright-red tent. It seemed like a decorative hat, and it seemed out of place on the cathedral. Something was special about this place. I was in Eurivvonerga. $F16 was then walking to the north on the street. He commented about the city, and i realized that this seemed out of place. I had to fly over the city, but i could not gain elevation. I was still standing on the street, straining to lift from the ground. I started to flap my arms at my sides, as if pulling the air in a modified swim stroke. I felt strained to pull, but i did not seem to be moving any higher. Two women in dark coats and long dark hair looked at me curiously as i tried to pull myself up. I could not get into the air. I remembered my car in the parking lot to the east, and i thought about the person whom i had been with. He was a stranger to me, but he felt like someone i was close to. Someone said that his name was Eila. I pronounced it a few times, noticing how the vowels worked in the first part of the word, sounding like a long A. I realized that it would be easy to remember how to spell as long as i remembered that it was pronounced by European spelling rules. I thought that i had to remember the name. It was important that i remembered this trip to The City and the name of the man.
12007 July 17
I moved around the small cabin with the others. It seemed late at night, and we had been staying in this area. I felt as though i was with $G4, and this was a camping weekend. I spoke to the small child with the short blond hair as i moved to the south. I felt affectionate toward him, as though he was my child. Some of the people of $G4 spoke to me as i passed through the room, but i felt distracted and did not stop to talk. I put the small dog down on the old wooden floor in the southern room. Something seemed out of place here, and i felt that there was something special about this place. I picked up the small dog and started petting it as i cradled it in my arms. It licked my face as i spoke. I headed back to the north, feeling that something was wrong here. I looked up into the blue sky to the north. There was a tall mountain range just to the north of the small forested valley that we were in. The sun seemed to be to the southwest, illuminating the mountain. I was aware of something moving in the sky just over the peaks of the mountains. I felt that it was watching us, and i started to feel uneasy. It appeared to be a small round government ship. I then spotted the spoon-shaped craft that was moving quickly from behind the mountains. It looked like the starship Enterprise, but something seemed out of place about that. I knew that it had to be the government and not extraterrestrials. I focused on the craft, wondering why it was being so obvious. I thought that they must see me in the window with their spy cameras. I wondered why they were being so obvious in the sky. I then saw the ship turn to the east suddenly, and i could see the reflection of the sun off of the metal of the airplane. There were two large cylinders on either side of the fuselage that were the engines. They were slightly shorter than the fuselage of the plane, and blended together with it visually to create the illusion of a spoon-shaped craft. I felt uncomfortable being watched, and wondered if everyone in $G4 was aware of the ships watching us. I turned to the west, aware suddenly that i was in the back seat of my car as we traveled down the road. I was holding onto the black backpack, which had the small dog in it. The head of the dog was still sticking out as i pet it. I wondered why i had left the campground and why i was driving west. I thought that i could head down the road a little way to see what the others were up to in the second camp. Visiting the other camp would be a good excuse for my leaving. I did not think that i should be traveling at this moment. I then realized that i was in the back seat of the car again and not driving. I felt that i should get back into the driver’s seat so that i could control the car. I put the backpack down on the floor behind the passenger’s seat and started to climb through the two seats, aware of the oncoming traffic in the other lane. I felt suddenly very unsafe, and wondered if i could get behind the wheel and get control of the car before i hit the large tractor-trailer that was approaching.
