ZUDEMA

12016 December 01

I moved around in the small room in the center of my apartment. I had been home for most of the day, and i though that i should start to get ready for work. I had taken the morning off, and i would have to go in to make up my time. A square table was in the center of the room. I picked up the bowl of cooked cornmeal that i had put down there as i walked along the western side of the table, heading south. I scooped a few spoonfuls of the porridge into my mouth and put the bowl back on the table. I had to get to work. I then wondered how i would work an entire day of work. I had already spent half the day at home. Something suddenly did not make sense. I would have to work a full day, but the day was already half over. I tried to understand this. I was then driving on the road, heading to the north. The road curved to the northwest ahead, but i thought that i really should be heading to the east. I suddenly noticed the narrow side road that turned to the northeast. It seemed to descend the steep hill at the edge of the roadway, which was in a rural setting. Trees filled the land to the northeast and north of the road. I slowed my car to a stop along the side of the road, intending to back up and turn down the dirt road. A car was coming from behind me, though, so i would have to let it pass. I watched the lights of the car in my rear-view mirror. The car slowed and stopped behind me. I felt annoyed, but i also felt nervous that the car was following me. I put my car in reverse, hoping that the other car would see my back-up lights and move out of the way. It did not. I looked behind me. The man had gotten out of his car and was now standing near mine. He had taken the shovels out of the trunk of my car. I was upset with him, but i did not feel that i could confront him. The man was Alan Rickman, and he stated doing something with the shovels. I decided that i should get my car off of the road, so i started turning it down the dirt road. Alan, who had already started digging a hole in the shoulder of the road, looked up suddenly as i started to move. He must have thought that i was taking off and leaving him there. I turned the car slowly down the dirt road to the east. I stopped a little way down the road. The passenger door of my car opened. A young boy was standing in the doorway, looking at me. He seemed upset with me because i had started driving away.

12016 December 02

I jumped to the north, onto the roof of the building. I had been on the outside of the house, which was now to the south of me. I could hear the sound of the people to the east of me, and i was both interested and wary of them. They seemed like they were part of the fraternity to the south and southeast of me. They had been at a party, and they seemed rowdy. I did not want them to see me. A man walked onto the sidewalk to the east of me, his arm around a woman. Both of them were dressed in black. I pushed myself back to the south so that they would not be able to see me over the peak of the roof. I had to get back down from the room, but i now felt unsafe. The metal roof had been covered with snow, and it seemed very slippery. I held on to the peak of the roof as i lowered myself down the side of the roof. I could feel my feet dangling off the end of the metal roof. A lower roof with tar shingles was just below me. I swinged my feet back and forth over the roof, trying to clear the snow so that i would have a place to stand. My arms were fully extended, so i could slide no further down the roof without letting go. I decided that i must have cleared enough snow from the roof, so i let go and raised myself onto my knees. I was pretty stable on the roof. As i turned around, however, i could see the young people from the party standing between the building that i was on and the house to the south. They were all watching me. I felt uneasy, thinking that they might try to start a confrontation. I was on the ground now, and i headed toward the house, which seemed like $P19. I did not say anything to the people. I just tried to head to the door. $A116 came out of the doorway and said hello to us. He seemed uneasy with the young people as well. One of the men in a black light long-sleeve T-shirt moved toward the door where $A116 was. $A116 suddenly shoved the man to the south. $A116 was wearing a black sweatshirt, and he suddenly seemed very angry and stern. He scolded the man and shoved him again, throwing him into the wall of the building to the north. The other young people from the party started leaving to the west. I was glad that $A116 had done something about the people so that i did not have to engage them.

I had sneaked into the kitchen at $P19. I came from the west. $A116 was talking to another man in the center of the room. They were to the north of me, and they both looked at me as i tried to squeeze through the metal shelfs, which were on the table on the western side of the kitchen. I stood up as the two men headed to the north, toward the door in the center of the northern wall. The people from the party had gathered outside, and i remembered that $A116 had forcibly driven them away before. $A116 hit the door hard, and it swinged open. He seemed angry again with the people outside. He yelled to the northwest as he stepped out of the door. He then moved as though he was going to do something. I thought that he was going to do a cartwheel, but he flipped over and landed hard against the wall to the north. I heard the loud thud as he hit. He then lay on his back with his feet in the air. He slammed his buttocks into the wall a few more times forcibly. It was his way of posturing to the men outside. I was amused by his aggression.

12016 December 03

The people were talking about the many rooms of the house. The house was special. It was small on the outside, but contained many rooms that took up more space in total that the actual house. It was magical or scientifically advanced. The people moved through the house, looking at the wooden rooms. I stood on the southern side of one of the rooms, which seemed like a library. The room was very small. It seemed to be only five or six meters in both dimensions. The wooden shelfs on all walls were painted white, and they were filled with old books. The people who were visiting the house were to the north of me, and the owners were showing them around. There were so many rooms in the house that the owners rarely visited any one of them often. A cushioned reading chair was in the northeastern corner of the room. Its fabric seemed to be faded green felt. The visitors were told of the room, but i thought that the owners had not been to this room in a very long time. I imagined a plate of food that had been left on one of the small wooden end tables of the room. The owners had left it there years ago and had forgotten about it. They had come to a different room every day, but they had forgotten about this one. This place felt special, and it felt good to be here. The others walked around, and i thought about something that had happened in these rooms before. There were so many rooms, and it seemed like a wonderful idea to wander through them all. I then remembered that something bad had happened at one point. I remembered a disaster where the rooms had somehow been sabotaged. They uncompressed suddenly, expanding outward from the small enclosure that they were in. I pictured the dust bursting from the side of a stone building. This seemed like a good story, and i thought that i should write it down. I ran through the ideas in my head, trying to figure out the plot. I would like to write the book using this idea. The problem of the book would start when the rooms expanded suddenly. It would be the first thing that happens in the story, and it would trigger the remaining questions of how it happened. I thought about the man as the main character as i headed to the east-northeast, down the long corridor. The walls of the corridor were white and modern, and this place seemed like an airport. The ceiling was two floors up, and i could see a second level that was open to the corridor on the southern side of the hallway. I thought about the main character. I then saw the building explode in the distance to the northeast. It seemed to be north of the corridor, but i could see it though the large windows. The people in the corridor around me were stunned by the site. Some of them would have to know people in the building. A young boy then said “mommy” in distress. He seemed to be to the southeast of me. I thought that the main character would have to have some relation to a person in the building. I thought that the young boy’s father could be the brother of the boy. I did not want the man to be directly related to the boy. The person killed would have to be the boy’s mother, though. It would be more dramatic than if the boy’s father died. I thought that maybe the main character could be the brother of the boy’s mother. I decided that it might be better if the woman who died was the main character’s sister-in-law. I thought about how this would work. The main character and his brother would be part of the story. This sounded like a good story, and i was excited to develop it.

12016 December 04

I had to leave the camp. I was on the western end of the building, gathering my things. It seemed to be late at night, and i had to get some things together. I felt very tired and groggy. I then woke up in a dormer. I did not feel like moving, but i knew that i should go somewhere else. I moved to the west. The others around me would not know that i might sleep somewhere else. I thought that i should sleep some more here, but i felt that i should move. I felt that i had to do something important. $F4 seemed to be with me in the room. I moved to the east. I was then on the eastern end of the corridor, which seemed to be one of the ends of the hallways of $P7. I was on a flight of stairs that ascended to the east from the end of the corridor. I looked back down the corridor, still feeling bleary. I looked down the corridor to the west, noticing a hazy fog floating in the air. A group of young children came out of a room on the southern side of the hall. It seemed to be two or three rooms down. They followed each other in a curving line, crouching strangely as they walked. They seemed to be sneaking, but i noticed that they were carrying fire extinguishers. I wondered if this was some kind of fire drill. There did not actually seem to be a real fire in the building. A few of them glanced up at me as they reached the eastern end of the corridor. They seemed to be going into the room on the northern side of the eastern end of the hall. The brown wooden door was now closed, but they moved for it. I asked them if i could help them.

12016 December 07

I had been doing something to the southwest of the area, and i was now heading back into the area. The other person was there, near the large tree. I had left my bicycle under the eastern side of the tree. When i got to the large tree, i noticed something on the ground to the southeast of me. The wide smooth trunk of the tree was to the west of me, and the other person was standing to the south of it, to the southwest of me. I looked on the ground to the south of me to see a thick metal pole with short arm running across it at regular intervals. The pole was bluish gray. The near end was just to the south of me, and the pole extended to the southeast. I felt shocked. I told the other person that this was an antenna. I thought that it must have fallen from the tower, which seemed to be to the west of me. I felt worried about this, thinking that the heavy metal pole could have fallen on us. Something about the pole seemed menacing.

