Sometimes a Pencil is only a Rocket

In this dream I was alternating between being a woman and a man and lived in a seaside town.

As the dream progressed I knew I had done it all before.

I designed rockets.

I built and launched a white rocket with a red nose cone and launched it into space. It divided into six smaller rockets, each of which returned to my garden although one went through a neighbours window. These rockets all brought back information from space on how to build another, smaller rocket with unusual properties.

I built this small rocket and prepared to launch it from the glass pleasure dome on the front.

But the residents of the town heard about the launch and surged onto the front to stop the take- off. At this point green sea creatures emerged from the surf and duck taped everybody except me. Nobody else could move or speak. I had disguised the rocket as a pencil and held a bunch of them to hide the rocket.

The rocket took off from my hand on schedule, soared up through a sky light in the pleasure dome and out into space.

It then returned and entered the body of a person in a glass case near to where I stood. The person then reanimated, got out of the case, walked over towards me and merged.

The whole episode then started all over again.

The cycle of life and death continued.

Nice Steam Engine

A familiar dream.

I go into an underground toy shop with my son and find both my parents sat on a park bench. There are various shops around all selling toys down the ages.

There is one open area where a toy steam engine is runnng around a track in a large room. Sort of has a Christmas atmosphere.

I point the engine out to my son and the engine leaves the track and comes over to us like a pet dog. We stroke the engine and it seems pleased and rolls back onto the track to continue its circumnavigation of the room.

I know that some reality law has been broken but decide that its not too weird and the world carries on.

Submarines

I was a crew member on a submarine, probably British. We were being chased by a Russian submarine. Our boat surfaced and we all got out onto the deck. It was a grand sunny day.The Russian submarine then surfaced about 100 yards away. It was really sinister looking, very dark and covered with green slime and seaweed.

Their crew came out on deck as well and the boat slowly cruised alongside and then in front of us.

I waved to one of the Russians, he gave a tentative wave back.

They all seemed so young and I couldn't believe that they may try and kill us all.

It all seemed so pointless.

Could that wave have made a difference?

Surfacing from sleep, I never found out.

Lunch Time Adventure

A recurring dream I have had since childhood.
Its lunchtime and we all file into the dining hall.
There is a rush for the large tables and all my class end up round one of them.
I am left out and have to find a space at the table of another class.
That is the usual scenario.
This time I end up seated alongside a young guy from the year below me.
Then, oddly, the entire roomful of people follow me out of the dining hall and over to a derelict building.
I lead the way up a crumbling wooden staircase and along a dangerous corridor.
Sounds of distress behind me as various schoolchildren fall through the rotten floorboards.
Then in front of me, over a large gap, I see a red canoe.
I know this to be some sort of salvation for us all.
But how to reach it . . .

The School Train

I had my childhood train set laid out on the floor of a big barn.
It ran from a station uphill to the door at the top of the barn.
Powered by clockwork, it looked good and worked well.
As I was looking at it I caught a movement out of the corner of my eye. It was a tiny child running to catch the train. More followed and boarded the train. All wore school uniform and had schoolbags.
Then, without me touching it, the train moved off and trundled along, up to its destination. I watched as the children disembarked and run out of the top barn door.
The train waited at the top station presumably for the schoolchildren when they came out of school.
The whole episode didn't seem that odd and I was pleased that the train set had some use.
Then the barn filled with wasps, not so pleasing.
Some balance law had asserted itself.

The German Shepherd

I was going to get a new dog.
It was an alsation, belonging to a German butcher in Perth. I believe there was a butcher's shop in my town, owned by a German (Kumerer?) in my childhood.
Of course they are now and probably originally called German Shepherds although I think the word 'German' was dropped after the war, but its now back again.
Anyway, the dog was brought to me by the German and it hid behind my back.
He told me it was an old dog but I was welcome to keep it.
The dog's face seemed remarkably intelligent and looked at me as if it had a lot of stories to tell.
I thanked him and gave the dog a crust.
Woof.

