rshort1202

I’m about to leave from work for home. Mom calls me to say it’s going to take an extra hour. She doesn’t specify, but I become exasperated, knowing it’s traffic. I just want to be home. I head out now, on a bike, and it looks like I’m downtown. I think I see some patches of snow, but there really isn’t any traffic. On the ride, I discover that the bike’s seat is too high for me, causing some awkwardness. I arrive home now, which is a large, empty feeling house. Mom and Makayla are here. Mom has bought me a bunch of NA beer, a kind I’ve never seen before. I try one and it’s not great.



I’m in the kitchen of some house (it feels similar to Mom’s). Looking through the window above the sink, the view is of a partially sunlit hill. It is tall and steep, slightly rocky, yet lushly green. The illuminated portions (it seems like a sun that’s close to setting) are vibrant and awe-inspiring. Maggie and Stella are out in the yard (which just seems like open space) and I think about calling them in.

It is snowing. I am outside with Julia and possibly someone else, and it feels like we’re at work even though we’re outside on the side of a road. It is dark out, though the snow is producing some glow from the reflected light. I think it’s the first of the season, and it’s really coating everything nicely. I then get excited and ask Julia if I can take a ten minute break. She says yes, she knows this is my favorite. I start walking up the road, wearing a long sleeve with the sleeves rolled, conscious that most would be wearing a lot more than this. This area looks like Dad’s neighborhood. I’m starting to hike up the hill, and I think I pass through a house. What I’m walking on now transitions into a dark wood staircase. At one of the landings there is a box of Nature Valley granola bars. I take and start eating one. I feel pretty out of shape

I am on a walk. I notice someone coming up behind me so I step side to let them pass. I then notice an old couple coming up quickly and wait for them too. I overhear the man tell the woman that it’s time to start their cardio. I think that’s great for them, given their age. I notice how thin his legs are and how thin she is. They pass me on a footbridge that’s probably 30 feet or so long, winding, with some snow left on it. Getting behind them, I say “mind if I try to keep up with you guys? It might be good for me” as they’re starting to jog. I don’t think they mind even though I’m not sure they say anything and I keep following even though I know it’s weird what I just did. We do end up talking about different hiking areas. The man mentions somewhere in Orange County, as if it’s close, and then a spot that actually is nearby. He points when he talks, but I focus more on the woman (maybe because she is closer?). He says ‘hello’ to get my attention and then looks irritated when I look up after it’s already too late. They are both nice and kind of blunt. We’re on a straightaway of an old dirt road among some pines. To my left there is a small field. In the field there is what looks like the trunk of a Baobab tree. It is topped with flags of different countries? that are currently swelling in the breeze. It seems abandoned or otherwise has some creepy element about it. I take a picture to send to Melissa, thinking of Midsommar. For a second I think I probably shouldn’t be this close to this couple with the virus going around. Looking at her, I think it would probably kill her if she got it. They don’t seem to be concerned though. We are now near the top of a hill and I’m not sure I’ve been this far. There is a good view of the city behind us (very similar to the actual view) and there is another hill to the left that I think I have walked down before.




I think I’m in a school or classroom. I have to go to the bathroom and I see that the ‘bathroom’ is two stalls right next to what looks like a teacher’s desk. The one further from the desk looks slightly larger than the other. The whole setup is awkward. I go different times, each time a different scenario of people at the desk and in the stalls or not. I think at one point HR Rosy is at the desk. I line the toilet seat with the thin toilet paper, conscious of everyone being able to hear what I’m doing in here.

Melissa’s mom has died. I think she went into the hospital for something simple and then did not make it out. Right now, I am seeing Melissa, Alex, and their dad walking along a snow covered hill. It just doesn’t look or feel right, and it is hard to fathom that this is how it’s going to look now. Now, I am in their house. Carlos is on the couch; he turns his head and I think that he looks pretty rough.

I am alone and walking up the stairs into a house or apartment near the river. The staircase is wide and tall, bending once at a 90 degree angle. The interior seems to be a tint of pink and looks fairly but not completely modern. In this large, open room there is an almost floor-to-ceiling window with a view of the river. Now, Mairin walks in. At first she doesn’t pay any attention to me, but then she ends up saying hi. A fairly large group now comes in, and I think they must be her family. I stand here and talk to her for a bit. I think either this is her place or she’s staying here.




I am wading in the river in a section that seems to be downtown. I near the other bank and see a woman approaching that seems to be homeless. I’m not sure if she is benevolent or not, but I turn around anyway. Wading back to the other side, all I can notice is that the river is full of dirty, shitty clothes and other debris. At one point it is all that surrounds me, and I become hyper aware and acutely panicky. I get a profound urge to move out of this city.