I was in the kitchen of the house, doing something. The other person was with me. He seemed like someone i knew. We had returned to this small house after doing something. I turned to the southeast, looking across the lawn. This house seemed small and boxy, just like the other small houses of the suburban neighborhood. The sky seemed blue with thin clouds, and the land around us seemed flat. I quickly noticed someone lying on the ground in front of a house to the east of us. I asked my father if he had seen the body before. It had not been there the night before, so something must have happened recently. I walked across the lawn toward the body. The body was dark gray. I could not distinguish the clothing from the flesh. It was lying on its stomach, with its head facing south. The man was dead, and i felt upset about this. As i walked to the southern side of the man, i noticed that his skull had a small charred hole in the top, in the right upper temple. His hair had peeled away, and it looked as though some liquid had exploded out. I then noticed the tall thin antenna that was standing to the north of the house that the man was in front of. I told my father that the man had been struck by lightning. I imagined a thin bolt running into his skull at the point where the hole was. The energy would have boiled his brain and burst it through the skull. His black features must have been from charring. I thought that he might have been on the antenna when he was hit. Something about the antenna seemed threatening. I said something to my father, thinking that we should figure out who the man was. We had to call the police so that they could investigate the body. I thought that we should find out who the man was. I turned to the southeast. A white van or trailer was sitting just to the southwest of me. It was boxy, and an opening was in the northeastern side. I moved toward it, but realized that i could hear a motor running. I did not think that this would belong to the man who had been working on the antenna. My father then said that the truck was not running, but equipment inside was. I realized that the trailer was probably equipment for the workman. I looked into the opening, seeing several yellow cables near the top and a small compressor engine in the center. Other tools seemed to be in the vehicle. I then turned to the north and moved toward the body. I thought that i would have to pull the man’s wallet out of his pocket to find out who he was. Instead, i pulled a purse from the vehicle. I was near the man and thought that i should grab his wallet too, but i wanted to look through the purse first. It seemed strange that a man would have a purse, and i wondered if he had a wife who was with him. I opened a small pocket on the southern side of the purse, thinking that it would be the best place to find a wallet. The pocket unzipped, and i looked at the contents of the wallet. The front part of the pocket had American money folded in the slot. The bills were folded in half lengthwise and inserted into the pocket so that the fold was down. I looked through the money but could not see anything that looked like a license. I pulled a flap toward me, looking into the next pocket. I found several cards, but none of them looked like identification cards or a driver’s license. I then opened another pocket, noticing several currency notes that had bright red printing on them. I pictured the man as East Asian, and i thought that the bills would be from China. I thought that they would be nice to keep for a collection, but i knew that i could not take things from the man’s wallet, even if he was dead. I tried to find some other form of identification, but i did not see it right away. I then thought that i should have looked in the man’s pockets for a leather wallet. I moved back to the southeast, looking for the body. It had been moved from the lawn. I was surprised at this. My father must have moved the body. I was annoyed with him, thinking that he should not have done that. I looked to the northeast as my father came into the room. He was not my father, however. He was a tall young man with a chunky build. He had a round face. I asked him if he had moved the body, and he said that he had. I noticed the green or purple T-shirt that he was wearing. I also noticed that his left arm had been removed just below the elbow. I could see the stitches where the flesh had been sewn over the end of the bone. It looked rounded and bulbous. I scolded the man for moving the body, saying that the police needed it to remain where it was so that they had solid evidence to investigate. The man seemed surprised at my scolding. He seemed like $A678.

12016 December 08

I sat down on the chair in the middle of the small room. The chair was facing west, and it seemed to be a simple wooden chair. A man was standing to the north of me. He faced to the west as we walked along the northern side of me. He watched me over his left shoulder without turning his body. Something about the man seemed curious, and i tried to guess what he was doing. He wore a pair of tight shorts and a tight white T-shirt. He seemed to have dark skin and short curly black hair. I thought that he was trying to seduce me, and it seemed strange in some way. I thought that he had an attractive body, but i did not know why he would be trying to get erotic with me. He then stepped sideways, moving closer to me. He stepped in front of me as if he was going to sit in my lap. Instead, he sat on my chest. This seemed strange, and i wondered how he could put his weight on my chest when i was sitting in a chair. I thought about this for a moment, but then decided to let the man flirt with me. I put my left hand on his thigh, noticing that he was nicely muscled. I felt attracted to him, but i was not sure what i should do. I did not want to have sex with him.

I came from the southeast and stopped on the lawn in front of the small run-down house. The simple wooden structure had horizontal siding that no longer seemed to have any paint. The grass was short and very green. A low row of something bushy ran along the southern side of the lawn, only rising a deci or so about the surrounding grass. I thought that i had come here to visit $A679. The yard ended several meters to the west in trees and undergrowth. An old woman was standing on the western end of the lawn. She seemed to have come out of the trees, and she stood still, cautiously looking at me. She looked like Granny from Beverly Hillbillies, wearing an old-fashioned long dress with an apron. I turned back to the east. A tall thin young woman was standing next to me. She wore very short denim shorts and a T-shirt that was tied up in front. Her short light-brown hair flared out to the side. She had an angular face, and she smiled at me coyly. She seemed to be flirting with me. I felt awkward. I had not come here looking for someone to date. I started walking to the east, wondering how i could ask the woman if $A679 was here. I knew that she would be disappointed by the question, but i asked anyway.

12016 December 09

I sat on the western side of the room, on a low bench, which seemed to be very close to the floor. I had come to this restaurant with a few others. They were sitting along the southern wall, just to the southwest of me. We seemed to be in a small section of the restaurant in the southwestern part of the room. A dividing wall ran to the north of me. It seemed to be formed by a square column just to the north of me and a few wooden boards crossing an open area to the west of the column. The walls and ceiling were painted black. Bright lights shined on the eastern side of the room, where people seemed to be performing in a show. I said something to the people with me and then turned my attention back to the eastern side of the room. People were sitting around round tables in the room, watching the people moving near the eastern wall. The people seemed to be fighting each other with swords or staffs. I knew that they were all acting, but the fight seemed very realistic. A man moved from the east and stopped in front of me. A spotlight was on him as he fought off another actor. He wore a blue vest. He turned to look at me suddenly. I was leaning back on the bench now, my elbows on my knees. I watched him for a moment, aware that my hands were resting on my knees in such a way that they blocked the lower part of my face from the man. I stayed like this, staring back into the man’s gaze. He smiled, and i thought that he seemed interested in me. I was interested in him because he was an actor. He also seemed to be attractive. He had short bushy black hair. He turned back to the north suddenly, posing with the wooden staff in his right hand. I noticed the flexing triceps muscle on his left arm. It was not well detailed, but i still thought that it was nice. I wondered if the man knew that i was an actor as well. The show then changed, and the man was done. He had moved away, but he was back. He came to talk to me, and i felt good about this. Another act was taking place to the east now. I stood up and started walking down the hall to the east. Famous people were part of this show, and i wondered if i knew any of them. I then turned around, aware that one of the famous performers was coming down the hall behind me. A man was leading Paul McCartney down he hall. Paul noticed me and said hello. He must have thought that i was part of one of the shows. I wondered if i should tell him that i liked his music or just let him pass by because i felt that he might not want to be bothered.

12016 December 12

The others headed to the southeast to go on a hike, but i walked to the east, across the room of the large house. This place seemed like $P19, but the building was older and much more formal. A large multipane window was in the southern wall, and i looked out at the steep hill just to the south of the house. The mountain ascended steeply up from where i was. The distance was hazy blue, and the ground was covered with heavy snow. The slope seemed like a ski slope, with wide areas of snow and patches of trees here and there. It looked very cold outside, and i could not see the others on the slope. I knew that they had hiked to the southeast, ascending diagonally across the face of the cliff-like hill. I then focused my attention to the hazy distance to the south of me. I thought that an avalanche could happen on this mountain. I remembered something about this from before. I looked at the haze, but could not see the snow moving. I wondered if the hikers would be the ones to start the snow sliding. I hoped that they were okay. I kept staring at the section of the mountain that was just to the west of due south and almost over my head. I then saw the chunk of snow tumbling down the slope. I thought that it would not be safe in this house, so i backed away from the window. I shouted a warning to the others. Two men were sitting on a bench against the southern wall of the room. They both seemed to be wearing black dinner jackets over white shirts. The man on the east had a round head with short gray hair on the sides. The large chunk of snow impacted the window, cracking the glass. The glass did not shatter, but the center section of the window deformed, bending inward. The two men looked to the east at the window. I told them that we had to leave the room, and i ran to the west, to the door in the southern end of the western wall. Just before i reached the door, i turned to look at the glass. The two men were still sitting on the bench, but the glass was bending just to the east of them. The man on the eastern side seemed to be stuck in the deforming glass. The window then suddenly shifted, bending farther into the room. The men were turned along the curve of the glass, as if the wall was bending with them. They shouted in pain. One of the men seemed to be enveloped in the wall, and the other was now facing west. The wall had curved his bench to face west. They were trapped by the glass now. I had to get out of the room. I tried to open the door, but i could not get the handle to turn. I felt scared. I thought that water would burst through the glass and flood the room. I slammed into the door with my right shoulder to try to open it.

I was in the large old victorian house, which had plaster walls and dark wood molding. Round wooden features hung down from the edges of the ceiling at several places. This place seemed like $P19. Several men were with me in the large room. I headed to the north, along the eastern side of the room. The others were to the southwest. The room was dark, and the floor seemed to be covered with grass. A large opening let in light from the west, and a door was in the center of the southern wall. Cement paths led to the door from other spots in the room. I sat down on the low scooter and rolled toward the door. I realized that the ground was sloped in such a way that things would always roll toward the door. I was excited to discover this, and i told the others about it. They had been walking toward the front door of the building. The front door was open, and a glass screen door was closed over the entrance. Outside, i could see bright green lawn. Someone had been outside, and the brothers were walking to the door to look. I told someone about the sloping paths excitedly. The ground had been sloped intentionally so that some things could always be rolled to the door. Others then moved to the west, walking out of the building through the archways in the western wall. I could see a crude long low shed outside. I followed the others out of the building. This place seemed nice.

