Overboard

Last night, I had a dream that I was on a boat. We were filming a video
for something and I was the camera man and a kid was talking. He was
probably about eight or nine with blond spiky hair. Then this guy
started talking to him and I thought it was his father, but the kid was
really scared and kept backing up. Before he realized, he fell through
the railing and into the water. Now the boat had two decks. The top one
was dry, but the bottom one was sunder water. Perhaps the boat was
sinking, or something I don't know. But the sky was dark and the waves
were high. It took me a second to realize what was happening, and two
people already dove after him. Neither of which were the man I thought
to be his father. The people who jumped in were also children, although
older than the one who fell and nobody else on the deck moved. I put my
camera down, removed my shoes and jumped in myself. The water was cold
and I don't like getting wet, but I knew the two people who jumped in
were not big enough to complete the rescue on their own. They did get
the kid and were swimming towards me hen I resurfaced after my jump. I
swam below the kid and pushed him straight up so that he could reach
the ladder on the side. I did the same with the other two before
climbing back up myself.

The Resistance

I had multiple dreams last night. They all belonged to a bigger dream,
but were disconnected. The basic idea of the dream was that our area
(country, city, world?) was under attack by a bigger and stronger
force. We as an area could not afford to go to war with them, so they
took over but we have little pockets of resistance. Certain people, and
I was one of them, have risen up to fight them and for some reason, are
not as subject to their powers of destruction as others are. The thing
is that the enemy looks like everyone else, and we don't know who is
for us and who is against us.

One portion happened in a kitchen. I was sitting on a counter talking
to two women. They were mothers who were worried about their children.
They both had daughters. I was telling them of a safe house the
resistance was putting together. They were going to house people there
until they could transport them to the desert (which everyone knows (in
the dream anyway) is safer than here. ( I don't know why, but I think
it has something to do with the dryness or the heat or sunlight or
something, that the enemy cannot keep it's disguise and is easier to
spot.) Everyone who could, when they invaded, fled to the desert.) The
one thing that we couldn't do, on our way to the safe house, was make
ourselves look like refugees. That would tip off the enemy, who could
be anyone. So instead I explained to the two mothers my plan for
helping them arrive safely. I was to take the daughters with a friend
of mine. (A partner I can't remember while I am awake, but we did all
of our missions together.) We would teach the three girls the way, and
they would go on their bicycles, as if they were simply going out for
an evening ride before it got dark. My friend and I would jog about
half a block behind, far enough to not look like we are with them, but
close enough where we can sprint up if anything was to happen. We
followed the three girls all the way to the safe house with no
problems, although we passed many people we believed may have been
enemies. The mothers arrived later.

Another portion of this dream consisted of a huge building, something
like a college campus thrown into a single massive structure carved
into a hill side. We (my partner and I) were going in to look for
something. I don't remember what. the enemy knew we were there and this
was one of their strong holds. They didn't know where we were in the
massive structure and my partner and I took separate roots. There were
times when we were both being chased, and since I went a different way,
I ran and caught up with his pursuers. I fought them and since I had
the surprise of coming from behind, I won easily and quickly. He hid
off to the side as I ran past and attacked my pursuers from behind. I
turned to help we won. Then we split up again. I took the stairs going
up, and he kept going straight. This was the usual way of things since
he was a bigger man than I am and he was strong but not very agile. I,
on the other hand, was (this is in my dream remember) not as big and my
strength came from the way I moved, not from my muscles. We knew we
would meet up again later the same way we met here.

The enemy, when not in disguise, looked like the fairy's from Disney's
version of Sleeping Beauty turned ugly. They glittered in the light and
in the dark, and their faces were often skewed in frowns. I was
watching them, listening, hoping to get some clue to find a general
weakness, since they are too many to take down one by one. All of a
sudden, Robin Hood attacks them they shoot an arrow into his chest. He
still attacks, undaunted by the arrow sticking out of his chest where
his heart should be. He dodges more arrows and fires a few of his own.
it's a run by attack because he runs straight towards where I'm hiding.
He comes near and is surprised when he sees me. He tries to shoot me,
but we are in such close proximity, I grab the arrow from his bow
before he fires. He then grabs the arrow from his own chest and we
sword fight with arrows for a while. I wished that I had a real sword.
Anyway, we get to talking as we sword fight and I convince him that I'm
really on his side. He apologizes and when I ask him about the arrow,
he says he's wearing armor. Then he goes his way and I go mine.

Another part of the dream happened in the desert, where the kids are
escorted to school by the army of the resistance. Guns are common and
the kids have adjusted to this new life. They have organized football
teams and cheerleaders and sing and yell as kids do all the way to
school.