I think I’m at Dad’s house. I need to go somewhere, but it is snowing very hard. My car is either parked in the driveway or off to the side, and it’s almost completely covered in snow.

I am with Mom in what looks like a small, one main road mountain town. Across the street, I notice a large group of skiers, apparently waiting for a bus. The bus appears but then passes them by. Confused, they try to flag it down. I survey their winter clothes, thinking they’re wearing too much. It doesn’t feel cold at all to me, but I guess it makes sense for when they’re actually skiing. I think about how it’s only the first day of September, so this has to be the very first snowfall and/or day of the season. We’re in one of these wooden cabin type buildings that looks pretty empty when I feel the ground shake softly but consistently. I’m certain it’s an earthquake and wait for it to happen again. It happens again, this time more intensely, so I make my way outside. I notice others coming outside, some looking panicked. Mom mentions how of course we’re in Portland, guiding my attention to the snow-covered mountain right above us. I see some watching the mountain to see if it’ll avalanche. I wonder what we would do if it did.

I am on a road trip with Dad and Makayla, with Dad driving. We are going to Texas, and I see that we’re currently driving through a corner of Utah. It is like I am seeing a satellite map of a moment, and I notice that there is snowfall on the ground right above where we are and will be travelling. It zooms and pans to the right a bit. We pass by many lakes in a short amount of time. They are all fairly small, but they are beautiful. The water is clear enough to see the bottom of an entire lake as well as all the light colored and large rocks within.




I am in a store with Sage when I grab off of a shelf at about eye level a bottle of Lagunitas beer. I think I had been looking for it and am excited to have found it. I tell Sage how good it is as I open it up. I grab a glass from the shelf and pour the beer fairly vigorously into it, producing only a small, snow white head. The beer has the appearance of carbonated white grape juice and smells of the same. I take a sip and it is good. I pronounce Lagunitas funny and kind of laugh about it. Now, I am parking on the side of a residential street behind another car. Dad is on the lawn of this front/side yard, faced away from me; I have come to meet up with him. I think I have brought the full glass and the remainder in the bottle, each in a cup holder. I get out and start talking with him. I ask if he’d be offended if I just stayed at Mom’s while I’m going to school. He hesitates, almost as if taken aback, and then replies, “no, of course not.” He says I can do whatever I need to focus on school. I notice we’re under a large oak? tree that splits near the bottom. I’m now in the house here (Dad’s?), I think with Mom and Makayla. There is indication of past activity, though no one is currently here. There are two boxes of Panda Express open on the counter, each with a glass of white wine sitting too near the edge. I notice about five of the Lagunitas beers, all opened and partially finished. It makes me a little mad because he all of them without asking

I am doing an escape room with Melissa, Brooke, and possibly Breezy. This place looks like an actual house, with a few rooms that we can go into. The house seems very tidy and sort of minimalistic, though not without adornments, and has an antiquated feeling to it, as if lived in by an older person. I get the sense of some sort of travel theme, aided by a huge map of the world taking up almost a whole wall. We are trying to escape now, and it seems like I’m doing a lot of it. It’s not that they aren’t or can’t, it’s just that I can excel in a small group of familiar people. I end up moving a bunch of hanging paintings. One has a clue written in red ink on its back side. Many reveal a tiny, circular light bulb protruding from the wall behind. I imagine that these will all light up later and serve as a clue one way or another. I like that the clues flow easily, even if somewhat too easily, and aren’t disjointed. I had moved a small realistic painting of a brown bear (the bear on a slight incline, seemingly in motion, very realistic, and cropped fairly close). One clue mentioned something ‘dreary’, which we noticed with some excitement was referencing a very large and impressionistic painting of people that looked dreary indeed. (*As I write this, I think it may have been moving this painting that revealed the map). I think we are supposed to place small pins in certain spots on the map. The map is now gone? and there are just little holes in the white/tan wall. There seems to be three different clusters of holes, and I think the pin needs to be placed in the correct hole. Melissa guesses the first placement correctly, after which a recorded voice from a speaker tells us we’ve gotten it correct. We try the other ones but never get a response. I end up telling our situation the female employee on the other end of the radio. She’s quiet for a second and then I hear her say to someone else “I have no idea.” I also don’t really know what there is for them to do when a piece of the game simply isn’t working. At this point, I’m thinking we’ll just have them tell us the answers to this part. I also notice that Melissa and Brooke seem to be off doing something else. I hear them talking and laughing in another room. Then it becomes more quiet, and I go look. Melissa is laying in a small bed in an alcove in the wall just big enough for it. I notice a gap between the far and the wall along the head of the bed (which is reminiscent to me of the sleeping quarters on a boat). Melissa looks grumpy, her face sort of flushed and pouting, her gaze diverted. I go to kiss her but she moves so that we kiss each other on the cheek instead. At this point, I notice that her eyes are a little misty. I was what’s wrong and she keeps saying nothing, etc. I finally get it out of her that she’s upset that the puzzle room is not working as it’s supposed to. It irritates me because it’s such a trivial thing to let yourself get upset over. I go back into the other room now, and I don’t think we even have radio contact with this girl. She said she was going to call the shoe room? This room is behind the other. There’s a writing desk and an old corded phone that I see but never hear. While waiting, I start opening drawers, but find nothing. I’m wondering how much further this puzzle room will go into the house. I notice a bathroom and a room or two off of this one. I never do hear the phone. Earlier, I noticed a timer with a green ‘70’. I thought that meant we were doing really well on time.