12016 December 13

The bathroom to the small apartment was in the northern wall. I crossed the room and entered the small bathroom. I urinated in the toilet, which seemed to be on the western wall in the northwestern corner. When i was finished, i backed into the center of the room and washed my hands in the white porcelain sink that was on the northern wall. The sink was hung from the wall and had a round basin in it. I then moved to the western wall do dry my hands. A closet with a slotted wooden door was on the western wall, and now seemed to be farther into the room that the toilet to the northwest. I turned back to the north. Something now seemed strange with the bathroom. I noticed a small rectangular wicker basket hanging from the wooden cabinet on the northern wall, which was directly to the north of me. The cabinet also had a cheap slatted wooden door over it. I moved to the basket, looking into it. A pair of glasses was in the basket. I realized that someone else was in the bathroom, using the bathtub. I looked to the northeast, noticing that someone was reclined in the tub. I could not quite see who it was, but i knew that it was $A680. A white cotton blind stood along the southern side of the tub, blocking my view of the person’s torso. I could only see the legs of the person between the blind and the edge of the cabinet. I started backing to the south, to leave the bathroom. I then realized that he must have been in the bathtub while i was urinating. I wondered why he had not said something to me. I started to worry that something might be wrong. I wanted to make sure that he was not unconscious in the tub, but i did not want him to think that i was watching him. I hesitantly moved forward until i could see his face. He was reclined in the tub with his torso above the water. His eyes were closed, and he held his hands in front of his chest, his fingers interlocked in such a way that they formed a semicircular fan in front of him. I realized that he must have been meditating. I backed out of the bathroom and entered the main room of the house. This house seemed to be on Paden Street. It seemed to be only a few houses down from my grandmother’s house. I felt very happy here. I danced across the floor, kicking my feet out behind me. I then realized how silly it must look, but i did not care. I felt very happy. I had to make dinner. I wondered what i should cook. I turned to the south, noticing the bright sun that filtered in through the windows. Something about this place seemed very nostalgic and warm. I then thought that i could visit my grandmother. It was a Sunday night. I knew that she would offer me food, but i was hesitant to take advantage of that. I thought that it would be good to see her, but i did not always wanting her doing things for me.

I sat on the southern side of the neighborhood street with the other people. We had been chatting about something. The sun was bright, and it shined on the small houses. The houses in the neighborhood seemed very close to the road, and several to the north of us looked like small apartment buildings. A street seemed to run to the north from an intersection just to the northwest of us. Something happened to the north, and everyone was suddenly looking to the north. It seemed strange. The group of people around me seemed to be neighborhood adults and children. We had been doing something on the short sidewalk to the north of one of the houses. A man in a red sweater was to the south of me, and a young girl with dark skin and looped ponytails stood to the east of me. She was very thin, and she wore a purple tank top. Something passed overhead, carrying something underneath it as it flew to the north. Everyone stood to watch it pass. Something was happening. The sound then attracted everyone, and we all turned to look up in the sky to the southeast. Another helicopter was heading toward us. This helicopter actually looked like a tank. It was boxy, with a green metal body. A man in a military helmet stuck his head out the top of the tank as it tipped down toward us. The helicopter blades did not seem to be tipped as far as the tank. The tank with helicopter blades pivoted back to a level position and descended quickly to the east of us, landing on the southern side of the street. The military troops had come in. They were invading this section of the neighborhood, and i quickly realized that we had been surrounded. I felt frightened, and i warned the others that the troops were coming to kill us. I told everyone to run. I ran into the house. I entered into a small brightly lighted entry way, which had a white tile floor. A set of stairs ascended to the north of me along the western wall of the entryway, going up to the second floor of the house. Another set of stairs descended to the southeast of me, heading to the kitchen. I ran down the stairs, thinking that there should be a place for us to hide. I did not feel safe here. I knew that the troops would find us. They knew that we had been here, and they would come into the house looking for us. I wondered what i should do. Someone shouted from the north, and i worried that the troops were coming. A few children came into the room with me. I felt panicked and not sure what i should do. We were now in a darkened room. It seemed like a kitchen. I hoped that we could stay here unnoticed. I told the others to remain quite. I then heard the sound of a falling pot. One of the children had knocked a pot over. One of the militia men yelled to the northeast. I looked to see a light shining down into the room. They had found us.

I drove my car to the north, across the long cement bridge that crossed the river. I was in the eastern lane, and i thought about the city that i was heading to. The highways were complex, and i remembered something about the exits. I turned to the east, following a ramp that ran out over the wide river. I could see the water of the river ahead of me. A green metal bridge seemed to be to the north of me, running along the northern shore of the water. I then realized that i could see the water to the east-southeast. I could not see the bridge there. I suddenly worried that the ramp i was on ended suddenly. This did not make sense. I had not passed any signs saying that the bridge was closed. I could still see the water ahead of me, and i could not see the roadway. Something seemed wrong. I felt uncertain. I stared to the east, but i could not see the cement deck of the roadway ahead of me. I thought that the ramp must end soon. I then realized that i could also not see the ramp under me. I seemed to be driving out across open air. Something was very strange, and i felt scared. I was not sure what i should do. I turned the car to the north, thinking that i should head back to the bridge that i had been driving on. I could not think of what to do. I was then stopped. To the north of me, a square column of crossing girders was in front of me. It seemed to support the cement deck of a bridge, which was above me. My car had stopped on a metal ledge just off the column. I wondered if i could climb up the girder or down to the ground. I did not feel safe here. I thought that my car was actually stuck on the girder with no way off. I hoped that it did not fall backward into the water. I moved, thinking that i should try to climb down, but i felt uneasy. My car was then on the dirt ground to the southwest of the green metal pillar that formed the base of the bridge. Short grass grew over the flood plane to the north of me. I wondered how i had gotten my car here, and i wondered if i could drive it back to the west across the dirt without getting it stuck. My father was then to the west of me in the other car. He looked over his right shoulder at me before turning and driving to the west. I started my car and drove to the west. The dirt became a narrow road that ended on another road. I remembered coming to this place. Things here seemed familiar, but i was not sure where i should go. The land around sloped slightly up to the northeast. Dark-green forest filled the areas to the north of us, and some houses were hidden among the trees on the side of the road. I turned to the north as my father waited in the intersection. The road curved to the northeast and ended shortly in a cul-de-sac. A large light-gray house with white trim was on the northeastern side of the round cul-de-sac. I drove my car around the opening and headed back down the road. The light-gray house seemed very familiar. It had a tall peaked roof in the center, and the large window in the front wall reached up toward the peak. I felt that someone might be watching us from the house, and i did not want the person to know that we had come here. I hurried to the south, down the road. A building was on the southern end of the road. I followed my father as we walked across the back yard of the wide gray building, toward a door to the southwest of us. The siding of the building seemed to be made of thin vertical slats. My father opened the door and we entered. I thought that we would have to walk through to the southern side of the building to get out. We came into a cement corridor that ran east to west. I headed to the southeast, where another corridor ran to the south. As i came into the other corridor, however, i realized that it was simply a long room. Cats were sitting in several spots around the room: some on small wooden boxes and some reclined on the floor. This was the room where they were kept. I walked to the southern end of the room, thinking that i could go out the door to the south and leave the building. I opened the metal door only to see that it led to another cement room. This was the building where the cows were kept. I turned back to the north. A woman had come into the room. She seemed like Glenn Close, with her white hair in a bun. She spoke to my father, her hands held together in front of her abdomen. She talked about the cow place and how we should not be here. I told her that we were trying to get out. She led us down the corridor to the west. I thought about the cats, thinking that they were kept here to keep the mice out of the feed for the cattle. My father opened a door in the southern wall of the cement corridor. Two children, a boy and an older girl, stopped and stared at us. They had been startled by the opening door. They were tourists to this place, and they were following their parents to the visitors’ center. We walked into the public area of the building and headed south, exiting the building. We were then standing to the south of the building. The street ran in front of the building, but somehow seemed to run to the south as i looked east. The building was now to the east of us, and it looked like a tall stone or brick apartment building. The woman stood at the foot of the stairs wearing a gray jacket. Her hands were still clasped in front of her, her forearms parallel with the ground. My father stood to the west of her, saying something. I looked beyond him to the south, noticing the rocky hills. The landscape here was very different that where we had just been. The hills looked like large boulders, and they had a mottled appearance. Something was wrong. This was not near where we had just been. This place seemed to be in the southwestern United States. I got my father’s attention and pointed out the hills to him. Something seemed very wrong. My mother was then talking to the woman. I told her to look to the south, but she had not heard. A large cement parking garage seemed to be on the western side of the street to the southwest of us. I called to my mother, trying to interrupt her conversation. Something was wrong, and she was not noticing. I walked past her, telling her that the mountains were not right. I looked at the dark-red rock. It was spotted with black and white patches in rounded patterns. The landscape looked quite foreign and very beautiful, but it made me nervous because we seemed to be quite a distance from where he had been when we left the bridge. I said to my mother that the muddy ground near the river had been on the East Coast. Something had happened, and it did not feel right.

