ZUDEMA

12006 September 02

I looked down as the pavement as i walked to the west, down the shallow hill of the sidewalk. I was visiting this college with my grandmother. I had been on this campus a while ago, and i remembered that $F45 had a friend who lived here. It felt nice to be in this place. I mentioned to my grandmother that i knew someone here as we passed to the south of some old dormitory building of gray stone. We passed through an archway, walking into a small courtyard. The small yard ran north to south between two rows of old buildings. The buildings seemed like an old street of a European town. I looked along the eastern side of the street as i walked, knowing that $F45’s friend lived in a second-floor apartment just down the way. I passed a plain apartment building and saw the sloping terrace of weedy grass on the second floor of the next building. I recognized this place and looked through the large glass wall at the top of the slope to see if i could see any movement inside. I hoped that he was there because i remembered meeting him before, and i felt that i really enjoyed him. As i came to a stop, i spotted the head of a person inside the apartment, on the northern side of the window. I waved to the man. He seemed to see and recognize me. He smiled and walked toward me. I then noticed that he was wearing a b right green jacket with a matching triangular shaped hat: the type that Robin Hood might have worn. There were white feathery flourishes on both the hat and jacket. He smiled as he approached me. I felt suddenly uncomfortable about his clothing. I knew that he was homosexual, but he looked too much like a stereotype, and i did not want my grandmother to think that i liked such obvious stereotypes. I made a comment on the man’s jacket, and he seemed to be slightly hurt, but he continued to greet my grandmother and me. This situation felt awkward, but i continued to say hello to him.

I walked to the north, out of the room on the second floor of the building. I was suddenly aware that i was wearing only a towel and a shower cap on my head. I was heading for the swimming pool, but i had forgotten that this was a public building. It seemed to be $P7. I walked across the landing and to the stairs, which descended to the north, in the center of the all. The landing had a thin metal railing along the northern edge and down the sides of the stairs. I had come from a room to the southwest of where i was, and i was aware that there was a corridor to the southeast where some other people were walking. I remembered that i had left the room before wearing a dark-blue long-sleeve tee shirt and white long underpants. I felt embarrassed thinking about it, thinking that people who saw me in it must have found it humourous. I headed down the stairs and turned northeast at the bottom. I seemed to be at the back of a school building, and i was approaching another set of stairs that led down to the north. I then spotted the tall wooden sign in front of the stairs and noticed that there was a bit of debris around the stairs. I wondered if this section of the building was closed. It had been a long time since i was familiar with $P7, and i wondered if this was no longer a way to get to the pool. I was not dressed to walk around to the other entrance. I decided to walk down the stairs anyway. I was heading to the west now, and $F12 was walking with me. I told him about the free swimming at the pool as we headed to the east. The white wall of the building was to the south of us. I stepped into a doorway and looked down at the large pool. To my surprise, there was a volleyball net stretched across the center of the pool and several people wading in the shallow end near me. I had hoped that there was lap swimming. I then noticed that there was a lane marked out at the western side of the pool. A man was swimming down the lane, closely followed by someone else. I noticed that there was a gap in the net at the edge of the pool and thought that they would simply have to duck under the net to get by, but i realized that the top rope of the net was high enough out of the water that they simple slipped under it as they swam. $F12 and i walked into the water. $F12 started talking to an older woman who was on the southern side of the net. She seemed to be an old swimming instructor of $F12’s, and she greeted him in a rather firm voice. She seemed somewhat confrontational, but i felt that it was nice that $F12 had met someone familiar here. She asked him something about swimming, and he replied that he was not is as good a shape as he used to be. The woman then said that when $F12 had a tight belly and hollow cheeks again to come back and talk to her. She seemed very dismissive of him. $F12 was upset by the comments, and he turned to the north and walked out of the room. I felt disappointed that he would not swim despite the bitter comments of the woman. It was not nice of her to demand that he be as attractive and in shape as he used to be. I decided that i still wanted to swim, but i realized that i was not wearing any goggles. I would not be able to open my eyes in the water to see where i was going. I looked around, realizing that the people doing laps were swimming in a loop around the circumference of the pool. I thought that i should try to swim, but something felt uncomfortable here. I headed to the west again and came into the upper bedroom of my grandmother’s house. My parents were there, and i had entered just after $F12. $F12 was in town to visit, and i felt glad that he was here, but there seemed to be some uncertainty about the situation. $F12 spoke to my parents for a moment, mentioning a friend of his that lived near here. My father remembered the person and said that she was just to the northeast, on the other side of the tracks. I then remembered that we had looked up the woman before and found her address. I could see the houses out the window to the west and though that she was in a large brown house only a few streets over. $F12 talked about something. He seemed to be in town for a show, and i felt as thought i was not quite relating to him as i had used to. There was something awkward about my feelings for him, as though i was unsure whether we could relate to each other anymore. My mother then asked a question about the show. I looked to the west to see $F12 standing in the long entry hallway of the large building. The theatre was to the south of us, and the exit doors were along the northern wall. I turned to the south to describe the play to my mother, telling her that $F12 was in town just to see it. The tall thin man with the dark black hair, who was $F12, responded. I remembered him from the theatre. He talked about the play, stating the names of the other short skits that would be part of the performance. He then started singing one of the parts. I felt a little uncomfortable with the song, thinking that he seemed too stereotypically homosexual. I then looked to the south to see the band playing in the center of the large church-like theatre. There were several people in the central aisle of the theatre, wearing brightly coloured costumes. This aisle seemed to be the entrance corridor where i had seen the thin man in the white clothing. The man right in front of me was wearing a bright orange costume with a green collar. His legs were skinny in the dark-green tights, but his torso was rounded into a pumpkin. They cheered on the audience, posing in a line down the central aisle. The man in the pumpkin costume lifted his arms and flexed his biceps in mock rage, but the costume seemed to hide any detail form his arms under the orange fabric. The next man was dressed in another brightly coloured costume. I realized that they were from the band Dufus. I said something about them to my parents, trying to change the subject. The young oriental woman near me then made a comment about the band. I recognized her. She was wearing a plain white dress with a turtleneck collar and a thick black leather belt. It looked like something from the 11960s. There was a white hood on the back of the dress which she let fall over her eyes so that her face was obscure. I smiled at here and told her that i had seen here with the band before. She seemed very shy and told me that she was now part of Dufus. I referred to the television screen on the northern wall of the room where pictures of the band were showing. They were dressed in bright light-blue and pink furry costumes. The images flashed across several people with the band as the music played. I asked the woman jokingly if she was sure that she was not part of the band, hinting that she was. She hung her head to keep her face out of view and told me that she was not part of the band. I looked back at the screen to see several band members in red suits. The oriental woman was standing with them. She was wearing a red dress of similar style to the white one she was wearing now. We could clearly see her face on the video, and there was a white monogram on the right side of her collar that said “Tye”. I spoke to the woman with us by name, asking her if she was sure that she was not part of the group. I felt playful as i coaxed her.

