Blisters at the pool
In this dream I am with some random man that I don't recognise. We are walking to the swimming pool along a road I also don't recognise. The day is blustery and the wind blows us about. We talk about the meaning of life and how swimming is good for the soul because it takes away all the chatter in the brain and allows underlying thoughts to emerge.
We get to the pool which is an outdoor Olympic sized pool. From afar, all I see are a mass of heads everywhere. I tell the man that there are way too many people here for us to enjoy swimming.
Come on! He shouts, taking off his clothes as he runs towards the pool Let's go! We can always go in the slow lane! He jumps in the nearest lane.
Then I realise I am wearing a heavy winter coat and have several layers on underneath. The man has already disappeared from my sight into the masses of people and I don't know where he is.
I shudder in the cold wind as I struggle with the layers and fold them up into a neat pile on the ground. I go to the edge of the water and everyone seems to be having a great time frolicking in the pool. When I get in the water is lovely and warm, and I feel like it was a good decision after all.
I've lost the man but I relish swimming alone in the first lane, surrounded by kids splashing each other. Suddenly I feel a coldness at the top of my head. I reach up and feel that there is a hole in my swimming cap - where could it have come from? I wonder.
Then I am overwhelmed with a sharp searing pain which feels white in my tummy. I'm halfway down the lane and the water looks deep so I keep swimming, each breath bringing a new stab of pain. I am overwhelmed by it and it takes all my energy to keep going.
I get to the other side and climb out of the pool. I touch my abdomen and it feels positively hot, the skin exquisitely tender. Unable to see where the changing room is, I take a sneak peek down the front and am horrified to see that the skin has completely blistered off.
Then I look at my arms and the blisters are spreading right in front of my eyes, large fluid filled vesicles that look like pemphigus. I look at my legs and they are there too.
What's happening to me? I wonder, horrified. Then I wake up.
A figurine from the past
In this dream I am getting on a crowded train. I have a large tote bag, in which I have an assortment of things like my laptop and some clothes and my lunch. I don't recognise where I am and the train looks unfamiliar too.
I find a seat which is facing backwards to the direction the train is travelling in. I sit down and put my bag on my lap. There is a steady hum of people talking in the carriage, and nothing feels extraordinary, yet something feels wrong.
A woman is pacing up and down the carriage asking people if they have seen someone. After a while she comes to me and asks if I have seen Anthony. I tell her that I haven't seen him in a long time and she moves on, looking terribly distraught.
As the train chugs along gently, I think hard about how long it has been since I last saw him. 10 years? Maybe a bit less.. which year? I scroll through my memories, trying to pinpoint the last time we met.
Then I become aware of a small beeping noise, a very minute quiet noise. The beep is slightly different every time, as if it is being emitted by a random noise transmitter. I look around at what could be making the noise, and it becomes ever so slightly louder. I realise with a start that it's coming from my bag which is still on my lap.
I rummage through the bag and there seems to be an endless number of random items in there. An apple? a scarf? some notes? none of these things could possibly be making the noise. Then I find a small purse which I bought many many years ago in some little market somewhere, and when I pick it up I am convinced it is the source of the noise.
I unzip the purse and look inside - there is a little figurine moving its arms and legs, and its mouth is moving as if it is talking... beep! I look closely at it and no doubt, it is Anthony in figurine form.
How did he turn into a figurine? I wonder, and wake up.