12016 December 14

I drove to the west on the country road. Verdant green trees covered the land around me, with a few open spaces where houses stood on wide lawns. I had to turn down the narrow dirt road. I saw the gray house on the northern side of the road. I knew that the dirt road was just past the house. I thought that it cut across the property of the house. The gray farmhouse was very plain, and it sat more to the south of the lawn, closer to the road. I followed a road to the northwest, around the back side of the house. It seemed that the house was on a triangular piece of land. I noticed the dirt road running to the west of the house. I seemed to be to the north of the house when i saw the triangular patch of grass to the north west of the house. I could see tire tracks across the grass where someone had cut across the outer corner of the lawn to turn onto the other road. I thought that i could cut across the grass as well to get to the dirt road, which now seemed to be to the northwest of the house. As i rounded the house, i felt nervous about driving across the lawn. I did not want the people in the house to be upset with me. I circled around the southern side of the house, thinking that i could head down the eastern side of the house and pick up the road where it crossed the back lawn to the north of the house. I came to the eastern side, but simply turned to the northwest again and started around the house on the road. As i reached the western side of the house, the triangular corner of the land now seemed to be pointing west. I had missed the turn to cut across the side yard and get onto the road. I decided that i would just turn into the road from the main road. I turned back to the east and then turned onto the dirt lane. The road was nothing more than two worn tire tracks in the lawn. I followed them to the northeast, around the side of the house and into a narrow field. The land to the north sloped down slightly. As the road turned back to the east along the northern side of the field, i noticed that the land sloped more steeply down to the north. Something seemed to be to the north of me, paralleling the dirt trail. I thought that it was a paved road. I followed the dirt road as it ran along the northern side of the trees. Branches overhung the road. The ground seemed muddy here, and i hoped that i did not get stuck in the mud. The tire tracks seemed deeper where other cars had worn out the mud. I then passed through an opening in the trees, noticing an old shed ahead. A gravel driveway formed a square patch to the west of the shed, and a garage stood to the south of the patch. The gravel drive seemed to slope down to the road to the north. Both the shed and the garage were worn and decaying. The paint had worn off and the dull wood was exposed. At first, i thought that the dirt trail ended at the shed, but, as i approached the northwestern corner of the shed, i noticed that the trail ran to the north of the shed. It was faded and covered with grass, but it was still there. I continued to follow it, wondering how far i had to travel to get where i wanted to go.

12016 December 17

I spoke with the man about something. I had run into him and felt very interested in him. It seemed that we had met somewhere before. He stood to the east of me in the driveway to the large building, which was to the west of us. The building was modern in style and very plain, with a white flat exterior that had horizontal details under the windows. The man was dressed in running clothes: light-gray shorts and a maroon T-shirt. A second man was then near. He seemed to know the first man. He stood to the south of the first man. He wore a pale tank-top. I noticed that he had shape to his arms, but they were not detailed, as though he were out of shape. I recognized the second man. I had talked to him somewhere before. He was chatting to the first man, who seemed somewhat East Asian. The first man had short black hair and a long face. The second man turned to the east as he spoke. I told him that i remembered meeting him somewhere before. I remembered that we had been running before. I mentioned the man’s name. Both his first and last name started with the same sound, and i thought that they both started with the letter C. He turned to face me, remembering me as well. I told him that we had talked about the time he had found the thing on the side of the road. I picture the gold-colored canister. It looked like a long tube, with a wider cylinder at one end. It reminded me of a telescope or of satellite equipment. The man smiled at me. He seemed suddenly pudgy as he smiled. His face was wide, and i thought that he was actually out of shape. He had light blond hair. Something about him seemed socially awkward, and i felt uneasy knowing him. The other man moved to the south of me. A woman was then to the north of me. She was ready to go running with the first man. The second man was going to join them. I said farewell to them, and i looked to the south at the man with the short dark hair. He looked at me uneasily, and i realized that he was skeptical of me now that he knew that i had met the other man. I was upset by this, thinking that i wanted to get to know the first man, but i worried that he no longer wanted to talk to me. He walked past me and started jogging to the north, down the western sidewalk of the street. I walked to the end of the driveway that we had been in and started pushing the rolling chair to the north, following them. I had to get to the area. I was carrying some bags, and i rolled the chair in front of me, putting my left knee on it from time to time. I could not go as fast as they were traveling, but it did not matter. I had to meet my mother at the shopping area, which seemed to be just down the street to the north. I rolled the chair down the sidewalk, which now seemed to be in a hallway. I knew that the shopping center was on a corner with another road to the north of where i was. It was on the western corner, and it seemed like the intersection of Wolf Road and Central Avenue. I knew that i was supposed to meet my mother somewhere at the shopping center. The hallway became very narrow, and it ended at a door. The others must have jogged through it, but i thought that they really went a different way. I stopped to pull the metal door open. Narrow corridors seemed to run east and west near the door, and i was aware of cars moving through the hall, which was like a tunnel. The door swinged to the east, and i pushed my things through. Just on the other side, a man was working on a ladder. I pushed past the small ladder, heading east into the room. The room was narrow, and i had to head to the south. I turned to the south, noticing the workman on a ladder. I still had something large in my left hand. It had been the chair, but it now seemed like a smaller ladder. I did not want to walk under the workman’s ladder, which was a very tall stepladder, but i could not see a way to walk around the eastern end of the ladder. The workman was doing something on the western wall of the room. I carried the smaller ladder around the end of the tall ladder anyway, hurrying past so that the workman did not know that i was there. I was then heading south, into the main room of the restaurant. This place seemed like a diner. I carried the ladder to the southwestern end of the room, looking around for a seat. The entry door of the building was in the center of the southern wall, and it protruded into the restaurant a little. The booths to the west of the door formed a ring, separating the area in the southwestern part of the restaurant from the main floor. Bench seats ran down the center of the area, forming two smaller eating areas. The floor and cushioned benches of the booths seemed to be bright blue. I could not find an open place to sit. I thought that i had to put the ladder down somewhere. I did not want the workman to see that i had taken one of his ladders. I thought that i should put it down somewhere so that i could wait for my parents to come to pick me up. An older couple was sitting at the small table that was just to the west of the door, and a group of young people was sitting on the eastern side of the first rounded booth area. I looked to the southwest to see a couple sitting on the southern side of the westernmost booth area. I then thought that i would not be able to bring the ladder into the booth area. I walked to the east of the door. Two or three small tables were against the southern wall of the restaurant, to the east of the door. I leaned my ladder against the legs of the chairs, but realized that people were sitting at the table nearest the door. The man at the table looked down at the ladder with an expression of annoyance. I could not leave the ladder here. I picked it back up. The eastern wall did not have any tables on it. I moved up the side of the wall. A young man, who had been sitting at a small table near the southern end of the wall, stood up. He turned to the wall and started urinating. I felt annoyed by this. I leaned the ladder up against the eastern wall to the north of the man. The wall had a slight corner on it just to the south of me, where it turned to the south-southeast. The man was urinating near the corner. I put the ladder down against the northern part of the wall and told the man “Don’t pee on the wall.” I then headed to the north. A round table of teenagers was just to the north of where i had placed the ladder. They, like the man who was urinating, all seemed to be college students who had been out drinking. I crossed the restaurant, heading northwest. The diner seemed to have a large room on the southern side and a longer narrower room to the north. The northern section connected with the southern section more to the east of the center of the southern section. I thought that i had to call my parents to see when they could pick me up. As i walked across the restaurant, looking for an empty table, i remembered that my cell phone was in the blue backpack that i was wearing. I could not reach it without taking the backpack off. This seemed to be why i had to put the ladder down. I reached a booth on the western wall of the northern area of the diner. I stopped at the back of a bench seat and took off my backpack to get my phone. I thought that my mother might have texted me while i was walking. I then thought that i remembered a message coming into the cell phone. I started to dig out the cell phone, when a group of people came into the area to the north of me. They came through a door in the western wall and started gathering at the tables in the center of the room. Two women from the group walked to me and excitedly started chatting with me. I replied to them. They spoke with British accents, which sounded as if they were from the west end of London. I realized that they had come in with the group of business travelers. I thought that they were all part of some corporation that was meeting at the restaurant. The two women must have thought that i was part of their group. I said hello to them, and they chatted happily with me. I then realized that i was speaking with a slight accent as well. I was not sure how to tell them that i was not actually part of their group. One of the women walked back to the northeast, to join the rest of their group. I smiled at the other one, trying to seem cheerful as she brightly talked to me. I glanced past her, noticing the yellow clothing one of the men in her party was wearing. It had a white logo on it, which seemed to be vertical. It reminded me of a rooster, but it was more like a head of wheat. I mentioned the company to the woman, saying that she worked for Kellogg’s. She was happy that i knew this. I told her that i was not actually part of her group. The scene seemed to change. The people gathering to the north actually seemed like people from $G4. I had been running with them. The group seemed large, and they were not the people whom i normally ran with. I said something to my mother, who was to the north of me. She had come with my father to pick me up at the restaurant. She talked about $G4. She had met the people that i had run with, and it seemed that she had gone on the run with us. The $G4 people here seemed to be from Albany. I had visited their group for a special event. I was now chatting with my mother about the people. It seemed strange to me that she would have joined the group. I asked her about the people, trying to see if she liked them. I did not think that she would get along with the people from $G4, but she seemed to like them. I was then aware that i was in a car. My parents had already picked me up and were driving me home. My father was driving. He was to the southwest of me as we headed west. My mother was in the seat behind me, to the east of me. She seemed to be wearing a blue jacket. Something seemed very strange about the conversation. I glanced out the window past her, noticing the scenery. The road had come from the north and had turned to the west. Low hills with scrub bushes rose on both sides of the road, and most of the businesses on the sides of the road seemed to be fast-food restaurants and small shops. I noticed the red logo on the square white tower of the building on the northwestern side of the corner in the road. The red stripes formed the KFC logo. The car then followed the road as it curved to the southwest and then back to the northwest. Something seemed out of place in what was happening. I responded to my mother, mentioning the Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant. I had to remember something about this, but the oddity of the details around me seemed confusing.

