One Must Imagine Sisyphus Happy

I'm not sure if this was one dream or two. I recalled them together and they had a connected plot. I was really mad at the end. Like really, really mad! The emotion lingered for a while after waking up. I rarely feel anger, so on the occasion that I do, it's almost a welcome experience.

Mall Shops, Cheats
I'm in a competition with Lance. We are owners of small shops in a shopping mall. The competition is to own more shops than the other. Apparently, it's just a computer program because I easily find how to cheat by editing my character data. I give myself all the max stats and money. Lance and I both use this cheat. We quickly realize that this ruins the fun of it. So agree to not cheat. Lance buys a bar that sits in the middle of the mall and gets a lot of foot traffic.

I write a program to make money off the bar for Lance. I am reluctant because I know the game is so easy to cheat that someone will use my program to steal money. But I do it anyway. I finish and decide to have a few drinks.

Work From Home, Fire
I have a false awakening. I still feel tipsy from the drinks of the previous dream. I must not have slept very long. I am in an apartment but it's nothing like my waking life. I look at a clock: 12:56 in the afternoon. I check my laptop. There's an urgent IM from work from just a few minutes ago. The producer wants me to shut down the bar program that I wrote in the previous dream. As I expected, someone is exploiting it to steal money.

I'm glad I woke up just in time. I know what to do, I just need to change a few lines of code and upload it to the server. But now I become aware of two other people in my apartment. One is Garrett (an ex-coworker that I didn't like). The other is a young woman who I don't recognize but seems familiar. I intuit that she is my roommate so she has a right to be here and Garrett is her guest. It occurred to me that maybe it was my sister, but the girl was definitely blonde. Anyway, they are chit chatting about nothing in particular in the kitchen. I need to work so I'm annoyed that they are disturbing me.

I carry my laptop to the kitchen and place it on the stove top. I forgot the power cable. I fetch the power cable from and plug the laptop into a power socket that is oddly on the edge of the counter near the stove. I forgot the network cable. I search the apartment for it. As I search, Garrett and the girl and collecting their coats to leave. I am silently relieved that I will have some peace to work.

Still searching in another room, I overhear them conversing. It turns out they decided not to leave. Instead they have the sudden urge to have sex. My reaction is "ugh, great...." It is a surprise because I intuited that the girl wasn't attracted to Garrett. Still, my reaction is mostly one of indifference and mild annoyance.

They are having sex on the floor next to a closet with sliding doors. I see the network cable on the floor in the closet. I careful step around them, trying not to touch them. I say something sarcastic like "don't mind me and don't let me interrupt your garden-variety sex while I get this wire." Garrett becomes enraged by what I said, especially the words "garden-variety." He gives the girl a few final thrusts and finishes. Then he stands up and confronts me. I ignore him and take the cable to the kitchen.

Garrett follows me and continues to yell and spew. I plug the cable into the laptop on one end and into the freezer on the other. I realize in the moment that this is strange but not enough to become lucid. Garrett throws something heavy at me. I dodge the projectile and it hits the stove top. Garrett storms off and out the door. Good riddance.

I turn to look at the stove and see that the gas knobs are damaged. A small flame is lit from each of them. I think if I can just turn them off then I can safely shut of the gas and get it repaired. I reach with my hand but quickly pull it back; too hot. I find a broom handle and reach with it to tap the knobs. The flame only grows. It's clear to me that the damage is increasing and will soon become disaster. I see on the wall above the stove the two master gas line valves. They aren't on fire yet. I try to reach them with the broom stick but I can get the leverage to rotate the valve with just a stick.

I start to panic. I can't stop this. The whole apartment is going to catch fire. I think of my roommate and worry for her safety. I intuit that her name is Laura or Lauren. I call for her to see if she is still in the apartment. I need to get everyone out before the fire gets worse. The glow from the gas flames gets brighter and brighter. I need to call the fire department. Wait, I think, I might have a fire extinguisher. Let me try that as one last chance to avert disaster. I scramble around the kitchen, searching the cabinets for the fire extinguisher. The metal of the stove now is glowing red hot. It looks ready to explode. By now, I feel more anger than panic. This is all Garrett's fault! I decide I should just run to get the heck out of there. Wake