Terrapins and Eggs

I am looking after 3 terrapins.
It was Easter time and I had a large chocolate egg filled with foil covered mini eggs, around 50 of them.
I ate half of the big egg and decided to hide the remaining half together with all the mini eggs. Predators in the house you see.
But where?
Of course, float the half egg and contents in the terrapin tank.
Then I got hungry again.
Off to the tank to find the terrapins had scoffed the lot, 50 mini eggs, silver paper and all.
Only a fragment of the half egg floated forlornly.
A wreck.
Their owner would be furious, how could they survive eating all that armoured chocolate?
I got up and rushed through to the terrapins.
They were all alive and were still hungry.
No trace of the half egg either.

The Car Journey

Driving home in the rain, really heavy and getting dark.
The road was beginning to flood. Torrents were coming off the fields and surging across the road.
Eventually I safely arrived home and reversed into the driveway.
I sat listening to the rain drumming on the car roof. Soon I would go into the house and put the kettle on.
Then I found myself driving out onto the road again.
This is not what I wanted to do. Who was driving the car, me or it?
But, it had stopped raining.
Instead of rain the weather had decided to freeze solid.
The pools and torrents were frozen hard.
Tree branches, heavy with ice lay across the road, now an ice rink.
The car slithered and crunched its way along.
After several miles the car turned back.
But it had turned to snow. Impossible to see where we were going. We would never get home, the road seemed impassable.
But I awoke and the car had carefully deposited me in my nice warm bed.

Climate Change

Walking towards my old council house to visit son R.
As I approached the air grew colder. Then I saw the house.
It was covered in snow and ice. White ice, green ice and some pale blue ice.
I picked up two ice covered bricks from the driveway as a present for R (house warming?).
I knocked and R answered. He too was covered in white hoar frost.
Seemed happy enough though.
I peeked into the hallway which was also snow covered. Also some pale grey ice on the walls for variety.
Relationship not cooled as one may think.
Went home and discovered Woody the cockatiel had been left outside, on the pavement, in the rain.

Just a Dream

Disturbing dream night before last.
I was really ill and lying on floor on Ninewells Hospital, Dundee. I was going to get 'put down' later on the same day. Son C stood with his hand on my shoulder. A crowd had arrived to say goodbye. I only recognised two of them which was odd. But one of the men, that I did know, came up and held my hand. It was very moving. No women around, perhaps understandably.
Then I woke up and prowled around the house a while.
Then I fell asleep again and dreamt it was later on the same day, near to zero hour.
I was in my house, son C was again there and said he would try to be more like son R. Not sure about that.
C had also taken over my house, bits of engines, watches, cigarette lighters lay neatly around. He was puffing away at a pipe.
I said that it was nearly time for me to go.
C said he was really sorry and gave me a hug. I asked him to keep in touch. He said that he would love to but he didn't know how.
Exactly, and we left it at that.

First Day

First day at my new school last night. It was a new school too, brand new, made mostly of pricey hard wood, beautifully varnished.
We were getting the new boys tour.
I noticed however that it had been snowing inside the building, odd.
Even more peculiar was that the snow had been given a coat of matt white.
This made it even more slippy and ruined a lot of the woodwork.
Our tour leader paused to wonder at the mess, but we carried on and entered the staff room. Big mistake. A teacher raged out at us, jumping up and down on the painted snow.
For "****'s sake lighten up," an anonymous pupil retorted.
This of course didn't help.
A grand start to the term.

Memorable Flight

I was carrying out a peat survey of the Tay valley with a guy named Bill. Not much had been used in the area around Dundee, I wondered why.
I then asked Bill if he remembered how to fly. He replied by soaring up into the air, clutching his clipboard.
Remembering the correct mind set I, more slowly, flew up to join him.
We looked around at the Tay estuary far below. Incredible.
Gradually we descended and flew into a cave.
Alone now I peered around. I then saw two or three women in the shadows.
Suddenly I realised that all the things I had forgotten I could now remember.
I knew that all along but could not access the information.
Even more than I thought I already knew was accessible.
Like an internal Google.
But, of course, I now forget what I remembered.

Man's best friend

Its been quite a few months since Max died so decided to get a new dog.
It was black and large, of indeterminate type, but seemed to be able to change its shape into a black bear.
It was terrifying.
Never managed to put a lead on it and it was just free to roam the house and garden.
Every time it saw me, it snarled.
He didn't like me and I didn't like him.
In the end I decided to arm myself with a crowbar 24/7.
Nice doggy.