12016 December 18

I started walking to the east, back down the road from where we had parked the car. I seemed to have been traveling with my mother and father. We were somewhere in the western United States. The land around us was mostly covered with thick tall pine trees, but i could see a few buildings here and there on the sides of the road. I was to the west of an intersection. A large paved parking lot was to the west of me, and a building, which seemed to be a tourist center, was to the south, on the southwestern corner of the intersection. The green wooden building was one story and partially hidden by several large pine bows. I crossed the road and started to the east, thinking that we would have to head back to where we came from. The land seemed so vast around me, and i felt amazed to be here. I loved the feeling of the land. I walked along the southern side of the road. The road seemed very wide and newly paved. The trees were low enough to the northwest that i could see out over the land for quite a way. The land sloped down to the east. Off in the distance, i could see green plains. I felt a longing for the plains and did not want to return home. A patch of something white in the center of the plains stood out. I though that it would be a patch of white trees, but i could not quite tell what it was. The plains seemed so far away, but i knew that they were on our way back home. I then thought that i should not be able to see the great Northern Plains from here. I was somewhere in the northwestern United States, though i was still looking to the northwest at the center of the country. The plains actually seemed to be covered with low trees. Something about this seemed to be Oklahoma. I tried to think of where it was, and i kept thinking about Oklahoma, but then i remembered the writing. I looked at my right hand writing the name on a white tablet. It happened a little while ago when i was with my mother. I started to write the word “Arkansas”, but it seemed as though i had a U as the second letter. This did not make sense. It could not be where the plain was. I then stopped, realizing that i had walked a short distance down the hill along the southern side of the road. I was now at an intersection with a smaller road. A car was waiting to turn on the southern side of the intersection. I felt thirsty, and i thought that i would have to go back to the car for something. I felt annoyed by this, but i realized that i would not be able to hike all the way back to the East Coast. This thought disappointed me, and i suddenly wondered why i would think that i could hike from here. It would take too long. I turned back to the west, now walking on the northern shoulder of the road. I was carrying a white or pale-gray backpack. I would have to put the water in it. As i started walking back up the shallow hill to the west, i was aware of the car that had turned from the southern street. It was driving to the west behind me, but it was driving slowly. I thought that it was following me. I was impatient with the car, and i stopped and turned around to look at it. It speeded off to the west. I climbed the rest of the way p the hill to the intersection near where i had parked. The two intersections only seemed to be a few hundred meters apart. As i reached the top of the hill, something flashed in the western sky, low to the horizon. Light-gray billowing clouds seemed to be on the horizon, but i could not quite make them out. I wondered for a moment if the flash had been lightning. I then turned the car to the north and drove into the parking lot. I wanted to get out of view of the car that had been following me. I turned to the east again, steering the desk across the small space, which now seemed like a room. The wooden desk with the pale top turned easily to the east. I brought it to an abrupt stop on the eastern side of the room, grabbing both sides of the desk to stabilize myself. I had to head back to the east, but i would have to wait here for my mother. The eastern wall of the room was a large glass window. This place seemed like a library. I was aware than other people had come into the room. I had to message my mother. She would be at the car, waiting for me. She would have to pick me up here. I wrote her a message on the hand-held device that was on the desk. I picked up the device and turned to the west, wandering back across the room toward the entrance door. The wooden door was framed in an area of wood paneling. Two flat panels seemed to be on either side of the door, and the walls to the north and south of the doors also seemed to be nicely kept woodwork. I tried to type a message, but the device i was using was very strange. I realized that the buttons did not have any markings on them. The device was rounded and looked like a tannish-gray stone. The white display in the center was blank, and i had to press buttons in the row across the center of the stone to type the message. I knew that each button could render several different letters, like an old cell phone, and i suddenly wondered how i knew what i had typed before. I knew the message i just sent to my mother was successful, but i did not understand how i had written it. Two white buttons were on the sides of the rock-like object, just under my thumbs. I wondered how i had typed the message, and i felt frustrated that i could not easily type the one i had to send. I put the rock down on the ground in the western side of the room. A woman was to the east of me in a red sweater. Someone else was to the southwest of me. I described the machine to the others, saying that i could not tell what i was typing. I joked about the design of the machine. A woman then came into the room from the west. The others to the southeast of me seemed to be $G4. I started walking to the northwest, away from the room where the others were staying. It was a Sunday, and we were supposed to set a trail. I walked across the small grassy field, heading toward the tan bare forest to the northwest. I remembered that we had set a trail in the woods to the northwest yesterday. This place seemed to be to the northwest of my parents’ house, between the house and the road that ran along the western side of their property. I remembered setting the trail there yesterday, and now i was setting another trail with someone else. We had been asked to set this trail today by some of the other $G4. $F58 seemed to be one of the people to the southeast of me, and she seemed to be running today’s run. A shallow creek had eroded a narrow depression in the land to the west and northwest of me. The creek seemed to curve to the north just to the north of me. The other person had run to the north to set trail, but i thought that i would set to the northwest and head directly into the forest. Two cut tree trunks were on the edge of the creek just ahead of me. An old barbed-wire fence seemed to have ended just to the west of me. It ran south along the creek. I stepped down between the trees, thinking that this trail would be very nice today. I thought again about how i had just set on Saturday and was now setting again. I put something on the top of the tree trunk to the north of me. I then realized that the small piece of bark i was holding was not that noticeable. I stopped and looked at the trunk of the tree. The bark looked like a hemlock, and it ran to the top of the stump, which was about a meter and a half from the ground. The piece of bark that i had stuck between the bark and the wood at the top of the tree stuck up, but it did not seem that noticeable. I stepped back for a moment, wondering why the people wanted us to set in bark and other less obtrusive substances. I remembered that we had set with flour yesterday, and i wondered why we were using things that would be difficult to see on trail. I remembered yesterday’s trail with fond memories. Something seemed comforting about this area. I tried to adjust the small brown piece of bark on top of the tree, but could not quite get it looking correct.

12016 December 19

I moved around the room of the building, feeling upset or stressed. $F71 had left the animals at this place, and i thought that we had to collect them. I was with someone who was not $F71, and we had to get the animals. $X21 was running around in the room to the northwest of me. He ran toward me, stopping suddenly just to the northwest of me. He stared up at me and seemed angry. I thought that he was upset with me about something. I felt bad. I did not want them to be angry with me, but i did not think that i could help it. I felt distressed as i moved around the room. $X21 ran off to the west, and i felt relieved. I worried that he might try to attack me in his anger. I walked into the small room to the east, which seemed to run along the outside of the larger room i had come from. Lockers or cubbies were on the dark wall to the north of the doorway that i had just walked through, and a counter ran in front of the eastern wall. It seemed to run almost all the way to the northern wall. I walked to the north and put the large glass jar on the counter. The jar had flat sides and seemed to be octagonal. It had a pale-tan paste in it, which looked like crystalized honey. I left the jar on the counter and turned back to the south, feeling that i could not possibly take all of the animals with me. I felt that we had to, but i was not sure that i could. I then noticed the glass cases on the western wall to the south of the door. This was where the cats were kept. I walked to the cases, looking for $F71’s cat. The case looked like a vending machine. I crouched down to see into the cases. The white cat in the bottom case was cleaning itself, but it turned to look at me as i looked in at it. It was not the cat that $F71 had raised. I looked up one case, spotting the furry tortoise-shell tabby. It had not noticed me, but i could see its face, and it looked instantly familiar. A small white sign in the case said “Mnon”. $F71 had named the cat after a purring sound. I stood up, trying to pronounce the name and imagining how $F71 had said it. I wondered how i would get the cat with the rest of the animals. I started to feel upset. We would have to collect all of the animals, but i was not sure what i would do with them. $X21 came charging toward me again. He stopped very close to my chest, and i worried that he would be angry with me. I could not tell what his mood was. I did not want him to be angry with me.