12006 September 03

I walked across the store to the north as the others looked around where they were. This was a small tourist store on the side of the road, and we had stopped here in the middle of our journey. The woman with me stayed in the southern part of the rustic gift shop as i wandered around the northern side. $F30 then caught my attention. He was looking at something in the black metal racks near the eastern wall of the store. The racks were made of a thin metal framework that stretched all the way to the ceiling. They formed several patterns of small squares with some curved metal details running across them. Brightly coloured clothing hung off of them in the central section, where two women were looking over the merchandise. $F30 was standing within a square area that was surrounded by the racks near the southern side of the eastern wall. He was facing me, so i could not see what he was looking at on the racks. I started to head toward the women in the center of the wall, thinking that i could fit through the opening between racks there, but the opening was too small. One of the women also would not move as i approached. I wondered if there was another way around the racks to get a look at the display that $F30 was viewing. I then realized that there was an open are in the southern side of the rack. It looked like a square window in the top part of the rack. I could not walk through it, but i would be able to look in and talk to $F30 about the items. I walked to the side of the rack, but was disappointed that $F30 had already walked to the north, away from the display. I stopped in the southeastern corner of the store and turned around. $F30 was already standing to the west of me. He was not wearing a shirt, and i thought that his skin looked red. I then remembered how nicely built he used to be. He stood to the south of me, and i glanced over his torso as he spoke. I noticed that he was not as nicely detailed as he used to be. His chest seemed flatter than i remembered, and his skin was slightly wrinkled. He headed west to go back with the others. I then decided that i should head back to the others as well. I looked down at my feet, feeling something on my toe. I realized that there was a cheap gold ring on one of my toes. I must have stepped into it as i was walking across the store. It then occurred to me that i was barefoot. I should not have been walking around without shoes in a public place, but i must have left my shoes in the car. I looked down at the plastic ring on my right foot as i started walking across the room. I then realized that the floor was covered with all sorts of small jewelry. There were a few people sitting on the floor in front of me, putting together beaded necklaces. I realized that the floor to the north was covered with trays of different types of beads and bangles. The people to the south of the trays were playing around with them to make jewelry. I stepped carefully through the beads and other things on the floor as i moved to the center of the room. The store was L shaped, with one side heading to the east, behind me, and the other side turning to the south. I headed back to the south to meet $F39, who had come with me in the car. I could feel one of the rings falling off of my left foot, so i looked down at my feet as i walked. I realized that the floor was still covered with trinkets and beads. I could see that the one ring left on my foot had a green smiley face on the top. There were several other rings on the floor, which looked similar. I realized that i could not leave the ring on my toe. I had thought that it was lost from someone, but i now realized that it was merchandise from the store, so i could not simply walk out with it. I let it slip off as i continued to the south, saying something to $F39 as i approached her. I had grabbed a large chunk of dough from the counter to the west. We were ready to go and headed north across the parking lot. I ate some of the sweet greasy dough as i walked. The three of us got into the car. $F39 seemed to be anxious about getting to where we were going on time. She mentioned Canada, and i joked with here, saying “You mean, i shouldn’t have been heading south?” She smirked, and i was aware that the man from the back seat had gotten out of the car. It seemed that we had been in the store a long time, and i told $F39 that i was sorry for delaying. I said that i had thought that they wanted to stay for a longer time, which is why i had been wandering around the back of the store. I offered her some of the bread, but she did not want any at the time. The bread was a large ball of chewy dough. $F38 was in the back seat of the car as we started. I asked where $F24 was, and they said that we would have to pick him up. I was surprised and thought that he must have met a woman in the store. I joked that he would not have enough time to do anything with her and before we had to go. I asked them if they knew where he was, and they said that they had the woman’s address. This situation felt awkward, but i drove the car to the north, through the small town. This place did not seem far from $P14, and i had heard of this town before. There was something special about it. The streets were narrow, and i spotted a small shop on the west side of the road. It had a tall flat front, which was decorated with cartoon figures and brightly coloured text. I remembered seeing this place advertised on television before. It was a popular local place. It sat on the western side of the road, across from an intersection where a road ran to the east. I continued to the north, noticing that the narrow streets and light-blue buildings seemed very West Asian. I remembered that this town had a distinctly foreign style of its own. That was the reason that it was famous. I looked at the empty street market on the eastern side of the street as we continued, thinking that this place looked like a Middle Eastern town. I asked the others what the address was for the woman. I felt annoyed that we would have to pick $F24 up. I stopped on one of the streets, noticing the man to the east of us. He said something about the other having to catch up. I realized that they were on bicycles and thought that they were just returning from a long bicycle ride. The man seemed old and had grey hair. He commented on the others, seeming worried that they were taking so long. I asked whether they were on a bikeathon, thinking that it was the bike version of a marathon. Two people rode in on bicycles from a street to the east. I though that they had rode all the way from a small town to the east, which was known as a marathon destination from here.

I moved to the east, across the southern side of the building. I was on the interior of a large wooden structure, but the centre of the room was full of water. We were on the western edge of a large lake, and this old building had been bought by $A350. I looked into the murky water in the center of the room, noticing that there were several people swimming in it. I then looked to the east to see $A350 standing on the starboard deck of the small houseboat. The boat was facing east and was floating in the center of the murky water. The land around us seemed to be swampy, and there were several old wooden pilings sticking out from the surface of the reedy water along the eastern shore. I thought that $A350 must have bought this place when it was cheap. This whole area seemed to be run down, but i thought that this would be a great place to own a house. If the house was built up, it could be very nice. I was then aware that $A350 was maneuvering the boat around the area. I looked to the west, across the inside of the building to see that the boat was backing up. I noticed that there were still people swimming in the water, but they were no longer in the northwestern corner of the building. They were now right behind the boat. I called out to the others, telling them that there were swimmers in the water, but the stern of the boat kept shifting to the west, pushing into the swimmers. I was worried that they would get stuck under the boat. I then looked around at the room again. The building seemed like a large storage garage, with a simple peaked roof. The interior of the building was unfinished, and i could see all of the old wooden beams and rafters in the walls and ceiling. There was a wooden walkway around the entire circumference of the room, and the center was open to the water of the lake. There was something very appealing about this place. It felt very nice, even though it was run down. I wondered if i could ever own a place like this. I turned back to the south, now on the long deck outside the building. There was a small overhang above us, which was supported by thin wooden poles. $A350 was standing to the east of me, and i mentioned to him how nice the place was. I then looked around the area, noticing that there were several other rotting houses on the water. There seemed to be a channel just to the east of the building, which ran north to south. I looked up and down it, noticing that there were many old stores and shacks, which looked as though they had all been built on the water at the same time. I thought that the town had been trying to develop this area into a waterfront-shopping district, but that the efforts had failed. Everything here seemed to be falling apart and abandoned. That must have been how this house was purchased so cheaply. I thought that i would like to own such a place to fix it up, but then i realized that the value of the place would not improve over time. This place seemed to have been abandoned and long forgotten. It was warm and humid here, and i thought that this whole land was swamp. It seemed that no one would want to be near a swamp.

