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garoteI dreamed that I was a woman aged about 25, looking and sounding like a younger version of Erika, and there was another woman with me who was my friend. We were wandering together through a pastoral landscape, dotted with farms and houses. It was sunny, almost over-lit, and there was no wind.
I found a large, slightly misshapen watermelon, and picked it up. "Watch this," I said to my friend, and heaved it through a nearby window. The window broke into long shards and the watermelon landed on the porch, unharmed.
I stepped through the window and picked it up again, then threw it down hard on the driveway. It broke apart. The inside was beyond ripe - the usual red mixed with a deep plum color - and I could see big chunks of sugar and juice. I picked up a section and so did my friend. "Delicious!" we both said, though after a minute or so of chewing, the pulp lost all its flavor and tasted mealy.
"I know what this is," I thought. "I'm actually tasting the sleep apnea insert that's in my mouth right now."
My friend turned to me and shook her head. "Man, your mind is weird," she said.
We were wandering in a small town. A scattering of very old houses and very modern buildings, threaded into a redwood forest along a tangle of roads. Sometimes the trees would disperse into fields of tall grass. The modern buildings were all shiny windows and sharp angles, like Silicon Valley research labs. I figured the old houses were kept in their rough state deliberately by some architect, to provide a counterpoint. People were walking around, on paths or on the road, usually in small groups. Students? Employees?
As we explored I came to the realization that this village and all the people in it were inside my mind. I had created them for our entertainment. But something was odd about the relationships: The people in the town liked my friend more than me. My friend had a superpower -- she could bend time so that she could move very fast. As I traveled by bus across the land, I saw her zipping from place to place on foot, talking to the groups of people. She was ingratiating herself to them by giving them gifts and compliments. I had never bothered to do that. To me, the people were just there to set the scene, and it didn't matter what they thought of me.
Eventually I got sick of seeing my friend do this. I stepped out of the bus and yelled "STOP!" Everyone in the area stopped talking and walking and stood still, but I could tell they did it reluctantly. I could hear some of the people muttering to each other about how mean and unfair I was, making them hold still for no reason. I was annoyed at their attitude and furious at my friend for turning them against me. My friend had vanished somewhere, but that was fine because I wanted to be alone in my mind and think.
But the people would not stop muttering and wobbling as they stood in place. In a raised voice, not too loud because I knew everyone would hear me no matter how I pitched it, I said: "I need you all to shut up and get out of my sight right now, and if any of you don't, I will make you disappear completely."
The threat was, I would delete them from existence. And it worked. Instantly I was alone in the village. All the buildings were dark and it was twilight, with no stars. I began to walk along a road, under a canopy of trees. What was I going to do about my friend, and her manipulations? Was she even around any more? I was certain I hadn't created her.
As I pondered this, I decided it was a bit too dark. I lifted my face to the sky and shouted "LIGHT!!!"
Light blasted forth from everywhere and flooded my eyes. "Maybe I overdid that," I thought. Unfortunately I shouted so loud that I woke myself up, with the word still echoing in my head.
I found a large, slightly misshapen watermelon, and picked it up. "Watch this," I said to my friend, and heaved it through a nearby window. The window broke into long shards and the watermelon landed on the porch, unharmed.
I stepped through the window and picked it up again, then threw it down hard on the driveway. It broke apart. The inside was beyond ripe - the usual red mixed with a deep plum color - and I could see big chunks of sugar and juice. I picked up a section and so did my friend. "Delicious!" we both said, though after a minute or so of chewing, the pulp lost all its flavor and tasted mealy.
"I know what this is," I thought. "I'm actually tasting the sleep apnea insert that's in my mouth right now."
My friend turned to me and shook her head. "Man, your mind is weird," she said.
We were wandering in a small town. A scattering of very old houses and very modern buildings, threaded into a redwood forest along a tangle of roads. Sometimes the trees would disperse into fields of tall grass. The modern buildings were all shiny windows and sharp angles, like Silicon Valley research labs. I figured the old houses were kept in their rough state deliberately by some architect, to provide a counterpoint. People were walking around, on paths or on the road, usually in small groups. Students? Employees?
As we explored I came to the realization that this village and all the people in it were inside my mind. I had created them for our entertainment. But something was odd about the relationships: The people in the town liked my friend more than me. My friend had a superpower -- she could bend time so that she could move very fast. As I traveled by bus across the land, I saw her zipping from place to place on foot, talking to the groups of people. She was ingratiating herself to them by giving them gifts and compliments. I had never bothered to do that. To me, the people were just there to set the scene, and it didn't matter what they thought of me.
Eventually I got sick of seeing my friend do this. I stepped out of the bus and yelled "STOP!" Everyone in the area stopped talking and walking and stood still, but I could tell they did it reluctantly. I could hear some of the people muttering to each other about how mean and unfair I was, making them hold still for no reason. I was annoyed at their attitude and furious at my friend for turning them against me. My friend had vanished somewhere, but that was fine because I wanted to be alone in my mind and think.
But the people would not stop muttering and wobbling as they stood in place. In a raised voice, not too loud because I knew everyone would hear me no matter how I pitched it, I said: "I need you all to shut up and get out of my sight right now, and if any of you don't, I will make you disappear completely."
The threat was, I would delete them from existence. And it worked. Instantly I was alone in the village. All the buildings were dark and it was twilight, with no stars. I began to walk along a road, under a canopy of trees. What was I going to do about my friend, and her manipulations? Was she even around any more? I was certain I hadn't created her.
As I pondered this, I decided it was a bit too dark. I lifted my face to the sky and shouted "LIGHT!!!"
Light blasted forth from everywhere and flooded my eyes. "Maybe I overdid that," I thought. Unfortunately I shouted so loud that I woke myself up, with the word still echoing in my head.