12016 December 21

I noticed the chunk of birch tree that had fallen on my lawn. It was to the north of me, near the top of the short hill at the edge of the lawn. A large thick tree stood just to the west of it. The birch tree was on the eastern edge of the lawn, to the east of me. The thick branch must have broken off and rolled across the lawn to the northern edge. I went to pick it up. I thought that the wind might have blown it. I looked at the cluster of birch trees on the eastern side of the lawn. The rotting trunks had fallen over, and i was glad that pieces were breaking off in small chunks. The chunk that had fallen was about a meter long and a quarter of a meter thick. I then noticed other smaller pieces of wood. One was to the west of the large tree on the northern side of the eastern edge of the lawn, and a small one was just to the east of the birch trees. The small piece had no bark. It was round, with worn edges where it had been cut. It was only a third of a meter long and about as thick. The surface seemed weather worn, as thought it were cut a while ago. I pulled the hatchet out of the top of it and rolled the wood back to the base of the small trees to the southeast of me. I then looked up, noticing the enormous stump overhead. It was roughly round, and looked like the top end of a tree that had been cut down. Several short scars showed where the hatchet had been thrown into the tree. I thought that i should throw the hatchet up into the tree, but then i worried about it falling on me. I sat on the grass and reclined to the south, looking up at the round piece of wood on the sky. Something then moved to the west of me. It sounded like an animal rustling through the undergrowth. I wondered if it was a predator. I tried to sit up so that it did not try to attack me. I still had the hatchet in my left hand. I could hear the animals now, it was breathing heavily, as though making its presence known to me. I felt suddenly scared, thinking that it might attack me. I could not see it, but i could hear it walking from the west to the north of me at a quick trot. I imagined it as a brown wolf. I heard it make a noise through its nose. I raised the hatchet in my left had and yelled something. Something seemed wrong. I was afraid that the animal might attack. I tried to yell again, but my voice was dry.

I had been resting in the large stone basin, but i stood up and walked to the north-northwest. A woman was sitting to the northwest of me, outside the basin. She had said something about the water. The basin was formed of black stone, which looked like volcanic lava. I concentrated on the water, thinking that i could mentally drag it behind me and get it to spill out of the basin and into the container that the woman had near her. She wanted the container filled. I focused on the water as i strode slowly to the north. My hands were out at my hips with my fingers spread wide. I seemed to be wearing something pale or light-blue. It seemed like a towel, but it was more like a linen head covering. As i reached the northern end of the basin, i focused on pulling the water with me and forcing it over the edge of the basin. I wondered if i had the ability to do it. I felt that i did, but i still doubted myself. After a moment, i stopped, realizing that the stone depression did not have enough water in it to fill the container that the woman had. I walked to the northwest a step, stepping down from the raised edge of the basin and into the water of the stream. The woman now seemed to be sitting on a low rock at the edge of the stream. The water flowed to the north of her, heading east. A small bay ran around the southeastern side of the rock, separating her from the basin. This was the water that i had stepped in. I bent down and dipped the bucket into the stream, thinking that i would fill the woman’s container with water from the stream. It suddenly seemed like a better way to fill the container than to telekinetically pull the water out of the basin. My mother now seemed to be sitting somewhere nearby. I had to fill the container.

I was underwater with the other person. He was to the northeast of me, and he pushed up suddenly from the bottom. He was trying to swim to the surface. A tall leafy plant was growing to the south of him. The man was Daniel Radcliff, but i knew that he was actually Harry Potter. This was part of a story. He was trying to reach the surface to get out of this place. I watched him as he struggled to swim upward. I was then on the surface. I stood to the southwest of a large field. A barn was to the southeast of me, and Harry was standing to the northeast of me. Several rusty cars were scattered around the field. A row of cars seemed to run to the north of me, but it was uneven and drifted to the east near the northern end. An old rusted pick-up truck was to the east of me, and Harry was standing just off the rear of the car. The other group had gathered to the northwest. Most of them were hidden from me on the other side of the truck. Harry did not know who they were, but they had gathered to perform some kind of ceremony. They would not like that Harry had inadvertently intruded on them. I knew that it would be a misunderstanding. They were from a different world that Harry, and they used a different kind of magic. They all seemed to be dressed in black lacy clothing. It looked like worn clothing from the late 1800s. A young woman was to the northeast of Harry. She had spotted him. She tried to use her psychic powers to wipe his memory of this place. I thought that the group of people did not want anyone knowing about them. The woman waved her arms at Harry, but nothing happened. I thought that Harry would simply stand before her with a confused look on his face. I knew that nothing was happening because the magics of the two different worlds did not mix. One form of magic could not affect someone from the other realm. The woman tried again to wipe Harry’s mind, but it did not work. I liked this plot, and thought about how it would continue.

12016 December 26

I knelt down to the north of the chair, which was on the sidewalk on the southern side of the road. The road seemed to be Dickson Street. I had to fill out the two forms, which seemed to be duplicates of each other. I wrote out the code number on the piece of paper. The long string of characters comprised letters and numbers. The page was typed in a light typeface, but the pen i was using wrote in heavy dark letters. I was writing on one page, and the other page was on the surface of the wooden chair to the right and top of the page i was working on. I compared the string of numbers, noticing that they looked the same. I had to write out something below the numbers that described the numbers. I read the first few lines. The line of characters seemed complicated. The first three characters seemed to be “CDC”, and the description under it read in false Latin, looking like “C-tay, D-tay, C-tay”. I was having trouble generating the descriptive line. I kept looking back and forth between the two lines, but i felt that i was losing my place. I concentrated on the line of characters, but i could not keep track of where i was. I had to finish the forms. I decided that i had messed up one of the forms, so i thought that i would have to start over. I had a clean form to start again with. I felt frustrated as i tried to focus on the forms. I was then moving to the east, down the street. I had to get my things so that i could return somewhere. I through that i had to get my things from the house. I was still somewhere in Endicott. I seemed to be on the west side of town, somewhere north of Main Street and south of the railroad tracks. I was moving down a back street, thinking about the house where i had left my things. I knew that $A698 would be there. I rode my bicycle down the center of the empty street, turning to the north into the gravel driveway of the house. The driveway ran to the east of the house, which seemed like a two-story wooden house with pale-green paint. I knew that $A698 was in the house, and i could hear him talking as i came into the driveway. He was sitting on the screen porch on the northeastern corner of the house, talking on the telephone. I turned my bicycle to the west, heading around the northern side of the house. I could hear $A698 talking, and i pictured him watching me as i road past the porch, just a few meters from where he was sitting. I did not want to disturb him while he was working on the telephone. I suddenly wondered why i had come to this house again. I was not quite sure what i was getting here. I had thought that i came for my bicycle, but i was riding my bicycle. I move past the house and stopped to the east of a small shed. I would get my things out of the shed and leave. I had to get somewhere. I was aware that $A698 was watching me from the porch as i opened the combination lock that was on the door of the wooden shed. The door was in the northern part of the eastern wall of the building. I opened the door and stepped into the doorway, looking around at the items here. I had to get something for my class, and i thought that i needed a tennis racket. Several items were on the cement floor of the small shed. The object in the center seemed to be a go-cart or small pedal-powered car. Several other sports items were around it. As i looked around, i realized that no tennis rackets would be here. We had not put tennis rackets in this place. I then wondered why i was looking for it. I did not like to play tennis. I backed out of the shed and turned back to the southeast. I was in the house now, and many other people were around me. I chatted with some of them. They filled the screen porch around me. I had to leave. I had to ride my bicycle to work. I started riding to the south, along the western side of the street, which seemed like Nanticoke Avenue. I was only a few blocks from Main Street, which was to the south of me. The other man was riding to the northeast of me, following me. I then heard the popping sound coming from ahead of us. I slowed down and tried to focus down the street. As we reached the intersection of Nanticoke and Union, i noticed a white ball bouncing down the sidewalk on the western side of the street. It seemed to come from somewhere on Main Street, a block to the south. The ball seemed to be about three-quarters of a deci wide, but it seemed like a ping-pong ball. I heard several other popping sounds as more balls bounced down the road toward us. Someone was firing them from the top of the building on the southern side of Main Street. The man with me stopped his bicycle in the street, but i thought that i could avoid the balls. I thought that they were being shot at random down the center of Nanticoke Avenue, so i tried to ride on the sidewalk just south of Union Avenue, starting up the slight hill. The balls then started coming toward me. Someone was aiming the stream. I let a few bounce off of my head, thinking that they were just ping-pong balls, so they could not really hurt me. I closed my eyes and tried to ride forward as the balls bounced off my face and head. They did not hurt, but the sensation became too annoying. I turned around and stopped again at the intersection, wondering what i should do. I then decided to ride west of Union Street. White balls started bouncing toward me from the west as well. I pictured a tripod launcher on top of the cement building on the southern side of the street, about fifty meters to the west. People were firing at us on purpose. I felt annoyed, and i rode down the street anyway. As i got a little closer to the origin of the balls, i could see three tripod launchers in a row in the street. They were only a meter or so tall and had thick off-white tubes on the top. They were still aiming down the side of the street, so i could easily pass to the north of them. They only extended to the center of the street from the southern sidewalk. A group of people stood just to the west of the launchers, watching where the balls went. They seemed to be a family from the house to the south of the launchers. Several children were standing in the center of the crowd, watching to the east. They wore insulated jackets. One of the children in the center seemed to be wearing a red jacket. The older man who was standing on the northern side of the group was wearing a long gray coat, which seemed to be shaped into a rat costume. He had a thick tail that curved to the north of him. I felt annoyed with these people for shooting at others with the ping-pong balls. I rode my bicycle close to the man as i passed him, purposely riding over his tail in defiance. I continued down the street to the west.