Paid to shop

I was in an old style shopping mall looking for a toy shop. When I found it, it was surrounded by a crowd, paid to shop and increase sales figures. I couldn't get near it. They were buying to music and seemed to be controlled by electricity. An electrically controlled crowd.
I found the panel with their power switches and switched them off.
I was then pursued around the shopping mall by two hit men paid to despatch me.
It's all about money.

Ice

I had lost my car and trailer.
The trailer was carrying blocks of ice. I was worried that they might melt.
Then I saw, in the distance, where it was parked. In a car park behind a glass screen.
I tried to find the entrance.
I walked round and round, no gates, no entrances, no way in.
Just occasional glass partitions and buildings.
I stood watching the ice melt.

The bullet, bus and bull.

Last night's dream was a bit of a mixture.
Discovered I had been shot by a small calibre bullet in my left pelvis. My white shirt was covered in blood and I asked my long dead mother for a clean one. But she hadn't done the washing.
My dead dad examined the casing of the shell that wounded me (how did he get it?).
It was much larger than I thought.
I then stood, in my dirty shirt, watching a small van facing up to a large bus.
The van playfully nudged the bus.
The now infuriated bus then charged the small van.
The van promptly changed into a bull which jumped through the windscreen of the bus, killing the driver.
Makes perfect sense.

Back Again

Loads of dreams to catch up on but will do with one from last night.
Was queueing up to get into my house with son C.
Oddly enough was no one else in queue and can't think why I should even bother.
Suddenly the sky darkened and an alien space ship hove into view.
A death ray or something lanced down from the sky and slowly cut up the pavement between C and myself.
"Pay no attention," I said.
True enough, away it went.

Interlude

Excitingly due to collapse of my computer system there will be a gap in the reporting of my dreams. Meanwhile the dreams continue . . . (boring or what?)

Usual Stuff

It was one of those dreams everyone gets from time to time (at least hope its not just me).
Going to new job. Might also have been a new place to live.
Find my way to my room. Decide to go to the toilet. Wander around looking for one. Can't find any and so return to my room only to find it has disappeared. Other people are in the room I thought was mine although the room number is different.
Look down at myself and find I am only partially clothed and have to report to my new job in 5 minutes.
Of course don't know where the job is or what I am meant to do.
Hold on, maybe it wasn't a dream after all.

Breakfast Routine

Living at my childhood house I came downstairs for breakfast. The door to the kitchen was blocked by the frame of my old bike which my dad had painted green. He had gone off to work. I moved the frame into the hall.
Next job was to put the kettle onto the gas stove. However dad had modified this and flames shot up to the ceiling. My mum had appeared from work looking for a cup of tea. Problem was that apart from the dangerous stove the kettle was leaking. I dashed off to the shops for a new kettle.
At the first shop the assistant, who knew me, wanted me to buy a photo album made of cloth. It was peculiar in that it was full of magnificent pictures of Ancient Greek statues and landscapes. Your own photos got superimposed onto different parts of these pictures. It looked great.
I resisted its purchase and found myself back at the house clutching a giant electric kettle. It was big enough to climb inside.
Another problem was that it was dirty. Not new, been used before.
Got to take it back for exchange. Where to was the first problem. Could not remember buying it. No receipts in my pocket, no clues.
So, summing up, breakfast time, wet painted bicycle frame in the hall, flaming to the ceiling stove, no magic photo album, giant dirty electric kettle and no cup of tea.

The Whipping Bridge

I was at the top of a high cliff and looking down on a river estuary.
A bridge was at the other side of the water coming from somewhere out to sea.
Where it made landfall was a large gap which slowly whipped closed as a car approached land. The cars then went through a short tunnel. Seemed as if the weight of the car helped some sort of whiplash effect. No cars travelled in the opposite direction. Unusual.
Standing in the water and observing the bridge were two giant men. Either they were giants or the bridge and the cars were tiny.
They saw me looking at them and one shouted up an obscenity.
Probably all best left alone.