12006 September 04

A woman from the finance department stopped me in the corridor. I was in an office, which seemed to be where i worked. I had been walking east, on the second floor of the building. The walls and floor around me were orangish yellow and seemed to be covered with cloth, like the walls of a cubical. The woman showed me the papers, stressing that there was a problem and that she wanted me to look at them. I took the stack of receipts from her and looked at them as she explained the problem. She told me that the client had received the receipts and had found that they were incorrect. I could see that there was a price on the receipt that had been crossed out. She told me that the client had been overcharged by someone in our group. She then stressed that this was not the only time that he had been overcharged. She said that the same person in our group had overcharged the client several times. She made it seem that this was a big problem. I looked at the receipts, thinking that our group was sending them to the client to show them how much we had purchased for their project. The receipts showed that we had charged the clients tax, but, because they were part of a university, they should not have been charged tax. I felt that this was important, but i realized that the receipts were all very old. I told the woman that they were probably from someone who no longer works here. I thought of a few people who could have sent the receipts as i walked to the east. I did not know what we could do about it since none of these people actually worked here anymore. I then turned to the west and crossed the parking lot to get onto the bus. As i walked to the back of the bus, heading west, i thought about the receipts.

12006 September 05

I walked through the corridors of the school. It felt good to be back here. I was taking classes again. It seemed that i had exams is a little while, but i felt that i did not need to take them. I thought that my courses did not require me to take the exams. I thought about this as i headed to the east, down the white corridor of what appeared to be a community college. I felt that i had not really taken as many challenging courses as others. I also thought that i was only taking a few courses at a time. I was not really doing as much work, so i did not have as many exams. Some of the other people i was working with were walking near me as we headed to the east. We seemed to be walking down the wide stairs in the entryway of the large glass building. $A420 was walking with the others. I said something to them about where i was headed, saying that i had to do something family related. I felt that i could not be with him at the moment. I continued down the street, thinking that i had a call on my cell phone from someone. It seemed dark outside as i walked down the sidewalk. There was something that i was trying to get to a few blocks to the east of where we were. I was aware that i had my head down as i walked along the sidewalk on the northern side of the city street. I was aware that the others were following me, and i felt awkward about heading somewhere and not being with them. I crossed the intersection to the east, and then crossed to the southeastern corner. The place that i wanted to get to was on the other side of the block. The side facing us was full of old grey buildings, which were dark for the night. I pictured the brightly lighted stores on the other side, though. I fest that i could not keep walking in that direction and have the others follow me. I thought about flying over the buildings to the other side, but, instead, i turned to the northwest and stared down at the pavement in the center of the intersection, thinking that i should just fly up. I concentrated and felt the pull of something across my back as i imagined that i was lifting into the air. I wondered if the others would be surprised that i could fly. I stepped into the center of the intersection, thinking that i might be in the middle of traffic. I concentrated again, picturing myself lifting from the ground. I was looking down at myself as i lifted into the air. I seemed to be drawn in pink or red on a black and dark-grey background. This did not seem real, and i thought that i should not be able to fly in reality, and i wondered if this was reality of imagination. I remembered that something was wrong, but i could not concentrate on what. I then heard the cell phone ringing. My grandmother was calling $K5 on her cell phone. I remembered that she had gone somewhere and did not want to be reached. I still had her cell phone in by book bag. I turned to the east to see if i could find out where the ringing noise was coming from. My grandmother headed to the east with the other person that i had been walking with. I remembered just getting out of classes because i did not have to take the exam. I could see the car parked to the west of me, just on the other side of a tall thinning hedgerow. I stepped through the bushes and pulled the cell phone from the front pocket of my backpack, which had been sitting on the passenger’s seat of the yellow Volkswagen Beetle. I answered it, wondering who would be calling $K5 when she was missing. My mother asked me what was wrong on the telephone. I remembered what i had said to my grandmother, and i started to tell my mother what had happened, but i started to get choked up and had trouble speaking. I told here that $K25 and $K25’s cousin were missing. I could not speak properly to tell her what was wrong, and she did not seem to understand why there was a problem. I hung up the phone and walked to the north, across the kitchen of my grandmother’s house. I stopped in front of the sink on the east wall. I turned into the room, to the west, where i saw my mother and $K7 sitting at the table. I told my mother that $K5 was still missing, but she did not seem to think it was anything serious. She looked at me with a puzzled expression, as though she was annoyed that i found the situation urgent. I turned back to the east, suddenly remembering that $K5 had gone somewhere that she did not want $K7 to know about. “Wait a minute.”, i said as i turned back to the room. I did not want to let everyone know where $K5 was, but i thought that i should tell them that she was not supposed to be near her cell phone. I told the others that i thought that she was going away for a while. My mother was sitting in the chair on the northern end of the table, and she looked at me as though i had done something stupid. I felt bad about the situation.

12006 September 06

I sat at the desk in the large room. I was taking some type of test with the rest of the group. $F4 was sitting at the table to the east of me as we faced north. I looked at the paper that was on the table in front of me. I felt confused. There were three sections of text on the page, and i started answering the question of the first one, but i felt that something was wrong. I was taking too much time thinking of what to do with the first question. I could not focus on the question enough, and i felt that i would not be able to finish. I started moving the sheets of paper around. Eventually, i ended up looking over the small piece of torn paper where i was trying to write my answers. I realized that the second question required a lot more writing than i had thought. I felt disappointed that i could not finish this test. I looked at the oddly shaped piece of torn paper in front of me and did not know how to fill in the answers. I felt defeated. $A75 then walked up to the west of me and looked at the papers that i had discarded. He asked why the test paper was on the floor, and i told him that i was trying to work on the small paper. He looked at the torn test paper and said that i had to use it to get the rest of the answers. I looked at the paper and saw that there was a hidden image of a building across the back. It matched the hidden image that was on some of the other test papers. The building was printed in green ink and looked like a federal building with tall smooth round columns across the front. I could not think of what to do.

12006 September 13

I was on the second floor of the building which seemed to be $P19. There were people moving around in the room near me, and something was happening in the room to the north. Someone from $G3 had just figured out part of the puzzle. It was a game that we were playing, trying to find things and solve clues. I walked into the room to the north, which seemed to be a bedroom. There was a large bed against the center of the northern wall that was covered with a dark-yellow blanket. I walked over to the eastern wall, where there was a dresser with a mirror hanging on the wall over it. I looked through the things that were cluttered on the surface of the dresser, thinking that the others would have checked here for the next clue. I was looking for something specific. I lifted the mirror and felt along the back, thinking that there might be something taped there. I could not feel anything, so i moved back to the south, looking over some of the other things in the room. I was then standing to the west of a large suitcase, which was propped against the southern side of the bed. It seemed to be a large rectangular suitcase with soft cloth sides. I knew that it belonged to $A81. He had just come back and was still unpacking his stuff. I then noticed a small set of keys clipped to the front of the suitcase. Since we were looking for a key to open the special lock on the door, i thought they key might be hidden on this ring. I thought someone might have hidden the key in plain sight to make people thing that it was not the right one. I looked at the keys on the ring, thinking that i was looking for a key that would open a padlock. I did not see any keys on the ring that seemed obvious for such a lock, and i was hesitant to take the set of keys because i felt that they might not be the correct set. $A81 said something to me from the eastern side of the bed. I responded, motioning to the keys with my right hand. I hesitantly implied that i thought that these were the keys to the door, but did not make the statement. He did not seem to think that they were the correct keys and dismissed the idea without effort, but i knew that he was one of the people who were setting the clues. II moved away from the suitcase as another person stepped up to talk to $A81. I thought that $A81 had just returned and that his suitcase was still not unpacked. He would need time to take things out of it. I moved to the east, thinking about the keys. I felt that they were the right keys, but i was still hesitant to take them. I finally decided to take the ring, which had a red plastic tag on one side. I moved to the east, down the hall from the room. There was a door set into the southern wall of the hall just a little way from the room. The door had a shiny metal bolt across it, which was locked with a metal padlock. I looked at the keys but did not see any thin keys that i thought should go in a padlock. I tried the first key on the ring, which looked like an old brass house key with a round head. The key did not fit into the lock of the door, which was not set into the western wall of a small alcove in the hall. I was aware that the other person was still talking to $A81 as i looked down at the keys. The next key was thin and whitish silver with widely spaced square teeth. I did not think that it was the correct key for the lock, but i wanted to try all of them anyway. I put the key into the lock and was surprised to see that it turned. I opened the padlock and pushed open the door. I had solved riddle, and i felt happy for doing so, but i did not want to let everyone know at once. I looked back at the man who was talking to $A81. He was facing me. I waited until he glanced at me. I then nodded to him and smiled, indicating that the keys that i had taken had opened the door. He nodded back and i walked into the room. I felt happy that i had opened the lock and figured out the clues. I was then aware that the others of $G3 were gathering in the room to the north. They had heard about what i had done and were coming to celebrate. I thought that they would probably want to drink a few beers in celebration as we looked through the next room.