I rode my bicycle up the hill to the southeast. I seemed to be in Endicott, somewhere to the south of Main Street on a flat area. I had to get something, and i felt rushed to get to my classes. I talked to the other person, but realized that i had to go get something from where we had been. I turned by bicycle to the west and hurried down the street. I seemed to be riding parallel to Main Street now. When i reached an intersection, i turned to the north. This intersection seemed to be Page Avenue, but the buildings around me were businesses and houses. The avenue crossed Main Street at another intersection, which was ten or fifteen meters to the north of the first intersection. The distance was slightly down hill. This place seemed very familiar to me. I had been down Main Street to the east of the avenue many times, and i remembered the small business buildings here. They seemed modern and somehow out of place. I then noticed the queue of people along the eastern side of the road i was riding down. The line seemed to start at a building on the northern side of Main Street. It crossed the street and started up the side street. I thought that these people were students waiting for to sign up for something. I felt realized that i was not taking classes any more. I said something about this to the other person as i rode my bicycle across main street to the north, turning slightly to the northwest to head down the alley or drive to the north. I moved slowly past the queue, thinking about how they had to register for their classes.

I walked to the south along the narrow alley, which seemed to be in Collegetown. I was walking just to the east of the shopping district. The narrow alley ran between the backs of the stores on the main street, which was to the west, and another set of stores to the east. I remembered this shopping area from before. It seemed very familiar. Most of the buildings seemed to be old and covered with white or off-white plaster. I remembered some of the restaurants here, thinking that i used to come here all the time when i was in college. I thought that i would be meeting the others here. I looked at the names of the shops and i walked down the narrow alley, which did not seem to run in a straight line. I recognized the name of one of the shops on the northern end of the street. It felt good to be back in this place again. I then noticed the pub on the eastern side of the alley at the southern end of the street. The tan building seemed to be a Mexican eatery, with thin vine-like decorations painted across the top of the entrance. Something seemed wrong, though. I was now at the southern end of the alley. I looked at the shop to the west. It was another restaurant or pizza place, but it too was at the southern end of the alley. I had reached the southern end too quickly. Several other restaurants and stores should have been in the middle of the alley. I walked back to the north a little, but the shops seemed to be missing. Something was wrong. I looked back and forth for the shops, but the middle block of the street was missing. It did not make sense. I wanted to ask the others where it had gone. I walked around to the front of the buildings, which were along the main road. I tried to read the addresses of the buildings to see if there was an obvious jump in numbers. I recognized another restaurant near the middle of the street, but the businesses that i remembered were not there. I looked back and forth, back in the thin narrow corridor with shops on both sides. I could see some of the numbers, but i could not figure them out. The corridor seemed to have sharp turns in it as it made its way to the north from where i was. Something felt very confusing here. I could not figure out what was wrong.

I moved to the west, starting down the street that ran to the north of the old stone house. The large house was on the northeastern corner of the suburban block. I had come from the main street and was now walking down the side street of this small town. The sky seemed gray and overcast, making the gray stone house seem dreary. The hill sloped up steeply to the south, and the tall stone column at the northeastern corner of the building seemed to be part of the building’s foundation. The upper floors of the building seemed to have siding, but also seemed to be stone. The house seemed special in some way. I stopped to the north of the house, noticing the large wooden garage door on the eastern end of the lower floor. A truck was to the north of the house now, and it seemed threatening. I thought that the people were trying to break into the building. I imagined that the people inside the building had a water cannon. They could spray the bad guys on the truck, who seemed to be military troops. I then thought that the water cannon would have more of an effect if it were cold outside. It would make the attackers less likely to want to get wet. I was now standing near the door, looking east. My vision panned from the small square hole in the wooden door to the black truck than was facing the door. The truck looked armored. I pretended that the water jet hit the truck. I then thought that the jet could actually be a high-pressure jet. It could be focused enough to make a water cutter. I think that it could be focused on the windshield of the truck and would have enough concentrated power to cut through the bullet-proof glass. I thought about this as i moved to the south. I was inside the house now. I moved around the basement room on the southern side of the house. The walls were painted mustard-yellow and seemed worn and dingy. I could see the horizontal layers of the stones on the southern wall. A small window was high on the wall. I knew that it was at ground level on the southern side of the house. This did not seem very secure. The truck was attacking the house from the north and having trouble getting through the stone foundation, but someone could easily break into the window on the southern side and get into the house. I was then outside on the southern side of the house. The house here was yellow and had wood siding on the upper section. The foundation near the ground was surfaced with plaster. I stood off the southeastern corner of the house, looking west. I thought that the house should really be built of stone blocks to protect the house. The column on the northeastern corner seemed to be stone, but the rest of the foundation and most of the structure of the house seemed to be cinder block. These events were happening after the world had changed. The population was not as large, and things seemed more dangerous. I wondered if it was harder to find stone for buildings now. I then thought that people could simply get stones from the lake, which seemed to be down the hill to the north of us.

I stood on the northwestern corner of and intersection in a suburban area. A house was just off the corner of the street, to the northwest of me. I was facing west, looking down the southern side of the house. I looked over the gray figure of the house, thinking of how it could be protected. Members of $G4 were standing down the street a few meters from the corner. They were talking about the next house down, which seemed to be a smaller house. I moved to the west a little, looking at the small house, which bordered the street. The house was some kind of apartment, and the people from $G4 were talking about renting it. I looked to the north of the house, noticing that part of the house extended up the tall steep forested hill behind the house. The hill rose about twenty or twenty-five meters from the street, and it was covered with thin leafless trees. The ground was covered with autumn-colored leafs. I noticed another small house that looked very much like the first at the top of the hill, above the lower house. A plain section of building connected the two houses, and i realized that the house was much bigger that it had seemed. It was all one apartment. I looked at the house on top of the hill. It seemed to be only big enough for one apartment, but it looked very nice, and i thought that it would have a good view of the lake to the south. The others then realized this and mentioned it to each other as they discussed the apartments. $F47 stood near the northern side of the group, and he agreed that the upper apartment would be very nice.

12016 December 28

I was taking classes at the community college, but i had forgotten my class schedule. I had classes this afternoon, but i could not quite remember what they were. I then thought that i might not have been going to the classes. I felt bad about this and hoped that it was not true. I wondered if the class had to do with the novel that i had started reading. I was in the hallway of the school building, and people were talking to the west of me. The young woman there seemed to be harassing me. She started teasing me and moved close to me, trying to intimidate me. I felt annoyed with her and moved to the east. I was trying to read the booklet that i had in my hands. I tried to ignore her, but she followed me. I walked through the doorway in the northern wall, coming outside of the building. The woman followed me. She was still acting tough and ridiculing me. I felt angry with her, and i slapped her. I then thought that i should not have done that. It would only make the confrontation worse. Annoyed, i walked back into the building, hoping that the woman did not follow me. I wondered if i could lose her in the building. I headed down the hallway to the west. I turned north and walked into the staff room. A few faculty members were standing in the room. A man on the western side of the room wore a white sweater and had a puffy hairstyle that seemed to be from the eighties. The northern wall of the room was covered with fake wood paneling and seemed cheap. The room was dimly lighted with incandescent lamps, and everything seemed old and worn. I tried to remember which class i had on Friday afternoons. I felt bad about not attending it. I wondered if it was an English class. I had started reading a novel for one of my classes, but i had not kept up with it. I remembered feeling ready to keep up with my studies when i had started the semester, but i felt bad now that i had forgotten about them. I felt disappointed that i could not keep up with them again. I moved to the north. An old computer was sitting on a small table against the northern wall. The table was to the east of a large dull-black couch that was in the center of the wall. The CRT monitor was small, with a tan casing. I thought that i could use the computer to look up my classes. I tried to turn it on, aware of a man moving to the west of me. He seemed to be a young faculty member. The man said something, and i started talking to him. I moved things around on the shelfs to the north of me. I looked at the simple wooden shelfs. They seemed to be constructed of two-by-fours and plywood. I picked up a bunch of folders from the computer area and tried to put them on the shelf above the computer. The shelfs seemed crude and cluttered. I had trouble putting the items there. They kept sliding forward. I adjusted them, trying to get them to stay in place. I moved them to the west a little, looking for open space. The ceiling to the room was now missing, and i could see the beams on the underside of the roof above. The beams of the roof were dark and high above in darkness. The exposed wood of the shelfs ran along the northern wall, which did not extend all the way to the rafters. Part of the wooden shelfs also seemed to extend over the top of the northern wall. I moved to the western end of the room and pushed the large green things over the wall to get it to stay in place. This place seemed very run down now. I backed up to the south. The rafters of the roof were very high up now, and i seemed to be on a street that ran east to west. I turned to the south. An old building stood to the southwest of me. It seemed to have been partly demolished, and i could see the cement or steel structure of the floors. It looked like it had been attacked in a war. An old rusted pick-up truck from the fifties or sixties sat in front of the building, facing east. The building that we were in seemed vast, like a large hangar. I could see small patches of light to the south where sunlight was seeping in through the tall walls. The street i was on was littered with debris, and a few people were moving to the west of me. I moved to the west, noticing the large yellow construction vehicle, which was sitting in the middle of the street. I felt cautious in this place. Something had happened to civilization, and this was all that remained. We had to be cautious here, though. The construction vehicle seemed to be a bulldozer that was facing east, but it was old and broken, with a rusted exterior where old yellow paint was still chipping away. I walked to the west, toward the others. I felt uncomfortable here.