In another part of my dream, I was fighting an enemy one on one behind
a building. Every time I went to punch him in the face head on, I would
hit nothing but air. It took me a while, but I learned that I could
only hit hit from the side. I finally fought him to where he didn't
have any energy left to fight, but he was still dangerous so I got in
my car to drive away. The only problem was that I got in the wrong
side. So I got out and ran around and got in again, but it was the
wrong side again. The enemy was getting shopping carts and trying to
line them up behind my car so I couldn't get out before his friends
arrived. So instead of getting out again, I just climbed over the
middle and drove away. There were a lot of people on the road and about
a third of them kept turning into the enemy as I came near and trying
to attack me. I dodged and sped, turned and skid, accelerated and
escaped.

There were more parts of my dream, (it could be a mini-series... any tv
execs out there interested?) but I can't remember enough of them to
write about. (There were a lot of stairs at one portion, and at
another... ramps.)

In my dream last night, I was in Italy. I didn't speak Italian, but that was okay with me. I had already been there for a few weeks and I had explored the inner city thoroughly. (I was living in a small city, without the huge monuments and skyscrapers and monolithing structures. Everything was only a story or two stories high, but the town was laid out in a circle, and there were lots of parks and most of the roads were separated with long patches of grass down the center. That's where we walked.) The second half of my time there was split into two to three day segments where people I know would be visiting me, the idea being that I show them around the places I knew from the previous weeks, travel. At this particular portion of my trip, I was being visited by my brother Andrew and a female friend of his (I don't know who she is in real life.) They weren't going out, but were just friends. Instead of taking them to my favorite places in town, I started walking with them straight down a road, so that we could explore the city outside of it's center. It was very peaceful, but Andrew wanted more action, so he left our company for periods of time while his friend and I strolled down the road. We would stop to look at paintings and old buildings and shops, and he would come back flustered. He asked to talk to his friend privately but his tone was anything but private. He accused her of not really being his friend and trying to get to close to me. She just told him that she liked what I was doing better than what Andrew was looking for. She felt relaxed liked a vacation should be. I don't remember much else, except that I was barefoot holding my sandals (I don't even wear sandals in real life, and I hardly ever walk around barefoot outside my apartment.) and that they made up before the end of my dream and the three of us had a great time strolling the outskirts.

I was kicking around a soccer ball, and some guy asked me to do a trick I was trying to do, but couldn't. It took a few times, but I did it. (I was running and juggleing at the same time.) This might be a boring dream to read about, but I like Soccer, so I had fun.

Last night I dreamt that I was hanging from the bottom of a small airplane flown by my friend Luke. We flew over the desert and I saw a lot of cows. I don't know what cows were doing in the desert, but when we went high, I thought they wree another animal like a horse or something, but then we went lower and I saw that they were really just cows. There were a lot of them. Cows. A lot. (Nodding my head as I type.) Cows.
The desert was majestic and extended as far as I could see. But then we crashed next to a road because of a Canandian oil conspiracy planned and executed by the Canadian Postal Service. I felt stupid because I should have saw it coming. They always wore orange t-shirts and instead of delivering the mail to Canadian residents, they were checking the oil in our plane in the desert. I've never met a Canadian in the desert before. It just doesn't seem right.

I dreamt that my son was born. We called him Alexander. I don't remember why. I remember that they were complications, not in the birth, but in the circumstances. We weren't in a hospital. I remember feeling my wife's belly with the skin stretched so tight I thought it would break. I was worried about my hands not being sanitory enough to hold the newborn. He fit in the palms of my hands. I remember feeling this immense love for him and it seemed that my presence seemed to grow around him as clothing over his naked wet body. I remember bringing him to his mother and our combined joy over him. I don't remember a lot else, but the emotions are still with me. (Although in real life I don't think I would name a kid Alexander. That name doesn't have any meaning for me right now.) (I also don't have a wife just yet. Applicants can email me at me@JonathanDow.com. Please leave your age, hobbies, and testimony. (If you don't know what I mean when I say testimony, I'm probably not interested. Sorry.))

