"What Dreams May Come..."

I got in from work, and got sleepy enough around 530pm that I decided to lay down for a nap. I didn't nap. I slept like a bloody rock on heavy sedatives. I put on some Syndromeda, an ambient musical group whose msuic could best be described as "atmospheric" or, uh, ambient.

Ahem, anyway, I slept deeply, and I dreamed while I did. I know I dream usually, but I rarely remember them. This time I did, though...

My first dream is unrememberable, not unmemorable. I only remember the end, where that dream and the one I do remember merged. I was in a room with a beautiful woman, but she pulled snakes from somewhere. Then, I shifted her away. That's the only way I can describe what happened. Basically, that woman disappeared, and another one took her place, also with a snake. I didn't make her disappear, and she wasn't changing; they were truly different people.

Anyway, I started getting nervous, and they became more hostile, antagonizing me with the snakes. I was run out of the room I was in*...

...and watched, an observer only, as all variety of "ideas" flew away from a house. I saw it from a neighboring backyard. The ideas didn't look like birds, but they had been kept caged (this I knew but didn't see), and they flew away like a flock of birds does when they've just been released, though their physical "form" looked more like bits of text or measures of music.

Then, my POV switched around, and I was inside the yard from which the ideas came from, but still just an observer. It was at this point that I learned that it was a pair of women living together. One of the women was evil, and was keeping the ideas held captive. The ideas belonged to the other woman, and she was trying to set them free. I got the feeling that the release of ideas I saw was a "victory" in the kind of sense that they had been warring.

My POV flipped again, but this time, I was inside the woman trying to find a way out of the backyard, or she was looking for ideas stuck in the high flowerbed grass along the sides of the yard to free them, when I got this horrible feeling behind me.

I was then standing in the neighboring backyard (which was, consequently, where the 'good' lady was ultimately trying to get to) as I saw the 'evil' lady and some servant** move after the 'good' lady. At this point, the dream shifts some, and I find myself inside the 'good' lady, and she's sitting in "her" room, which is a pantry-size room just off the main hallway, by the front door. I remember empty bookshelves on the walls, an old yellowing yellow paint on everything, and the lady sitting in a rocking chair, reading. For some reason, I knew that, even though she knew she should leave, she couldn't without freeing the rest of her ideas. The 'evil' lady wanted her gone, but couldn't make her leave; the 'good' lady had to want to leave for herself.

Well, I knew that the 'evil' lady was about to try something to hurt the 'good' lady, or perhaps just get her to leave. I'm not sure, but I knew that something BAD was about to happen.

The doorbell rang, and I knew that was it. I "followed" the 'good' lady to the door. I remember sunlight hitting the yellow curtains on the double front doors from a 90° angle to the front of the house. (Interestingly, I am CONVINCED that the front of the house faced the exact opposite direction of that window from the previous dream, and the sunlight matches up perfectly with this. Weird.) When she opened the door, it was dark outside. Not "just like midnight", but as if it WAS midnight.

I felt a need to be controlling the woman, thinking that something bad was going to happen to her if I didn't, because I saw a dead-looking arm being pulled back from where it had knocked on the door***, into the bushes beside the door. I moved into the woman's body, and pushed and pulled her as fast as I could outside and off the porch. Now, it was raining hard and cold, and still the mdidle of the night.

I turned the lady around, to see what was in the bushes. Almost like X-ray vision, the layers of leaves disappeared as the thing hiding in the bushes became clearer and clearer. Just as the last layer faded, a flash of lightning illuminated the area. I knew that this creature was after both the woman AND me (perhaps because I'd gotten involved?), and the 'good' lady and I screamed as one, as the ninja showed us his face. (Oh, it was a ninja, but I didn't know that until right at the end, when it began to reveal itself.)

I don't know what the face was, because the scream woke me up. However, as I lay there panting, disoriented from the abrupt conclusion to my dream, I knew that, had I lasted a moment longer, I would have seen the face of Evil. This was terrifying. Then, in my half-awake state, I realized I had to get up and wake on up, so I began to get myself fully awake. I "knew" I had to do this carefully, because I had to life myself off the bed in a "just so" manner. (I had gotten twisted around, and if I had sat quickly up, I'd have hurt my back.)

I looked around, and the music was still playing, thanks to repeat.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Now, what the hell was that all about? I feel that there's something to this dream. I feel it as if I HAVE to figure it out, it's so important. One thing I know, but wasn't part of my dream, per se, was that the 'good' lady was trying to get to the house next door, which is where I was originally when this dream started. I never went inside this other house, but the backyard was a lush, green sitting garden, and radiated calm and peace.