12016 December 30

I drove the car to the east, looking at the steep snowy hill that ascended almost vertically to the southeast of me. I would have to go up it. It seemed like a driveway. I thought that i might not be able to drive up the hill. As i approached, though, i noticed that a red truck was parked across the bottom of the hill. I felt annoyed that it was blocking the driveway. I then thought that i would have to drive over the cubical truck to get up the driveway. I wondered if it would be easier to drive up the truck than drive up the snow. I backed up a little and then charged toward the truck. It seemed that i would simply hit the truck, but the front end of my car rose up and i started to ascend the tall truck. The front wheels of my car rose just above the roof of the truck, but could not catch on anything. I speeded up the tires to try to get a hold at the top edge of the truck, but my car started descending anyway. I would have to find another way up. I backed up, looking at the hill, which was now to the east of me. I noticed a pile of snow just to the north of the truck. I thought that i could drive over the pile of snow, which would provide a ramp to get partway up the hill. I backed away from the truck, heading southwest. A semicircular gravel area was at the bottom of the driveway and to the east of the main road. I looked at the mound. It looked like dirty snow, but it also seemed like a pile of sandy soil with snow on top. It seemed to slope up nicely toward the hill. I backed my car across the main road, stopping on the western side. I looked at the dirt pile, thinking that the western side of it seemed uneven. It would be hard to get up it with my car. I thought that i would have to turn the car so that i was heading directly east or a little southeast into it. My car was stopped to the southwest of the driveway and the red truck. I started driving again, turning my wheel to the northeast to start the arc toward the pile. My car suddenly fell to the west. I had rolled into a deep trench, and the car fell on its side in the ditch. I could see the front end of the car ahead of me. The trunk had been wrinkled upward as the car hit the bottom of the ditch. I felt frustrated and annoyed. I could not drive my car out of the ditch. I would have to get someone to tow me out of the ditch. I could see cars driving up the road to the north of me. I thought about this as i pushed open the passenger doors on my car and started to climb out.

The runners around me were talking about something. It felt good to be with them, but we had to do something. An athletic event had happened to the west of us, and some people seemed to be running. I chatted with someone who seemed like $F58. We then turned to the southeast and started moving across the grass. We had just left the large open building, which seemed like a gymnasium. The building was to the west of us now, though we had just come out of a section to the north of us. We seemed to be on a college campus. A large old stone building was to the northeast of us, running along the northern side of a quadrangle. To the west, the darkened open building, which also seemed like an old hangar, stood. As we drove to the south, we passed the cement column, which was to the west of us. The large building ran alongside a modern cement structure. I could see people gathered in the cement structure. As we passed, i looked up at them. A crowd filled the stands. Some of them were facing us, and they wore red and white striped hats and scarfs. They were here for the game, which was taking place in the stadium. As we drove to the southeast, i looked back at the stadium, noticing a marching band performing in the stands. The cement column was the northeastern corner of the stadium, and i could see elevated stands running to the west of it. The stands faced south. The main field must be somewhere to the northwest of the stands, but the band and crowd seemed to be facing east. The seats seemed to be densely packed. I noticed another band to the south, lower in the stadium. Everyone was waving white pennants, and confetti seemed to be in the air. I turned to look out into the quadrangle to the east of us. We were driving down a path that ran diagonally across the western side of the quadrangle, heading southeast. Another band with yellow colors was to the east. I thought that the college must have many bands. They would have one for each type of activity. I then realized that $F57 was driving the car to the south. I wondered why i had gotten in the car. I felt that i really did not want to drive anywhere, and i wondered why i was following $G4 somewhere. I then noticed the runner just to the south of us. She was shorter than i and seemed somewhat stout. He had shoulder-length frizzy blond hair. She jogged with a firm stride, and she seemed to have nicely muscled legs and shoulders. He wore shorts and a tank top. I realized that she was running a race across the campus. She had come through the large open building where we were. I watched her run as we drove past her, passing to the east of her. I then looked down the path to the south, noticing a white banner across the path. Structures rose on both sides of the path, forming a corridor as the path descended a shallow hill to the south, curving slightly to the southwest. The banner was off-white with a pale-blue gradient spreading out from the center. The lettering on the banner seemed very angular, but it had rounded edges. The letters seemed to be formed of mostly straight lines, but the lines were thick and joined with rounded corners. I thought that the sign might be the finish line of the race, but the two or three words on the sign seemed to announce that the finishing area was just ahead. I could not see the bottom of the hill because of the dark structures on either side of the path, but i imagined several tents to the west of the path and a finish line just out of sight at the bottom of the hill. We continued down the driveway, which ran along the eastern side of the structure that was on the east of the path. As we reached the main road, which headed to the south along the side of the campus, i looked to the west at the large area where the race was finishing. I could not see what was there, but many white tents seemed to be set up in the area, making it seem like a small festival site. $F47 was driving the car now as we started down the main road. I asked him about the race, asking him what the name of the city was. I then realized that i did not know exactly where we were. He seemed confused a little by the question, and said that the city was Boston. I clarified, saying that i had meant to ask about the race and not the city. I realized that we were in Boston, and i remembered the name that i had seen at the stadium. The signs had said “Purdue”. We must have been at Purdue University in Boston. $F47 told me the name of the race. It was one word and seemed to start with an R. I asked if it was a triathlon, and he said that it was. I looked to the south of us now. The road we were following had turned to dirt. Green trees hung over the road ahead from the west. A hazy field of tall dry summer grass seemed to be to the west of the road, and green bushes to the east separated the road from the river. The campus had to be on a river so that the racers in the triathlon could swim. It seemed like a hazy summer day, but it also seemed dark out. The road curved, and we stopped at an intersection. The road that we were on ended. The dirt road that we ended on only ran a short distance to the east before it ended near the edge of the river. The river ran to the south of us now, and the other dirt road ran west along the shore. The ground seemed very muddy now. A dark car was to the west of us. A dirt driveway was just off the road that we were on. It ran to the north from the east-to-west dirt road. It seemed to enter a carport just to the northwest of us. A house was near the road that we were on, just to the north of the carport. I looked at the man driving the dark car. He was Indian. He looked at us for a moment as he drove slowly into his driveway. He seemed uncertain of us. As he turned his attention back to the north, i noticed that his car was filling with muddy water. I realized that the ground here was flooded, and the water was seeping into his car. I then realized that the water level in the car rose above the man’s face. I thought that he might drown, but he continued driving his car to the north. I looked to the northwest at him, seeing only the back of his black hair as he drove into the car port. I wondered why the water level in the car was higher than the water outside the car. The water outside was barely over the wheels. I thought that the car’s motion in the water must have forced more water into the car. I then looked at the dirt road to the west, noticing large puddles in the muddy road. $F47 was turning the car to the west. I wondered if his car would be okay in the deep mud. I thought that, if we moved slowly, the car would not fill up with water as much. $F47 then made a comment about standing in the water. I remembered that it was bad for the car to stand still in the muddy water. It would affect the alternator. We drove to the west, and i thought about the river flooding. As we drove, though, there did not seem to be any water on the road around us. I looked to the south over the water of the river. The water seemed dark and clear, and i could see several flat sections of bedrock protruding through the surface of the water. Something was happening to the southwest. A bridge crossed the water. It seemed to be a land bridge. The event to the southwest seemed to have something to do with the athletic events. I talked with the other $G4 around me. $F57 and $F58 seemed to be with me.

12016 December 31

I sat in the small chair on the northern side of the room, facing north. $A682 was sitting in a chair to the northwest of me, and $A448 was in a chair to the southwest. They were facing each other and chatting about something. Another person was sitting to the east of me. I listened to the two people talk. $A448 then started to tell $A682 about something that had happened. I remembered hearing about the incident from $A540, and i hummed in response as i shifted position in my chair. $A448 then stopped talking and asked me what i had heard. I felt uncomfortable, as though he was challenging me on the subject. I actually did not know anything about the incident, so i did not say anything. I sat still in the chair for a moment. I then realized that it had been some time since they had said anything. They were still waiting for me to answer. I had closed my eyes, so i just pretended that i had not been paying attention. I opened my eyes suddenly, asking what was happening. I felt tired now, so i reclined the chair into a small cot, hoping that they would simply go on talking. I listened for their voices, but i could not hear anything. I rolled over on to my stomach with my head to the south. The small mattress had large yellow and brown flowers on it, but the pattern seemed faded with age. I lay still for a moment, but i could not hear anything. I thought that they might be talking quietly so that i could not hear them. I felt sad, thinking that they were purposely excluding me from the conversation. I adjusted the bed a few times. It continued to feel uncomfortable. I stood up and moved it toward the southern wall of the room. $A682 and $A448 were standing now. They started to move to the southeast to leave the room. I felt upset that they had dismissed me and did not want to converse with me. I moved around the room, fixing things. Someone to the east then seemed to want to know about this apartment that i lived in. I wondered why i had let $A682 move in. It seemed strange that i would.