I am at Walmart? with Melissa, buying only two things. We are at the end of what is apparently the only line, behind a family of four that looks nice enough but also a little privileged. The woman notices how we only have two items and offers for us to just throw it in with their stuff. I was going to use a gift card, and I’m not sure how much is on it exactly, so I’m not sure how that’d work.




I am outside of a grocery store. I run up to the entrance, pushing a cart, and ask the younger looking boy employee if they do valet, with an absurd touch of humor. I then leave the cart and run inside to retrieve what I’ve forgotten.




I am watching (on the news or some kind of video?) cars driving in both directions on a freeway through a snowstorm. Someone is commenting on how it’s almost been the worst winter when, sure enough, a car starts to drift and ends up impacting a school bus. Then school bus then takes out another vehicle and the whole thing exponentiates into an event that just made it the worst winter to date.

I am at work and entering the fitting room. I am not alone either; at least four other people are also entering at the same time. I notice a fairly dirty looking guy in his 20s and his female companion. He has long and shaggy brown hair (or dreads) and baggy clothes, and she has dark hair and pants and a somewhat skimpy purple tank top. The guy, with a sort of detached fervor, starts grabbing anything in reach on the folding tables (I notice a folded dress shirt) like he’s going to take them into the stall and steal them. I think he has not noticed that I work here. I say “hey man” kind of casually, which startles him and causes him to look guilty and remorseful. I think he leaves now, and I start checking the stalls. Most have a floor completely obscured by tried on and tossed clothes. One contains a man passed out or sleeping on the floor and amongst the clothes. I don’t even know what to do. Now I am helping ring up customers, and I notice the guy what was going to steal. He is actually buying a pair of black slacks.




I am with Melissa in a bed. I think we are just cuddling and talking. Now out of nowhere it begins to snow. Almost immediately the roads are covered. (It looks like downtown, like the street parallel to the river and behind the movie theater). I offer to give her a ride wherever so she doesn’t have to drive in it. I think it’s out of the way or will create a problem with where the cars are, but I don’t mind going out of my way. Now, I am driving us somewhere. I think Melissa says something about the speed, as if I’m going too slow. Right after, the car violently slides out and then corrects itself after a tense moment.




(I think this one was part of another dream that I can’t recall. It has a weird feeling to it). I’ve been watching a movie that is or is very similar to Hereditary. I have an image of Charlie’s decapitated head in my mind. It looks more animated and like it has more skin on the face, around the eyelids and lip areas. I think there is some distinct, enigmatic, seminal plot to this movie that I can’t stop thinking about.




I am sitting at Melissa’s kitchen table in the seat facing the sliding door. At least Carlos and one other family member is here. They’re talking about late puberty? (like in their early 20s). I lift my bare leg up so they can see the hair on it and say “I haven’t seen my legs since like fourth grade.” It elicits some chuckles. I then feel slightly self conscious about putting my bare foot on their table.

I am outside somewhere. It seems dim or dark. It’s almost like I am watching this scene, as opposed to in it. There is a horse, and the horse is pulling a cart or something. There’s someone on the cart, directly behind the horse. I now watch as the horse begins to give birth. Once the foal is birthed, the scene (and me too?) rises into the night sky. Something slowly changes into an image of a rabbit/rabbits. (*this scene is oddly psychedelic and definitely inspired by the little bit of Watership I watched last night). Now I am laying in bed or asleep. There are OBE sensations for a while, until I open my eyes. There is something slightly different, either the scene or my perception. I know that this is an OBE or a dream state. I walk out of the room and into the dark kitchen, where I see on the oven that it is 1am. I then make my way to the front door and open it. It is night, but with the illumination that comes with heavy snowfall. There are a few inches on the ground (*just like in real life) and it is still coming down. I walk out on the dry strip under the roof’s protrusion. I have the notion to rise up into the air, but when I try I cannot. Now, I think I wake up in bed.