Vanessa heard a Witch on NPR explaining that in Pagan terms the fall and winter are for personal internal composting. Let the worms churn the refuse of my life in their recursive realms of rumination:

New dream location: a large mall. I am there with friends and we’ve rushed to see a movie, any movie. We bought tickets for five o’clock, but still can’t decide what film to see. I really have to hit the bathroom and when I emerge from the bathroom back into the food court, I discover that there has been a Purple Rose of Cairo occurrence and many of the characters from various early era films are now participating in the mall, having food etc. It feels seasonal, costumed for Halloween.

I get a table with my two friends and we order dinner. We are people watching. It’s cold. We are under heavy comforters and it feels like a winter scene, as though we should be riding in a sleigh. There is a woman in Victorian dress, a heavy, black dress and matching bonnet, being coy and flirty. She gives me the impression, however, of being something of a prude.

There are three men in keystone cop regalia near where I am having dinner. A Model A car comes spinning out of control toward the table where the men are. It crashes into theit table and bursts into flame. The driver is thrown, but there are two children inside. One of the cops steps up to the vehicle to free the burning children. He is able to hold them both, but unable to free them, and as we all look on he immolates with the children. It’s clear that he is making the choice to die as an expression of his desire and conviction to help.

The prude in Victorian dress is watching with an open mouth. Her posture has changed from the masks of flirtation to one of relaxation. Her shoulders are down and her arms are hanging at her side. There is no pose. She is in a moment of clarity or epiphany and she says, “I understand life now, you need to take courage from your first big mistake and really live.” She runs away to take some risks and I wake up to wonder at the intricacy of the subconscious mind.

Quit watching films Karl and get on screen. Everybody dies, but not everybody lives.