half naked and lost

by daniel maritz
(Roscommon Ireland)

I had a very vivid and disturbing dream last night and because I live alone, I need to tell it to someone.

In the beginning, I am hurrying along the street, wearing only underpants and a shirt. I am acutely aware and extremely embarassed about my state of undress, I rush past a house where some ugly old women are sitting on the veranda.

Of course they immediately notice and start cackling and mocking me in shrill, strident voices. Trying to explain my situation, I say that I had an accident and lost my trousers in the process.

This makes the cackling and raucous mockery worse. Very upset and fearful, I flee the scene.
Next, I arrive in a kind of waiting room where there are many people waiting for some kind of approval from stern looking gentlemen to proceed. While waiting, an overpowering urge to urinate overcomes me and strangely enough, now suddenly wearing trousers, I urinate in a pot plant in full view of everybody.

I am immediately seized by two of the stern gentlemen and ushered into some kind of room. The worst part of this is the reassuring trousers are removed and several doors are locked in a maze like room giving the feeling of having grieviously sinned and needing to bepunished. The faces of my captors are very forbidding, sly and evil.
Strangely though, the room is open at the back and I make my escape easily.
Next, I ask a passer-by for directions to get out of the huge complex that I find myself in. I can only describe it as some kind of dream city. The buildings are very high and impressive. It resembles a large university in some way. As I'm heading along the directions given, I discover that I have the ability to run very fast and jump very high. This is extremely exhilirating and joyful.
I then arrive at some kind of apartment complex with many people walking about and talking to each other.

I start ascending some stairs and suddenly find myself at great and terrifying height. The stairs do not obey the ordinary laws of physics, but turn into those topsy turvy dimensional things one sees in art that psychologists show you. The stairs sort of turn in on themselves and the dimensionality is all wrong although it appears correct.

I almost fall from a great height and am so frightened that I wake up in a cold sweat, but very very grateful that I was only dreaming.

I am extremely disturbed for many hours afterwards.