Last night I dreamt that I lived/worked at a drug store. I was young, probably about 12 or 13, and I had a group of friends. (various ages and genders) One of my female friends heard of this brand new market that was only open after dark, so our group agreed to meet in front ofthe drug store at dusk to go check it out. There were about five of us. I was the eldest. The store was on the other side of town and the night was cool and refreshing. The market had all sorts of food, and as soon as we stepped inside, we all split up to find our favorite and taste the samples. There were also lots of other people in the store, both workers and shoppers that watched us as we enjoyed the food. At first, I thought they watched us because we were the only kids in the store, but as I looked, they seemed hungry, though they did not sample anything or buy anything themselves. Now among us was a boy who was about seven or eight. I think his name is Aidan. And it was Aidan that these people were watching the most. He didn't notice them at all. He was too enraptured by the smells and the tastes of the foods.
I started to walk around the store, telling everyone to gather up. They didn't really want to, but I was the eldest, and I used my do-what-I-say-and-don't-ask-questions voice. When we were all gathered, we reached Aidan in the back corner of the store. "Aidan," I said quietly, but with authority, "it's time to go." He didn't put up a fuss, but thanked the clerk politely and made to join the group, but the clerk grabbed his hand.
"We've had such a good time together, is it okay if Aidan stayed a litle longer?" The clerk asked this is such a nice voice, that everyone in the group nodded and murmered acceptances of this new idea, and even I wanted to let Aidan stay, but I knew something was wrong.
"No," my voice grew in volume and in resolve. "We all came in together. We all leave together." Now when you run with a certain group for a lot, you start to feel and move as one, and the needs and desires of the group often overpower the individual inclinations. The rest of the group finally felt my fear and they stood closer together behind me and stood up taller as we waited for the clerk to let go of Aidan's arm. Aidan, who was starting to understand what was happening, was looking a little afraid, and the clerk's arm seemed to tighten.
"Are you sure?" The clerk asked. He was a short stocky man with a wide face that seemed friendly until this moment. "And what do the rest of you think?" This was the test of my leadership. The group as a whole didn't like Aidan a whole lot. He smelled becase his drunk of a father never made him bathe. He was the youngest, smallest, and slowest and whenever we did something physical, we always had to wait for him to catch up or help him out. He was always hungry and tired, and complained constantly. I'm sure any member of the group would have been happy to let him stay. Here he had food and warmth and he wouldn't hinder us, but there was that something that didn't feel right. Like how the entire market was crowded around us to see what would happen. The eerie silence of twenty to thirty people not making a sound.
The group took a second and said, as if one voice, "We come in together; we leave together."
"Okay, if you're sure" the clerk let go of Aidan, who quickly lost himself among our masses. We walked as one group past the market's clerks and customers who watched us silently with disappointment on their faces. When we were in the street, about a block from the market, the whole group burst in hurried conversation. "I think they were vampires," someone said. "I saw their teeh, they were all pointed," said another. "So that's why it's only open after dark," said still another."
We soon returned to the neon glow of the safety of the drug store. I returned inside to help customers find their needs (this one guy wanted to know about some kind of promotion he heard about and after searching the internet I found that it was only online, and not in the store) and the group went to their respective houses for the night.

The next day Aidan and I went to the beach and went swimming in the ocean. It was nice and peaceful, and he was really happy to have friends like us who got him out of there, but he also talked about how good the food was and how he had never eaten anything like that before in his life. As we were swimming, we got caught in an under current that pulled us underwater and out to see. I held my breath and tucked myself into a ball and waited until I was pushed back to the surface. When I was, I spread myself open and took another deep breath of air. I hear Aidan thrashing and gasping behind me. I saw a rock about twenty feet ahead right before I was taken under again. I curled up, but this time I kept my eyes open trying to keep my sense of direction. As soon as I broke surface again, I reached for the rock which was just to my left and cut my hand as I found a hand hold. I held on, even though the salt water was stinging in my fresh wound and the water was trying to pull me away. With my other hand, I thrust it toward Aidan, who was right behind me and caught ahold of his hand. We scrambled onto the rock, which was connected to another rock, which had caught a play structure from a playground. The play strurcture was half hunder water, but it floated due to the fact that was made out of plastic and we climbed over that into calmer waters. We swam back to the beach and went home.
In the next part of my dream, I went to see my brother performing in a comedy show. Matthew was performing in an insult comic routine with a Jay Leno look-a-like and a Shia LaBeouf (kid from Disney Channel show) look-a-like and they were all making fun of each other. Then the real Jay Leno and the real Shia LaBeouf showed up because they were mad at their misrepresentation and they fought with secruity. After the show, my brother and I walked Aidan home from the drug store. He lived in an abandoned housing project. The houses were still in the framing process with electrical wires hanging from the ceiling. They weren't live, but in the dark, threw scary shadows across the various two by fours that blocked a clear view ot the beach. Aidan crept through them as if he was breaking back into jail and my brother and I started to go home, but just then, Aidan's father woke up.
"Aidan, where are you?"
"I was sleeping, Dad."
"You lazy boy, get up and do your chores."
"It's the middle of the night."
"So what? There's a moon outside. Get out there and do them, boy."
Aidan got out of bed and came back outside. My brother and I offered to help with the chores because we both knew Aidan was really tired. (Almost being drowned in the ocean does that to a seven-year-old.) But Aidan said that we should just go home. He didn't have any chores and his father was just drunk, as always. He always wakes up and tells him to do chores. And if he says that he doesn't have any chores, his father makes him do something stupid like go out and find him some beer. So he just gets up and makes noise outside unntil he hears his father snoring again. then he goes back in and goes to sleep. That's when I woke up.