12006 September 14

I was with the others in the grassy area at the top of the hill. We seemed to be in a small patch of open ground in the middle of a forest. There were tall trees to the north, southeast, and southwest. The hill seemed to go up to the north, but i was pushing the bicycle up the hill to the south. The tall weeds around me seemed red, as though they were drying in Autumn. I felt exhausted from pushing the bicycle and thought that it seemed to be a long way to the top of the hill. I felt that i was working very hard to get the bicycle to the top. The others were running around the filed at the top of the hill. I pushed the bicycle up again, not wanting to continue with the effort.

I stood on top of the hill in the middle of the forest. There were many other people standing around me. I looked to the south, through the trees, to the thin forest at the bottom of the hill. There seemed to be an old dirt path which descended the steep hill just to the southwest of where i was standing and continued along the bottom of the slope and through the woods, to the southeast. I looked back to the north, noticing the small groups of people that were coming through the low brush of the forest. There seemed to be several areas where the forest floor was worn by travelers, as though this place was well used. I thought that i should head down the hill to the south and leave these people, but i did not move. I looked down the steep dirt slope under me. The trail went to the southwest, but i knew that i could get down quicker and leave these people if i headed straight to the south. There seemed to be a large maple tree on the western side of the top of the slope. The path went down on the western side of the tree, and i was aware of a few people slowly walking down. I felt that the people were fleeing from something, and i felt that i would not need to go down the hill just yet. I then looked to the west, noticing several people in dark-grey clothing moving toward us in the distance. They walked in unison as they moved through the underbrush. I knew that they were dangerous and that they were here to capture the people. I felt afraid of these soldiers. The people started to panic and ran down the hill to the southwest. I looked to the north to see that most of the people had come through the forest and had gone down the hill. I could also see some soldiers moving toward the edge of the hill. The land to the north now seemed to be at a much lower elevation than where i was standing, as though i was on a hill in the middle of the forest. I looked to the south, thinking that i should run down the hill and take the trail where the people were not heading. If i separated from them, i felt that the soldiers might not catch me. I then noticed that there were several more black-clad soldiers approaching from the south-southeast. We had been surrounded and there was no way to escape the soldiers. I thought that i should run down the hill, but i noticed that there was no cover at the bottom, so i would not be able to hide from the soldiers. I felt panicked, wondering what i should do. I did not want to be captured and killed with everyone else. In desperation, i dropped to the ground, putting my face into the grass that was around me. People on the land below would not be able to see me if i kept on the ground. I felt frightened and started to pray that the soldiers did not check the top of the hill. I did not know what to do and felt desperate.

I watched the people to the north of me as they moved through the large grey entry hall. They came down the dark-grey granite stairs from the west, carrying the pine coffin over their shoulders. They were dressed in black with white shirts. I then saw my mother’s father walk in front of me. He seemed rather young as he turned to smile at us. I was standing with several other people, watching these events happen. This situation felt strange. I realized that this was my mother’s father’s funeral, but i knew that he was already dead. He should not be here with us. I then saw the men with the coffin again as they turned toward us at the bottom of the stairs. They stumbled and the coffin fell to the ground, shattering. I could see a body inside wrapped in white cloth. I felt suddenly shocked by these events, thinking that this could not be the body of my mother’s father. My relatives, who seemed to be sitting around me, seemed stunned. I then realized that i was watching a video. I looked at the large television screen to the north, realizing that there was a large golden eagle figure on the wall in the center of the frame. It was a relief carving on the stone wall of the grand entry hall. This was a tape of how a funeral might look in this place. I wondered why they had left the images of the people dropping the coffin on the tape. It would be an embarrassment if it actually happened, and i did not think that it was the best way to advertise their funeral services. My relatives moved forward, into the large hall of the building. We had to head to the service. They turned to the west and started heading down the length of the long chapel. This place seemed to be a theatre, with a sloping audience that faced west. There were large rectangular columns in the center of the room, along the aisle that i was walking down. It seemed that a crowd of people was leaving a show that had just ended, and we were coming in for the next one. I suddenly realized that i was not properly dressed for this theatre. I was still wearing cut off long johns on my legs and a tee shirt. I felt very awkward here and did not want to head down to the bottom of the theatre dressed like this. I knew that my mother had taken my pants with her into the theatre, and i hoped that she would realize and bring them back to me. I felt embarrassed and moved to the north, into one of the rows of seats as several people in elegant dresses walked to the east to leave the theatre. I did not know what to do. I wanted to head to the section of the audience seating where my family was. They were gathering on the southern side of the theatre. I thought that the other family would gather on the northern side of the central aisle. I was annoyed with my mother for not bringing my pants back. She then turned around and looked at me, angry that i was not following them. I moved down the aisle and took my pants. I had to put them on, but i did not want to do so in the middle of the chapel. I walked to the west, where a thin corridor ran at a strange angle from the main room. The corridor started heading to the southwest, but turned to the west and then northwest with corners that the width of the corridor vary. I was looking for a place where i could change my pants without being notice. As i walked, i considered putting them on it the chapel, but decided that it might make some people uncomfortable. As i headed west in the crude cement corridor, i noticed the doors on the northern side of the hall, which led into the bathrooms. I opened the doors but was disappointed to see that there was only a toilet inside. There was not really enough room to change. I looked in several more stalls before deciding that it would have to do. I walked into one. The place seemed dirty and there were puddles of water on the floor. The white toilet sat against the northern wall. I then realized that there was a narrow passage to the northwest. The passage ran to the north-northwest a few metres before turning to the north. I headed down the corridor, thinking that there might be enough room there to change my pants. I kept looking at the puddles on the floor, though, not wanting to get my pants wet as i was dressing. I walked to the west only a little ways before turning around. I was not in a darkened city street. Several others were with me as i looked at the bars and nightclubs across the street, to the south. $A409 said something to the others as we paused on the sidewalk along the northern side of the street. I felt that the others were heading to the east, and that i just happened to run into them while i was here. The others were out partying, and i felt that i was not really part of their crowd. They seemed to be others from my office. I heard $A409 mention the brightly lighted club on the southern side of the street, and i said that it was a very good club. I then headed to the east, leaving them behind as they got in their car. I knew that they were heading in the same general direction as i was, but i had already made plans to do something else. I walked to the east with some people, but it seemed fairly dark out. After going a ways down the street, we turned back to the west. We were in a car, and the man driving was speaking to us as we moved. He seemed to be a police officer, and we were in his patrol car. As we drove down the road, i noticed the long crowd of people walking from the west. They were all coming back from some place. It seemed very dark out now, and i could only see the people as they passed in front of the headlights. We seemed to pass through a tunnel with dim lights on the ceiling. Something felt strange about this situation, and i said something to the police officer driving. I then started to look at the people who were wandering down the southern side of the street. They seemed to be wearing costumes. I felt uneasy with this situation. I then noticed someone in a gorilla suit directly ahead of us. He seemed to be threatening us, and, for a moment, i thought that it might actually be a real gorilla. As we started to pass, however, i became aware that it was really just a man in a costume. The car slowed, however. I felt nervous about stopping, but the police officer seemed to be watching something on the southern side of the street. I tried to say something to him, but he was not listening. I felt nervous about the situation, thinking that we should head out of this area. I did not want to stop here on this street.