By contrast, in the backyard of the house the two women shared, I remember it as having a "desolate" backyard.

All of it seems significant, from the two women and the two houses, to the placement of the sunlight, to the bird-like ideas and the Evil ninja. I almost feel shaken, thinking back on things now. Oh well, at least I'm off tomorrow, so I don't HAVE to go back to sleep yet. :)

---

* - A room with a very beautiful view of a countryside hill, with lots of green plants, a very blue sky, and patches of clouds floating by. From the angle, of late afternoon summer sunlight was coming from the other side of the house, because I couldn't see the sun, but I saw the brilliance that its light was creating. I think it's worthy of noting that it was facing almost directly in the direction that the summer sun rises in my part of the world.

** - No, I have no idea what it was, but I can only say it was some kind of Eastern thing. Perhaps an oni wearing samurai armor? Not sure.

*** - I know that the doorbell was rung; however, I also KNOW that my mind knew it had knocked. Weird. Weirder still, it looked like a life-size Barbie doll arm!

"Looks like someone has a case of the Mondays.."

Good lord, how true that is. Today was, as I like to say, an exercise in Murphy's Law. I came in, and got started with my morning routine. However, the 8am checker called in. I looked into that, saw someone I could call. I went upstairs to look at something I thought was odd, and sure enough, Monday was mis-scheduled. That is to say, we didn't have ANYWHERE enough checkers scheduled. (I blame the last minute hurry-it-up fixing of the schedule on Saturday afternoon.) I had the morning checker start calling people to come in.

Later, I found out that a merchant marine company that shops with us was coming in to pick up its groceries. I took time away from my morning routine to get the groceries brought to the front (meat was kept in the meat cooler, dairy in the dairy cooler, etc.). Then, I found out that our replacement idea was asleep, and his parents wouldn't wake him up. I hurried back into the office, because I'm REALLY late now.

Not ten minutes later, I find out that the company had arrived to get their groceries. I had to go out to help take them out. This was brilliant: Nearly $1000 worth of groceries to go on a boat, for the entire crew, for several days, and the guy who's picking the groceries up DROVE A CAR. So, we only got the dry goods in his car, and he had to come back later for the meat, dairy, and produce. By this time, it was nearly 800am.

Our replacement 800am checker showed up, and I got her to run Guest Care. I managed to finish by nearly 900am, and get UScan out before it became much of an issue. I had to explain to the manager that we were $11 short for an unknown reason, because the accounting closer tendered two pans out WAY over. (We have a rule in our office: If a checker's till comes out REALLY over, do it as a pickup instead of tendering it out. Then, when you do your final office count for the night, see if you're even. If you are, then they ARE over. If you're short, then you made a mistake counting their pan. He didn't do this.) Have I mentioned I hate feeling like I disappoint my manager? Yeah.. it makes me feel bad. (I still don't know why it matters so much to me.)

Scott showed up, and I got to go to lunch at 1000am. Whew, was I glad of that. We had IHOP, and talked about a bunch of things, the game included.

I came back from lunch, worked UScan for a couple of hours, and THEN had to explain that we were short on hours for Monday due to a scheduling issue to my manager. Shit. She took it in stride, though, as she takes most things. She's one laid back manager, for someone who stays on top of things, and makes sure they get done.

When I left at 307pm (a minute before I got overtime), we had two checkers. One was supposed to be UScan, and the other was a bagger who came in early for us. One of our file clerks was working on UScan, since Joyce - my CSM - was interviewing a new-hire. She was told to hire no less than three new people before next week, as we don't get Dana at all next week. (She was ours, but has been splitting time between Drug/Gm and Front End. I guess next week is going to be an "all Drug/Gm" week.)

Oh yeah, at one point, we had to call the same file clerk to check. My manager explained, in calm, rational tones that made me feel like I failed her badly, that the extra file clerks were working this week to fix over 3000 errors in our store.  (We have three scheduled exclusively for File Maintenance this week, whereas it's normally one, and one part-timer.) She explained that while this clerk was on the Front End, she wasn't getting the erorrs in line.  Needless to say, I had that girl closed down as soon as it was feasible.

I left, though, and came right home. I never felt so happy to get out of the store. Oh, I've been glad I left before, but that was usually accompanied by an anger as well. Today, I wasn't angry. I was just tired and relieved. :)

I'm off tomorrow, and I'm taking my mom to Fayette County. I'll explain tomorrow. :)

(And the musical selection indicates that I'm in one of my "atmospheric" or "ambient" moods. "Metal doesn't bring the same, reaction from inside my brain," as Savatage put it once. :) Good night, all.