12007 July 19
We moved through the crowded train station, heading roughly east through the main room. The walls were plain and seemed very modern. The ceiling was off white, not far from our heads, and seemed to have square tiles that hung lower that the spaces between them. We moved through the crowds, heading toward the door in the northern wall. As we passed outside, to the platform, i could see the long red and metal train to the north of us. We had to get on before it left, but one of the people with us turned to the west and headed back toward the ticket counters within the station. I felt frustrated and turned to follow them. I watched $F45 follow the other person to the north, through the crowd. $F45 turned around to look at me as i headed after the fourth person. I did not want us to get separated, and i felt that we would miss the train if we did not go out with $F45 and the other person. I then moved to the north, across the platform. I had gotten the other person and was heading back to the trains. I looked at the black numbers on the front of the long train to the north. I felt flustered and did not know which train was ours. The bus to the east of us then started moving along the tracks. The crowd had been crossing the tracks to get to the long train to the north, but now cleared out of the way as the bus started to pass. The number of the front left front of the train was 14. I did not think that it was our train, but, as it passed, i spotted $F45 in the window. We were going to be separated, and i felt very annoyed at the situation. I watched the bus pass and wondered what to do now. I walked to the west, back to the large house. We had been at a party here earlier. The house was large and dull yellow, and seemed to be made of painted cinderblocks. There were many people crowded around the front of the house. I remembered this place, and i felt uneasy here. The people who were running the party were bad people, and they were trying to capture the people who came here. I felt weary of them as i wandered back through the crowds. This place felt very dangerous. I was then inside the building, on a terrace on the roof. This place felt like a fraternity party. I then spotted $F11 and $F29 to the southwest of me. They had just returned into the crowd. Both of them seeded to be dressed up in plastic costumes with thin yellow tubing. I felt interested in them and walked over to say hello. I tried to get their attention, but they were talking to others in the house. I had not seen either of them in a very long time and worried that it might be awkward to talk to them. I said hello to $F29, who looked up at me and waved. I tried to get closer to them, but people kept moving in front of me. I was then a distance from them, and i headed back to the south to try to get their attention again. $F11 was talking to someone as i walked up to the west of them and waited. He then noticed me, but he looked away quickly, as though he did not want to talk to me. I felt worried about him, but moved toward him. He suddenly seemed happy to see me. I hugged him hello and asked “How are you?” He felt very upset as he hugged me, asking “Is that it? Not ’How’s the family?’, or ’How are the kids?’”. I felt confused at his concern, feeling that he had missed me. I hugged him as we stood in the center of the crowd, and i tried to talk to him to see how he was.
12007 July 21
I looked at the thin white rope that we would have to climb for the competition. I realized that it was very thin and wondered how i would be able to grab on to it. The others were getting ready. I would be the one climbing for my team. I would have to grab on to the rope and climb to the second floor of the building. We seemed to be in a large mall, and i was on the lower level. I stood just to the northwest of the atrium, where the ropes were being set up. They would be dropped from the second-floor balcony. I looked up at the end of the rope above my head. It seemed too far above me. The two other teams were starting their climb, but i realized that our rope was too short for me to grab. I jumped up to try to catch it, but i could not quite reach it. The other person on my team also tried to jump up and reach the rope, but could not. I felt that it was unfair that our team got such a short rope when the other two teams had longer ropes that reached all the way down to the ground. Finally, i grabbed on to the thin white rope and was climbing quickly to the second floor. I grabbed onto the hand of the man holding the rope, who seemed to be taller than i and well muscled. I pulled up on his hand, and then grabbed onto the railing to the west and pulled myself over. I then had to attach the rope to something so that he could climb up. I walked around the square opening in the floor of the small room, trying to find a place to secure the rope. I knew that i should not be holding it myself. I moved to the west, looking for a place to attach it. The narrow ledge that surrounded the hole seemed to be cluttered with clothing and luggage. I finally found some railings on the western side of the room where i could attach the upper end of the rope. The rope seemed to have a black C-shaped object attached to the upper end. It looked like a pair of headphones. I wrapped the rope around the wooden banisters to the west and let it hand down into the hole, hoping that it was long enough to reach the ground below. I then realized that there were two square holes in the floor of the room, and i felt that i should have been working out of the hole to the east. The woman to the south of me, on the ledge, which ran along the western side of the western hole, seemed to be an official of this contest. I asked her about the holes, and she said that i could not let the person climb here. I would have to go to the eastern hole. I felt frustrated, because i could not find a place to attach the rope on the eastern hole. I took the rope to the east and tossed it over the edge as i looked for a place to attach the black C-shaped object on the top. I wondered if i should just hold it. We were running out of time, and i though that the other two teams were probably already finished climbing. I finally decided to brace myself on the northwestern corner of the hole, leaning over the northern side of the railing while holding the headphones down to the western side. I thought that if i put the headphones over the top of the railing and then held them down with my arm, i would be able to brace them enough for someone to climb the rope. I looked at the thin black rope and where it attached to the C-shaped object. There was a thin blue loop of thread holding the rope to the bottom of the headphones. I warned the people below of this because i thought that the thread might break under the weight. The strong man below grabbed the rope and pulled himself up. I watched the thin blue thread pull as he climbed. I held out my left hand as he reached the top and let him pull himself over the railing near me. The blue thread did not break, and the man stood to the east of me on the landing. I relaxed and looked to the west, thinking that we were the last team to complete the challenge. I then realized that the gray crib to the west, the one against the northern wall, was still empty. Only one of the other teams had made it to the top. The other was still trying to get up.