12006 September 17

I stood in the middle of the room of the college dormitory. I had come back to school here. I was just moving into my room when the other man came into the room. I put my stuff on the bed, which was a single bed against the southern end of the western wall. The man had short blond hair, and he seemed to be well built. I thought that he was somewhat attractive, although he seemed like a jock stereotype. He put some things on a bed in the room. I felt somewhat uncomfortable here. He spoke to me happily as he moved around the room, and i felt that he was a nice person. He mentioned the fraternity that he wanted to join. I wondered if he would be uncomfortable knowing that i was homosexual and that my boyfriend was the other person staying in the room. I was interested in him, but i worried that he would be uncomfortable around me. I was then lying on the bed. It was dark in the room as i thought about these things. I was lying face down on the eastern side of the bed. Someone got into the western side of the bed, and i thought that it was the athletic man with the blond hair. I thought that it was strange that he was climbing into bed with me and wondered if he was actually homosexual. I felt uncomfortable with the situation, but did not want to startle him. It was possible that he did not know that i was in the bed. I lifted my right arm and moved it to the west, laying it on top of his forearm. I left it there for a moment, feeling the warmth of his skin. He then realized i was there and moved out of the bed with a start. I pretended to wake up and realized that he was there. He did not seem upset, but asked why i was sleeping in his bed. I looked up, to the north, noticing that there was a single bed with its side against the western wall and its head against the northern wall. There was a pile of things near the pillow, and i realized that they were my things that i had unpacked earlier. I was the one in the incorrect bed. I said something to $F45 about this, who was on the eastern side of the room. We started talking about the man. I knew that $F45 would not like him as much because he was athletic and muscular. I was sitting on the bed in the northwestern corner of the room, talking to $F45 about the man. $F45 seemed to think that the man was a dumb jock stereotype. $F45 sat to the west of me as i said that i thought the man was actually rather nice. I said that he had traits that made him seem dumb and immature, but i said that he expressed himself in a way that made him seem much smarter and very mature. There was a dresser with a bookshelf on the top of it just to the south of the bed, blocking the view of the southern part of the room. I thought that the man might be on the other side of it, hearing what we were talking about. I hoped that he would hear the good things that i was saying about him. I wanted him to know that we did not dislike him. I was then aware of someone coming into the room from the door to the east. The door was on an eastern wall that projected from the center of the northern wall. The other roommate walked into the room. I thought that it was the other man. $F45 immediately stood up from the bed and started to walk back to the eastern side of the room, where his bed was. He did not want to be seen in bed with me because we were still trying not to disturb the man, and we thought that he would be disturbed by homosexuality. However, he walked past us as though he did not notice.

I was in a house that was owned by my parents, getting ready to go. My relatives were in the room to the north, which seemed like a living room. The house seemed modern and simply made. My parents walked toward me and then turned into the doorway, to the east. I walked into the small den after them. The room was long east to west and had horizontal planks of lightly stained wood on the walls. There seemed to be a desk in the middle of the northern wall and a cushioned chair in the center of the south. There seemed to be a window in the center of the eastern wall with thin white curtains hanging over it. My parents walked to the eastern end of the southern wall, where there seemed to be a bookcase. They opened the door of the small old metal safe and pulled some of the yellow stacks of paper out. They were getting something together. I was aware that the door to the room behind me had been closed so that my parents could look through the safe in privacy. I felt that they did not want my other relatives to know what they were doing. I wondered if i should be in this room. As my parents pulled a set of papers from the safe and brought them over to the desk at the north wall, i turned around and thought that i should leave the house. I turned into the large cushioned chair that was sitting in the middle of the room. The chair seemed to be large and pale yellow. I pushed it to the side as i headed to the west, out of the room. One of my relatives was talking about the young boy. They described him as very smart and interesting. I felt that he would be an interesting boy to meet. They seemed so enamoured with him. I walked along the front of the house, which seemed like my house, heading to the north. The house was to the west of me. My grandmother was kneeling on the ground near one of the flower beds, digging in the dirt. The boy was bent over just to the south of my grandmother, looking down at the ground. He was dark skinned, with short brown hair. He was wearing a medium blue polo shirt and dark blue sorts. I leaned in so that i was close to them and said hello to the boy. He backed up in surprise, turning toward me as he stepped back into the flowerbed. He hung his head as he looked at me, clasping his hands in front of his abdomen. I could tell that he was very surprised and now seemed to be upset and scared. I then noticed that there was a dark spot in the crotch of his pants. He was afraid of people, and i had startled him enough that he had wet his pants. He looked as though he was about to cry as he backed away from me, rounding the southern side of the porch to get out of view. I felt sorry for him and walked toward him. I apologized and said that i would take him inside. We should let him change his pants.

