Snacks From the Butler's Pantry

I was researching flashing details for a storefront window set in masonry. It was frustrating, because all I could in my reference books were old black and white photos of underground brickwork. I recognized some of the pictures as being from the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. The brick work was built right into the ceiling of an underground cavern. I couldn't understand why I had never seen these photos before. I asked Aquanina for help, but she was mystified also. We had a long conversation, and ended up talking about the pros and cons of different 3D modeling programs.

We ended up at my coworker's desk, helping him retrofit some inappropriately large classical columns onto the brick building I was working on. As he zoomed into one of the details on the screen, I realized something was wrong. The zoom looked really smooth, and popped out like a 3D movie. I wondered if this was a dream. As soon as the thought crossed my mind, I lifted into the air, and flew away. It all happened so fast, I barely had time to think. One second I was immersed in work, the next I was flying out the door. I yelled back to Nina, "Sorry, I have to go. This is just too weird for me."

I could see darkness outside the front door of my office. Night time already? I flew out into the darkness, and realized it was an empty void. I tried to think of something to fill the void. I pictured the image I had just seen on my coworker's computer screen. The brick building with oversized columns. I knew it was a new memorial monument on the Mall in Washington DC. I got a flash of the building in front of me. It was coming at me too fast, and I flew right through it like a mirage.

I knew the dream was slipping, so I looked down at my hands, extended in front of me like superman. They did not look like my hands at all. The skin was aged and leathery from sun exposure. I felt very detached from them, like I could barely move them. They felt heavy and numb, like when you sleep on your arm and wake up with it numb. I struggled to make my left hand reach over and grab my right forearm. As soon as I felt the touch, the dream stabilized and I was back in my office.

Things still felt very shaky, and I could sense my real body back in bed. I walked around the office picking things up and touching everything in sight to try to ground myself. I knew the dream was not stable enough to try flying or traveling, so I decided to stay put and explore my current environment.

I tried to find Nina again, but she had transformed into her sister. I recognized that threatening, creepy look in her eyes. I knew she was an impostor who wanted to somehow trap me in the dream. I had a half empty bottle of rootbeer in my hand that I had found in the office. I was holding onto it to keep the dream stable. Nina's sister was talking non-stop, trying to distract me and make me lose my lucidity. I knew my expectations were the only thing making the situation feel scary. I tried to think of something funny that would change the feel of the dream. I reached over, and dumped the rootbeer down the front of her pants, laughing. It just made her more aggressive and monstrous. I tried to think of pleasant thoughts to keep this from turning into a nightmare, knowing that it was too late. She went from threatening to aggressive, and started to grab me with her creepy witch hands.

I still had the bottle in my hand. I slammed it down on the edge of the table to break it in half and use it as a weapon. Instead of breaking, it bounced like it was made of rubber. I tried again, throwing all my weight into it. When the bottle hit the table, I felt a pain in my jaw, like someone punched me. I experimented again, hitting the bottle on the table. Again, I felt the impact in my jaw. The witch laughed at me, explaining that any harm I did to my dream world was only harming myself. I wondered for a second if I was sleeping strangely back in my bed, somehow putting weird pressure on my face and jaw. As soon as I thought of my body back in bed, I became aware of it and woke up.