I ran ahead of the others, heading to the west, along the southern side of the deep ditch. The ground around us seemed to be dry dusty dirt, as thought we were in a construction site. I turned to the north abruptly, running over the large yellow tube that bridged the ditch and ran into the small cement building. I stopped on the center of the thick plastic tube, thinking that i was getting too far ahead of the others. I did not want to loose them from sight. There seemed to be a metallic chain-link fence around the small cement building, but the fence was open around the yellow culvert tube. I felt that we were intruding on this area, but i continued over the tube, heading to the north. The hollow tube sank a little as i walked on it, bending with my weight. As i jumped from the tube to the dirt ground to the north, i heard a deep resonant thud. I jumped on the ground again, realizing that the depression and expansion of the tube was causing a low moaning sound to echo through the tube. I liked the sound, but i continued to the north, into the featureless cement building. There was a corridor running into building on the eastern side. I jumped down the corridor, finding myself in a tunnel that seemed to be part of a subway station. Fluorescent lights from overhead cast a greenish light into the tunnel. The corridor widened here, but it seemed as though two corridors had come together, because there were two tunnels exiting the passage to the north. The tunnel on the east was dark, and the one straight ahead of me had outside light spilling in. A woman came into the corridor behind me. She had been traveling with the group and me. She turned around and ran to the south, up a short set of stairs just to the east of the doorway that we had entered from. She passed through a metal door and, in a moment, returned from the other passage in the south wall. These corridors were connected in various ways. I started to turn back to the north as i heard the others approaching, but then i realized that someone else was coming. The others came into the wide passage, but the bag guys were coming from the south, from the outside area that we had passed through. A man stepped through the door and stabbed me in the side. I felt suddenly fearful of these men as the others started to scatter. I felt enraged and fought back, managing to free myself and run to the south. I stopped in the dirt area outside, realizing that none of my friends were with me. I had to do something to get them, but i did not know what. I did not see the bad guys around, so i started searching the area for my friends, hoping that they were here somewhere. There was a large wooden cabinet standing in the center of the small dirt yard to the south of the building. It was taller than i, and made of polished brown wood. I pushed over the dresser, thinking that some of my friends might be trapped underneath. I then realized that my friends had been trapped in the dresser. Once the cabinet was turned over, i could see the feet of my friends sticking out the bottom of the dresser. They all seemed to be wearing shorts, and one of them was wearing yellow shoes. The feet were sticking up into the air because i had overturned the dresser. I felt confused, not sure if there were really my friends. I was afraid that they might be dead, and i did not know what to do. I turned around in confusion, not sure what was happening, and afraid of what might have happened. I moved to the east, into the room where my parents were. My father was coming out of the shower, from the bathroom to the southeast. I had to get my things from this hotel room, but they were still in the car. I felt afraid of the bad guys as i turned to the north to open the car door. The car was parked on the dirt ground, facing west. I opened the read driver’s side door and pulled out a duffel bag. My attention was then caught by something to the southeast of me. I turned to look into the intersection of the main streets. There was a traffic light strung over the intersection, and there seemed to no details to the land all around, as though we were in the middle of dry flat dirt plain. There was a traffic accident happening in the intersection, but it seemed to be taking place in slow motion. I watched the car from the west hit the truck from the east. Something was wrong with this scene, and i could not focus on what was happening. I felt aggravated, thinking that the bad guys were coming. I turned to the west and started away with the others, but i started to feel angry and frustrated. I took the guitar out of my bag and smashed it in anger and protest on the pavement to the north of me. I was on the southern side of a street now, and $F45 stood to the east of me.