12006 September 18

I was walking down the sidewalk on the eastern side of the street, heading north. The street sloped down slightly to the north, and i felt that it was heading toward a river. $A166 was with me as we passed between the old apartment buildings and factories. There seemed to be a parking lot to the east of us, and there seemed to be something crossing over the top of the street to the north, like an overpass or elevated walkway. I said something about my job to $A166, and he commented about the work. He joked about the way things were being run around us, and i felt suddenly uncomfortable. I was aware that there were people we worked with in the building just to the northeast of us, on the northern side of the open lot. The building seemed old and was covered with a thick coat of yellow paint. As we passed the front of it, i told $A166 that he should be careful of what he said. I told him that people could be listening to him. As i said this, i looked back up the street to the south. I could see $A299, our boss, leaving the bar and crossing the street to the west. We seemed to be standing in the shadow of the cement overpass now, and i watched $A299 as she passed from the shadow, through the strip of light falling between the bridges, and back into the shadows on the western side of the street. I felt uncomfortable with the people at my work. $A166 continued to the north, but i turned back to the south. I had to head to the office. I felt that our work environment has gotten bad. It was no longer a pleasant place to be. I moved to the northeast, floating over the ground. It seemed grey out, and i could see the murky water of the river to the north of me. I then realized that i was floating out over the river toward the dry ground of the other side. The opposite bank seemed to be covered with dry field glass, as though it was late fall or early spring. I realized that i had gone too far to the east to head to my office. I looked down the length of the river, to the west, where i saw a triangular island stretching across most of the river. The island was a flat white building, and the southern corner of the triangle rested on the southern bank of the river and a second point in the center of the river, facing east. The building seemed oddly shaped, with its main entrance in the middle of the southeastern side. I floated toward the building, thinking that i could surprise the people inside with my ability to fly. I looked down at the eastern corner of the building as i approached. The eastern corner now seemed rounded, with a domed glass roof. It was late, though, and i realized that the glass windows of the building were dark. I thought that the people inside would not be able to see me flying as i approached. I thought about $A300 and his reaction to seeing me fly. I started to move toward the door to the building, which was recessed in the southeastern edge, just past the glass-roofed section. There seemed to be a cement walkway that ran along the southeastern side of the building from the southern paint on the land. It turned into the building, running along the southern side of a small triangular courtyard. The courtyard and the path both seemed to be made of white cement. The northern sides of the courtyard were formed into benches, and the path ran up a slope along the southern side of it, making a turn at the west to run a short distance toward the entrance door. There was a white metal railing along the outside edge of the path. As i swooped toward the door, i noticed that several people were coming out. I thought that i could get them to see me fly at least. I held my hands out in front of me, forming a ninety-degree angle. I could feel a force pushing from my palms, and it seemed that this was how i was slowing myself down and controlling my flight. I wanted to fly down so that these people saw me, but they were walking out of the door and down the ramp. I saw $A418 step out of the door, holding it open for several people behind her. $A414 seemed to be with her. I thought that i might not get close enough in time for them to see me fly. I swooped in but realized that i was still moving too fast. I tried to use my hands to stop as i swung my feet down to land with. As the group headed down the ramp, i passed them, making a noise to get their attention. I then realized that i had made the noise as an expression of my concern that i was coming in too fast. I came to a sudden stop in front of the door. I turned to the north and headed for the glass door. It seemed darker here under the shelter of the overhanging roof. A short woman opened the glass door and stepped out, but she immediately pulled the door closed behind her. She knew that i was there, but she must not have recognized me. She had short hair and was wearing a tan sweater, which was unbuttoned in the front, exposing her white dress shirt. I knew that the doors were locked because it was after hours, so the woman was trying to keep the place secure by not letting me in. I felt annoyed and looked down at the keys in my hand. The keys seemed very now, and i did not remember which key opened these doors. I turned to the west and started down a short corridor toward another door. The corridor seemed dark. I turned to the north again, walking down a short corridor inside the building. At the end of it, i turned to the west, heading down the longer corridor toward my office. There were other people around me now. I felt as though it had been a little while since i had been back to this office, though i was still working here. One of the others told me that my office had been moved. I was surprised to hear the news and felt a little distressed that things had changed without me knowing. I asked the person “Already?” We passed through a doorway in the hall and stopped just on the other side. The corridor seemed to open up into a room full of cubicles. The cubicles were to the north of the main corridor. I looked to the north from where i was, seeing a small office space surrounded my low cubical walls. There seemed to be a counter around the eastern and western walls of the cube. The southern wall had a gap in it where one could enter, and there was a matching gap in the northern wall, which led into cubicles with taller walls. This place seemed to be a reception desk. Someone said that this was my new office. I felt disappointed and did not like it. $A318 was standing on the western side of the cubicle, looking through some papers. $Z, who was standing to the east of me, said that he liked the look of the new cubes. I told him that i did not. I then wondered who had moved all of my things from my old office. I thought about my computer and wondered how it was moved. I felt very disappointed to be here. It looked as though i now had a reception job. I wondered if they had downgraded me to the reception job as a way of getting rid of me.

I talked to the other person about the tall building to the east of us. We seemed to be in the middle of a large city, and the building seemed to be a single square tower. I said something as i thought about the city, which seemed to be Chicago. As $Z and i talked, i mentioned that i would not want to be in that high tower in the middle of an earthquake. I stepped out of the door of the stairwell, heading east. I came into an empty conference room. I thought that this was the room at the top of the building. The room was quiet and dark, as though i was here very early in the morning and no one else had come in yet. The lights in the room seemed to be very dim, but there was light coming in through the blinds that covered the windows. There seemed to be windows on all walls, which started a little below my waist level and ran all the way to the ceiling. There seemed to be a large wooden conference table in the center of the room. I thought that the view out of the window here would be very good. I should be able to see most of the city. I thought that i should have my camera with me so that i could take pictures of the city. I felt that the view would be spectacular. I opened one of the blinds on the northern wall, letting some of the outside light into the room. It seemed to be morning over the city outside, though there did not seem to be any direct sun light. I moved to the western wall and started opening blinds. It seemed that the sun was just below the horizon in the western sky, but it still felt like morning. I moved to the south along the western wall, thinking that i should open all of the shades in the room to let the light in. I did not know why it was so dark in here. I then wondered if i would feel uncomfortable with the height of the window. Someone was then standing to the north of me, closing one of the blinds that i had opened. He was wearing a dark business suite and seemed annoyed that the blinds were open. He seemed to be $A86. I felt that he was the owner of this place. I asked him why we could not see the city around us, but he did not reply. He simply seemed to be grumpy about his ownership of the building as he continued to close all of the blinds that i had opened. I backed away from the window and looked around the room, which seemed a little bit larger now. I noticed that the southern end of the western wall was more to the west than the windows that i was looking out, and there seemed to be a restaurant counter at the back end of it. It seemed that there was a grating pulled down over the door to the restaurant, but i was aware that people were standing around. Several black poles stood in the middle of the floor just to the east of the restaurant. They seemed to be recoiling guides for the queue in front of the cafe counter. I backed into the empty center of the southern side of the room, thinking that keeping the blinds closed would keep the place cooler. I then talked to $Z about being stuck in the elevator. I remembered that we had been in the elevator on the way up, and i remembered what i had though about being here in an earthquake. I felt annoyed that the shades were closed. I noticed that $A86 had left the room, so i walked back to the northern end of the western wall and pulled some of the shades open again.

