I can usually interpret my own dreams, and most of them can be clearly linked to real life events. But every so often one comes along that seems very meaningful, but for the life of me I can't work it out.

All I remember is my dad saying my fingers were getting too long - so he took out this large white machine (similar to a sewing machine) and got me to put my hand in it. He then used it to repeatedly chop off very small slithers of the tops of my fingers, one by one. It was very painful at first, but then after a while I found a way to tense my muscles so that I could barely feel it. When it was done, my fingers were about 3/4 of the original size - the middle joints were in the same places, but the farthest joints were gone and I only had stumps after the middle joints. Curiously, though, my fingernails were still there. My fingers felt compressed, like they were in a pair of really tight gloves. I wasn't angry at my dad or anything - I just went along with it. I wasn't even too upset over the loss of my fingers.

After this dream I remember a small dream where my family and I were skiing, and my dad fell and badly hurt his back. I felt terrible about it. This might be linked to the finger dream.

Let me know if you have any ideas. Thanks.