I had a dream that I was in Russia. I was walking through the streets looking for this house. I wasn't quite sure what I would find, but when I matched up the numbers with the paper in my hand, I stood before a mansion. It grew before me out of the shadows of the surrounding buildings. Each stone prominent in its own right, gracefully resting against its brother. The doors, heavy and wooden, opened for my as I approached and a grand staircase wove its way down the room, from the second story interior balcony on the left , over the double doors in front of me, and and finally touching down just to the right of the entrance. An American stood there holding the hands of a Russian Princess. A girl I once knew. They were engaged to be married. He was dressed in a light royal blue, her in a white gown, and they smiled the same smile at me.
He introduced himself to me and the two of us took a walk through the house. We walked under magnificent paintings of revolution, which hovered on brown decorated walls. The floor was lined with red carpet which led the tour as if it were the standardized route that anyone must take upon entering the house.
I was happy for her, that she found this American. He seemed to be everything I wanted to be, and as I left that palace, I felt as if I'd never see them again, but that I knew that they would both be well and live as if the world wasn't crumbling around them. That wasn't the life I had to live, so I moved on.

Last night I dreamed I was coordinating a wedding for my friends Evan and Sara Thompson. This is silly because they are already married (in real life). What makes this sillier is that the groomsmen were all supposed to be wearing fake mustaches becasue Evan has a real one (he didn't have a beard, just a mustache (I like parenthesis)). Anyway, it was my job to make sure everyone got the where they needed to be. The problem, however, wasn't that the church they were getting married in was huge and built like a maze, nor was it that no one had been there before execpt me and the groomsmen didn't all know about the fake moustaches. The problem was that I, who was to explain everything to everybody, including convinceing each of the groomsmen to wear the fake moustaches, was losing my voice and no one could understand a word I was saying. And we were running out of time.

I had another dream last night where I was meeting in a lean to with the leader of my tribe and the leader of another tribe. It was a different world than the one we live in today. We wore furs and spoke in different languages without the internet to translate for us. Starbuks, also, did not exist. It was a sleepier time. Oh, and the Starbuks that did not exist didn't have a "c" in its name... apparently. Anyway, I was brought along with my tribe leader because of my feelings. (Not feelings like happy or sad, but useful feelings like a premonition of danger.) On this occasion, I felt that we were being listened to. I hear the trible leaders voices through the ears of someone else. I could tell because they seemed a little farther away and around a corner. I closed my eyes and saw the roof of the lean to that we were in. I stepped quietly and quickly to the edge, jumped up, and grabbed the spy. It was a little girl of about ten. She was blond and skinny and shivering in the fear of being caught. My tribe leader was furious, of course, and called off the rest of the meeting. We found the family to which the girl belonged and her father knelt in front of my tribe leader. He pleaded for the life of his daughter. (The custom of our land was to kill spys. That kind of lying and cheating was not tolerated and my leader was furious that someone would tell their child to do that (especially if he or she knew the consequences)) My tribe leader didn't want to kill a ten year old girl, yet he did not want to appear soft. He told that man that he didn't deserve to be a father, so he would lose his daughter. My tribe leader said that he would have her as his daughter instead. Then the cat of the little girl, who I never noticed until now, hissed at the now daughterless father and walked from his camp to our tribe (who was there to witness the event). We left the man and his daughter came with us, and she was obedient and happy to be with us. (We must have been giving her a bettler life than she had with her biological parents.) I was entrusted with taking care of her needs and after a few days, the tribe leader came to me and asked if I would like to be her father instead of him. He had placed me in charge of her because he was very busy and couldn't see to her himself. He noticed that I did a good job and thought it would be more appropiate if she was my responsibility legally instead of just in practice. Before I could answer, I woke up.

The second dream was reall shorter than the first, but needed more explanation. The first was mostly me running around looking for people and trying to talk. Not as much to say about it now as there was when it was happening and I couldn't anyway.