12006 September 26

I stood on the eastern side of the room, which seemed to be the library of $P7. There were others sitting at the tables around the room, all facing to the south, where a woman was talking about the renovations. She talked about our offices and said that we would be moving them. I looked at the small model on the table, which seemed to be a model of the domed ceiling of the library. I knew that the construction crew was rebuilding the dome. Our offices were mostly cubes in the library area, so i wondered where we would have to move. I felt confused, and i asked the woman where our offices would be moving. I told her that they could not be moving to the southern end of the building. When she asked why, i mentioned that the rooms there were oddly shaped. After i said this, i thought about the rooms. I remembered that they were narrow with low slanted ceilings. There would not be enough room in them to set up cubicles and desks. As the woman continued talking, i looked at the dark metal model of the domed ceiling that was on the wooden table in front of the woman. The dome was detailed with square insets and seemed to be bent backward so that we could see the underside of it. I tried to concentrate on the dome, thinking that the library in the center of the building had the same domed ceiling. I moved to the east, to the front wall of the building. There were large multipaned windows covering the wall. The walls were dark yellow, and the frame around the window seemed to be stained dark brown. There was something very comforting about the colours and the dark blue light coming in the window from the evening sky. I felt very nostalgic here and i remembered how much the building had changed since i had been here. I then looked out the window again, thinking that it was fairly dark. It was, however, seventeen o’clock. I noticed that there were three people standing to the south of the flagpole that was in the front of the building. They were wearing uniforms, and i realized that they were there to lower the flag for the night. As i watched them, other people started to gather in the front of the school. I felt that i remembered how this was done from long ago. I watched the people move around at the front of the school as i thought about these things. Something felt very comforting here, and i wondered why i had come back here. I turned to the west and walked into the school through the front door. The building was dark inside, and i thought that it was a weekend. I thought that the people maintaining the building must have left the door open while the ceremony was happening outside. I walked into the building, noticing that it seemed dark. I could hear my footsteps echo in the main entry hall of the building. I was aware of my presence here and thought about how different it felt to be back. I then realized that there were some people in the auditorium directly ahead of me. As i walked into the center of the main hall, i realized that the people in the auditorium were setting up for some type of event. I noticed the round tables with heavy red tablecloths over them just to the south, in the main entry hall. I wondered if the people here would notice or recognize me as i wandered into the room. I knew that i was probably not supposed to be in the building at this time, but i felt that i could wander undetected. I looked into the auditorium as i walked past the door, heading to the north. I could see a few people standing among the wooden seats of the back rows setting something up. One of them seemed to be a woman in a white business suit. I walked to the north, passing a rectangular wooden table where a man was sitting. I knew that he was the drama teacher of the school, and i wondered if he was the same drama teacher that i remembered. Several of the actors from the show started gathering in the main hall near the man. I was fairly close to him as he turned to speak with one of the young women from the show. I realized that he was not the drama teacher that i knew. I continued to the north, thinking about all of the changes that had happened to the school. I looked down the hall of the north wing. I then wondered again about the offices that would be moving around on the third floor. I was back in the center of the main hall, standing near the front door of the building. My mother stood just to the north of me, facing west and pointing her left hand into the air. I realized that she was trying to travel to the second floor without moving. I was able to do this trick, but i knew that the others wandering around the hall would not understand what she was doing. I imagined that i could fly up through the stairwell of the main hall. I told my mother to relax as she pointed. I knew that she was pointing to where she wanted to go. She was trying to teleport to the second floor of the northern wing. She seemed to be concentrating, but i told her to relax and let the position come to her. Some of the other people in the hall started to stare, and i wondered what they would think if my mother managed to vanish from this position. I wondered what it would look like to watch someone shift positions is space.

I walked into the front door of the house on $P12. I had not been here in a long time, and i was aware that my grandfather no longer lived here. I had come here looking for something. My mother was to the west of me, in the doorway to the house as i moved to the northeast, into the living room. I remembered having dreams about this house all the time, thinking that there was always something special about it, like a hidden room or extra passageway. I thought that there might be something here that i was missing. I came to the bottom of the stairs in the cellar and turned to the west, walking along the northern part of the cellar. I knew that other people would soon be living in this place. I thought that all of my dreams have been telling me that something was left in this house, and i wondered if the dreams were a result of my father’s mother trying to tell me this. I looked at the line of boxes and small furnishings that were stacked against the damp cement western wall of the basement. I wondered if the asbestos had been cleaned out of the basement since the new family had moved in. I looked through some of the boxes, trying to find something important. I knew that all of this was my grandfather’s stuff. I opened a small cardboard box that was a board game. Inside, i found some dice and some dominoes. Three was a red backgammon board at the bottom of the box, and several bags of things. It seemed like a generic board game that had several games in it. I had lifted several of the pieces of the game from the box and now put them back in. It took me a moment because i could not remember the order that i had taken them out, and they did not seem to fit the way i had first placed them back. I had put a small plastic bag on the left-hand side of the box, but i did not think that i could close the lid with it there, so i had to rearrange things. After a moment, i started to close the box when i noticed that the name on the front said something about a tower. I remembered that my grandmother had told me something about a tower in one of my dreams. I opened the box back up and searched through it. The right-hand side of the box was divided by a piece of cardboard. I looked through the papers in this section and found an old checkbook of carbon copies. These checks were from my grandfather’s account. The date on the first checks said “02/00”, which meant that they were cashed a few years before he died. I did not think that the checks were that important, so i continued to search through the rest of the things against the wall. There was a small wooden desk with its roll-top open. I looked through some papers in it, finding an old passport. I put the passport on top of the checkbook so that i could keep them together to bring upstairs. I then noticed two brightly coloured stamps on the table and decided that i should bring them along as well. I used to like collecting stamps and remembered that there was probably a large pile of old stamps in here somewhere. My mother then said something from behind me. I turned and told her what i was looking for.

12006 September 28

I stepped to the west, out onto the frozen water of the waterfall. I was making some kind of transition in this place. I had been somewhere else, and, when i stepped back to this place, i would end up on the frozen columns of ice that were standing in front of the cement dam. I knew that it would not be safe for me to stay here. I would have to make my way to the east, across the thin bridge of ice to the wall of the cliff. I pushed backward, breaking the wall of ice so that i could see the bridge. There was something wrong with this idea, though. I refocused my mind and stepped into this place again. This time, it seemed as though i was at a slightly different time than i was before. I realized that the ice on the dam had had more time to melt, and the column under me was thinner. I was still standing in the black cage as i came to a rest on top of the ice. I turned and kicked the eastern wall of the cage, shattering the ice as i had done before. I then started crawling across the narrow edge of the top of a sheet of ice. The ice was thinner now that it had melted a little. I wondered if the ice column under the cage would hold as long as it had before. I made it to the cement wall of the dam and reached up to grab on to the top. I stepped on the top of the ice sheet as i tried to pull myself up to the top of the cement dam. There were others standing near me, as i struggled to make it to the top.

12006 September 29

I paid the woman behind the counter and moved to the east to wait for my food. I was standing to the north of an orangish-tan counter. The counter surrounded a small square area in the center of the small room, which seemed to be in the basement of a college building. There were tables and chairs around the edges of the room, but no one seemed to be sitting in them at this time. The walls seemed to be covered with heavy plaster or cement. There seemed to be windows in the eastern wall. I spoke to someone else who was at the counter to the west of me as i waited for my order. There were two people behind the counter, both in black uniforms. I watched them as i spoke to the other person. There seemed to be many metal dispensers and shelves on the counter near the cash register, which was in the center of the northern side. I stood on the eastern end of the northern counter as the woman brought me a clear plastic cup of a clear liquid. There was a straw in the liquid, which stuck up through the plastic top of the cup. I reached for the cup, but paused, realizing that it was not what i had ordered. I told the woman that i had ordered a cola. She did not seem to understand the problem, so i pointed out that the liquid in the cup she had was clear and cola was not. I felt suddenly annoyed as she walked back around the western edge of the counter with the cup. She did not get it right for a second time, so i angrily told them that i would not take the cola and asked for my money back. I said that i wanted the one dollar back. I felt very annoyed and told $Z what had been happening. I was not standing farther to the east, at one of the booths that sat against the eastern wall. I felt that i had been waiting a little while, and i was angry with these people. I then said something to $Z. I was now standing at the front of the store, at the western end of the northern wall, which was open to the central hallway of the building. I realized that most of the day had gone by, and i still had not gotten my dollar back. I moved back to the counter, noticing that the personnel there had changed. I felt upset and frustrated that i could not get something simple from them. I did not like having to wait, and i wondered if the new people would even know what was going on.