12007 July 23
I felt stressed as i moved to the south, thinking that i had to get back to the bank. I had to get there before some time, but i knew that it was very late at night. There were few people around me as i walked across the grassy area to the south of the main college buildings. There seemed to be a road that arched from the west of the quadrangle to the east, curving across the south in a wide arc. Several small buildings were on the edges of the road. I came to the bottom of the arc, walking through an archway between two modern white buildings and ending up on a wide set of stairs at the edge of the street. Across the street, to the south of me, was a small business district. I felt that this was the area where the college students shopped and ate. It seemed well illuminated for being so late at night. The other people near me stopped on the stairs as well. The modern white structure to the north and west of us, which seemed to have a domed plexiglas roof and thin round metal supports, seemed to act as both a decorative building and bus stop. The others with me seemed to be from $G3. I looked around for a bank where i could get money, but everything seemed to be closed. I felt frustrated and headed to the west, coming to the western side of the road, where it ran down hill to the south. There was a small bank to the west of the road, but it seemed to be closed. I was annoyed that $A149 had locked our baggage. He had done it to be secure, but we were unable to get our stuff. I turned the car to the south, heading down the campus road from the parking lot on the eastern side of the road. I watched the small cubical building of the bank pass on the west, thinking that it was too late to get anything from the bank. I hoped that the campus police did not notice us driving by all of the banks and get suspicious. We headed back through the campus, and i tried to think of what i could do. As i came into the southern end of the corridor, i turned to the east. Three was a woman there, and she warned me that we should be careful of being out so late. She said it was dangerous. I felt annoyed with her and did not really care whether we would get in trouble or not. I then noticed $F11 standing in the hallway to the southeast of me. He seemed sad and distant. I remembered seeing him before, even though it had been a very long time since i had seen him. I said hello, but he only mumbled back, not engaging me in greeting. I felt concern for him, thinking that there must be something wrong. I then noticed a woman to the east. She had noticed me, and i suspected that she would warn the police that i was out when i should not have been. I tried to ignore her, focusing my attention instead on $F11.
12007 July 29
I looked through the receipts that i had on the table, trying to figure out how much i owed the people. I felt confused about what i was doing, and could not keep track of the accounting. I sat on the northeastern end of the long brown modern wooden dining-room table. The room around me seemed small, providing only enough room around the table to move the chairs in and out. $A380 handed me some receipts for something, and i felt frustrated that i would have to integrate them into what i was doing. I was trying to send people money for the things that they had returned to us. I was then aware that there was a woman at the front door of the house, to the north. I opened the door and greeted the rounded austral woman. The woman wanted money back for her iPod. I felt worn, realizing that i would have to get her money for the receipts she had. I turned to go find her receipt from the pile that i had in the other room, but i then realized that she was the one i was trying to send the check to before. I had already filled out her check and figured out her billing. I could pay her now to make the billing easier. I told her to hold on as i walked back into the other room to grab her receipt and check. I felt stressed about this, and stopped once i was outside of the house to take a moment rest. I then realized that i should call $F45 to let him know where i was. He would be worried that i was not were i was supposed to be because i was still trying to figure out the accounting. I then realized that i was spending too much time here and turned back to the north to take care of the woman. I felt bad that i had forgotten about her and left her standing at the door.
I father, who was standing to the north of me, said that i should not print the book about the man. He was very adamant, and seemed to imply that this was a very serous matter. He felt concern that the book would be dangerous to me, for some reason. I thought about the character in the book. I felt a little confused, and asked my father why and which man he was talking about. He said that the man was the fire lord from Tolkein. I thought that he was referring to Sauroman, but then i realized that he could be talking about Peter O’Toole. Someone else mentioned the actor. I tried to concentrate on this character that my father did not want me to mention, and i then realized that i did not know whether he was referring to the character or the actor who played the evil character in the movie. I tried to figure this out, knowing that this was very important, but i could not remember the people in the book. My father stressed again that i should not print the book, but i could not figure out who the man was. I tried to run over the conversation again, remembering the children’s book that i had read about the Giving Tree. The actor seemed to have something to do with it, but the character confused me. Something was out of place in my thoughts, as though there was something interfering with the ideas in my head. My father tried to think of a better description for the character, but he kept saying that it was important that i not present the character in my book. He did not say it, but i felt that he was afraid that mentioning the character would endanger me. I wanted to heed his warning, but i could not remember which character i was not to mention.