Brown Spots

My back was covered by brown spots. I brushed them off but they just kept reappearing.
Thought I would shower them off which also worked but back they came.
Leaving them seemed the best, if unsightly, option.
Some weird disease perhaps.

Cold Comfort

I had got myself a job with the British Antarctic Survey.
My first impression was one of total desolation. Endless snow and ice with grey windswept rocks dotted around the landscape.
I went into the only building I could see. A large ice covered shed. Inside were loads of people milling around looking for bunks. I found myself a narrow shelf complete with a thin grey blanket.
Next thing was finding the toilet. Off I went and spied a queue. Must be for the toilet.
In fact two queues, for the only toilets serving around 300 people.
I waited and waited.
Not even sure what my job was with the company.
Life in the deep, frozen South sure was hard.

The Red Tomato

A grey world, grey sky, grey land, grey trees.
Some movement caught my eye.
Looking to my left I could see the Editor gazing up at a huge red tomato hanging about 30 feet up a tree. The only patch of colour visible.
I asked about the tomato and the Editor said that he wanted it for his packed lunch.
I recommended a long pole but no, the Editor had other ideas.
He jumped up and down waving his arms.
I thought that was a hopeless way to obtain the tomato but as he jumped up and down, some sort of vortex was created and the tomato fell with a splat onto the grey ground.
However enough was salvageable for a packed lunch.
Result.

An Unlikely Story

I was standing on a sea cliff gazing out at the ocean. A rumble of hoof beats made me turn round. Approaching me and the cliff at full gallop was an army of Japanese horsemen carrying spears and white flags.
I ran along the cliff and down some slopes onto the beach. I moved along until I was underneath the massive cliff and gazed upwards. No falling Japanese horsemen were visible just white clouds sailing out to sea.
So, I busied myself tightening up guy ropes that held the cliff up.
Then I moved off to where a queue had formed to see an old grey haired woman lying on a bed at the top of the beach. She was giving each person a few wise words before they moved away.
As my turn came I tripped over her bed clothes and fell flat.
No wise words for me.

Four Joes

It was dusk and I was in the town of Kinross. I wanted to get to Perth and so I decided to jog overland. This I did in the gathering darkness, 12 miles in an hour, not bad going.
In the High Street I was looking for a joiner by the name of Joe Brown. I found him looking like a cross between the singer and the rock climber.
I talked to him about a window that I had repaired at the request of Joe the artist.
I took him to view my repair down a richly tiled High Street close at a Therapy Centre.
We were offered a cup of tea then I took him to the room with the window repair.
Oddly the room now had no windows.
Perhaps my repair had gone too far.

The Reservoir

I was out for a walk last night. Went past a high level loch.
The surface was stirring restlessly, not by wind but inner turbulence.
I knew that this was where we got our water and air from.
Somehow that made sense.
In fact I shouted it out loud and woke myself up.

A Thick Neck

I looked in the mirror and saw that my neck had thickened up considerably. Sort of Cardassian thickness if you know what I mean.
Also a row of ridges was growing down the front of my forehead, Klingon style.
I seemed to be morphing into a Next Generation baddie.
All needed was to be part of The Collective with a smattering of Ferengi.
What went wrong.

Global Warming

Heavy rain last night, flooding all around. I got son C to dig a drainage ditch to release water from my driveway during the night.
In the morning I looked out and was astonished to see a tunnel dug from near the driveway towards my garden pond. Some animal had enlarged C's ditch.
Then saw who was responsible.
Out of the tunnel ambled a wolf, two foxes and a badger. A veritable wildlife park.
I shouted sons C and R to the window.
I took photos of the vistors.
We went out and peered into the tunnel.
They had stockpiled dog food as if for a seige.
Then saw that my little pond had grown.
It was now part of the North Sea and sported a fine beach.
As if to underline the quality of the sands, day trippers arrived down my driveway with surfboards, picnic tables, the lot.
Life had changed since that shower of rain.

Parsimony Fields

I was at the side of a black field. In fact I think all the ground was black as far as the eye could see.
But things were not as drab as you may think. Everywhere there were patches of gold light shining through.
So either I was living on the sun with a top coat of black or someone had fitted the entire ground with glow lights after painting the earth black.
Or I was dreaming.
I wonder what Occam's Razor would prefer?