I looked back down the street, to the west. I was walking up a hill on the southern sidewalk of the suburban street. I seemed to be on a hilltop that ascended to the east of me. Here were small post-war houses along the southern side of the street. To the west, i could see out over the small city. I knew that the main part of the city was to the south-southwest of where i was, but i could see a large expanse of houses and small industrial buildings stretching out in the valley before me. There seemed to be hills to the north and west of the valley. The road i was on ended about ten metres to the west of me on another street. Just to the southwest of the intersection was the backyard of a house. I could see the large round pool in the back yard with people in it. It seemed dark now, and i thought that it was very early morning. The people in the pool had been at the party since last night. I felt that i had been part of the crowd that had stayed up all night, but i did not feel as though i was in the party. I looked to the north, over the short metallic chain-link fence, which surrounded the large grassy yard. There seemed to be a tan school building in the center of the lawn, at the crest of the hill. I suddenly turned back to the west. It was light now, and the sky seemed hazy blue, as though the sun were just about to come up. I could see that the people that had been partying in the pool were no longer there. The pool lights were now out and the pool was empty. I thought that the high-school students must have gone back into the house. I wanted to know what was happening at the party, which i felt was just ending. I turned to the south, down the cement walkway at the front of the last house on the street. It was a large white house. This is where the party for the high school students was. I knew that most of the people would be ending the party, but i wanted to watch television. The front hall of the house was rather small, with a staircase running up the eastern side and a corridor running into the house on the western side. I walked down the corridor, thinking that the young people would be hanging out by the television in the basement room, which was to the west. I was aware that there was someone in the small bathroom off the east side of the corridor. I felt that it was a man in the bathroom, and it sounded as though he was cleaning himself in the sink. I thought that he was getting ready to head to work. I turned to the west, into the room, and then walked north. The room was empty, with only a few pieces of furniture against the northern wall. The orange carpeting seemed to be shag. I suddenly felt out of place. I realized that i did not know any of these people, and i was no longer young enough to hang out with the party people. I quickly turned around and headed back down the entry hall of the house. I realized that the person in the bathroom would probably be quite surprised to find that i was in his house. I quickly walked out of the house, noticing now that the front lawn of the house rose steeply to the north. There was a strange set of cement steps in the center of the hill, and i started to climb them, but stopped when i noticed that water had collected on them. I then realized that the steps were tipped back into the hill, allowing the water to collect between the steps. I put my right foot on the edge of the lower step, trying to tip the steps so that the water would run off. There was some type of wooden structure around the steps now, and there seemed to be a hole in the messy green grass of the lawn, under the steps. I felt that this place required a lot of maintenance, and i felt that i would have to do a lot of work to keep it up. I looked at the cement step as the water drained from it, realizing that the weight of the water had cracked the step. I walked around the eastern side of the hole and up the slope, wondering if the man from the house could see me standing outside on the grass. I thought that it would not be as bad as if he had seen me in the house.

I walked into the house, which now seemed to be a restaurant. I was thinking about the young man who was at the party, which had lasted all night. I had walked into this house looking for the people who were at the party. I remembered the pool that was behind the house to the west. I turned to the west, into the large open room. There were tables and chairs around the room, and the young man stood to the east of me, near the center of the restaurant. I had met him somewhere before, and he seemed interested in talking to me. I looked back to the northern wall of the room to the west. There was a television on in the center of the wall, and it seemed to have something to do with wrestling. I mentioned that i liked the sport, and the young man seemed interested. He questioned me about the sport, and suggested a match with me. I wondered where we would have a match. I felt interested in competing with the young man, but i felt slightly awkward with the situation. I turned to speak with him, aware that $Z was sitting at one of the tables to the north of us. I asked the man about wrestling.

I looked to the south, were i could see the three people floating in space. They were wearing white space suits, and they had been stranded when their spacecraft had broken. They were floating to the west, across my field of vision. I felt that they had no place to go, but i knew that there was a passing space ship moving to the west, just below me. The three people had given up, but one of them, a man with blond hair, stood on his jet board and started surfing toward the ship. I realized that it was a crazy idea, but i knew that he was trying to save himself. It seemed like a good idea, because he was at least trying. If they did nothing, they would simply die in space.

12006 September 30

I moved to the east, down the narrow street of the special city. The area was very wide open, and the street seemed to be a canal. I turned to the east to look down the street, which was covered with water. I had been walking along the northern side of the water channel, wading in the water. I was aware that my grandmother was to the east of me, and i felt that she would be worried that i was walking in the stream. I wondered why she was following me, because i knew that she would get wet. I turned around and walked back into the middle of the canal, noticing that the water near us was very deep. I waded through it to my grandmother, finding that i was now up to my waist in water. The channel was narrower here, with high cement walls on both sides, and the water was now very deep. I was treading water as i swimmed near the northern wall of the canal. There was a cement barrier that crossed the canal, forming a dam. The water was not spilling over the wall at the moment, and there seemed to be a small truck parked along the southern wall of the canal. The truck was in the canal, but was not sinking in the water. It seemed to be sitting on top of the cement barrier that crossed the water. I pulled myself up onto the barrier, feeling the strain of the effort. I felt tired, but i turned around to pull my grandmother from the water. I was worried about her because i knew that she could not swim well. I grabbed her and pulled her up onto the barrier. We would have to walk over the truck to get back onto the street, which seemed to run along the southern side of the canal. There seemed to be small suburban houses along the southern side of the street. I then noticed the tall silver lamp post on the northern side of the canal. I pointed it out to my grandmother. I said that it was like the other lamp posts that we had seen on the street plaza. I remembered that we had been to the east of here, on a street that ran north to south. The street was blocked to automobile traffic and covered with orangish-tan bricks. This was a plaza with shops on both sides. In the center of the street was a line of decorative lamp posts. They were tall and round and looked as though they were made of grazed stainless steel. They were decorated with pieces of brass and metal, which formed decorative shapes. We walked to the north along the street, past one of the lamp posts. The base of the lamp formed a large metal ship. The ship stretched down the center of the street, enclosing two lamp posts, which rose out of the ship as though they were masts, leaning in opposite directions of each other. I remembered that some of the lamps further up the street were also decorated with various sculptures at their bases. We had walked up to the end of the plaza before turning to the east, down the cobblestone street. This street had run into the canal, where i was helping my grandmother out of the water. I felt worried that she would drown because she did not know how to swim.