06/25/03
Back On The Chain Gang
This was from my regular sleep. I can't remember the whole beginning part, but it picked up when I was with my parents in Dad's vehicle, an SUV. My brother MIGHT have been with us, but I'm not sure; if he was he sort of phased in and out of the dream. We were driving around these city streets, a medium-sized place like Petoskey or Traverse City. I can't recall if it was a place I really knew or only sort of knew, or if we had never been here before. It did seem SLIGHTLY familiar. Traffic was busy and it was daytime, overcast outside.
We seemed to just be leaving someplace and we pulled out into the street. I made some kind of comment about another SUV which I think was behind us. It was a big whompin' vehicle and I think I made a joke based on this, as it was bearing down on us. Wish I could remember exactly what I said. We kind of observed this other vehicle as it drew close and then I think we turned and were going to go park in this roofed parking lot. I say roofed because it wasn't really underground, though it did have some sort of roof over it and it was shielded from above, but open from the sides. I think the other SUV might have accompanied us (perhaps this was when I commented on it, as it sought a place to park), and perhaps we had difficulty finding spots to stop? We separated so we were on our own again and sought a parking space. As we pulled into the lot where several other cars were already parked, we noticed a crew of prisoners breaking the asphalt with sledgehammers.
Yep, prisoners. I first noticed one because of his striped suit! He had the little cylindrical cap and everything! The only thing missing was a ball and chain! Then I noticed more, all standing around swinging sledgehammers or some such, breaking up the pavement. There were some hunks of it missing, and some big cracks like those caused by heat. They were doing this right in the parking spaces near where we were going to park; in real life, I suppose this would have been very bothersome and counterproductive, but in the dream it made some sort of sense. I just hadn't expected to see prisoners still dressed in black and white stripes, swinging hammers and picks!
I think I leaned forward in my seat (I was in the backseat) to get a better look. "I didn't know they still had those," I remarked in curiosity and surprise. My parents weren't as surprised; I think they knew that they still made prisoners do this on occasion. As we pulled in the convicts looked up at us and I felt somewhat awkward and ill at ease. We were practically pulling in where they were breaking up the ground (for whatever reason), and I didn't like the thought of getting in their way or upsetting them. They were obviously hardened criminals to be set to work doing something like this, right? Plus I just hate inconveniencing anyone, free or imprisoned.
There were probably about one or two dozen or so of them, and they stopped chopping at the ground to look at us as we pulled in. We got out and I couldn't resist looking them over. And now the dream took a comedic turn, though I'm afraid I can't recall it well at all. Basically, the "chain gang" (for want of a better term, although they were not chained to each other, from what I could see--I didn't even notice any guards) was led by one particular prisoner with a Cockney accent, and he started barking out orders as soon as we got out. They were weird orders though; wish I could remember them. This part of the dream was VERY long and repetitive and involved, but it was very humorous. He started commanding the other convicts to do certain things, and the others followed his orders without question, as if he were a drill sergeant. And they were all really silly, pointless things--like turning this way and then that, and patting your head and rubbing your stomach, and making odd gestures, things such as that, all in unison. (These are just examples; I can't remember specifics, but it did involve lots of stereotyped, choreographed movements, almost like "Simon Says" without the Simon.) This guy's accent, and the sheeplike way in which everybody else obeyed everything he said, just made it more amusing because the orders were so ridiculous, yet he sounded so serious as he yelled them! We stood for a while to watch this and the orders just kept getting stupider and stupider; I sensed that this wasn't really being done to amuse us, but that's exactly what it was doing anyway; it was like watching a Monty Python skit or something.
Sorry I can't recall the specifics! I do remember that I was surprised the prisoners were so polite and well behaved; considering they were doing hard labor, I'd expected them to be rather bothersome to us, but I sensed the leader was calling out these orders to make them more efficient and keep them out of our way. That was thoughtful of them.
The dream shifted somewhat so we had to go on our way. I can't remember what happened but then, instead of it being my family and me, it was the cast of a sitcom or something. I sense it was meant to be Everybody Loves Raymond but the people looked different. I'll use their names anyway. They were heading back toward the SUV (I seemed to be invisible and watching) and "Raymond" and his wife (who appeared to be blond rather than brunette) had been arguing about something, as always. They had apparently pulled in here and had had the prisoners entertain them for a while before going back to their vehicle, off to the left by the wall. They appeared to be wearing their nightclothes--the wife was wearing a bathrobe or nightgown or some such, and seemed very tired and snippy. I think their argument had something to do with the convicts--maybe they hadn't meant to make this turn or to come down here? The wife was annoyed by the whole thing, but then again, the prisoners' act HAD been amusing. So in true sitcom style they were grudgingly making up.
They pulled close to the vehicle and there appeared to be a sliding side door (even though it was meant to be an SUV, not a minivan) which was all tinted glass/plexiglass. Looking in it, they saw the dim image of a very young boy, one of the blond twins from the show, I think. He was perhaps three, appeared smaller than he should have been almost like he was a mirage, and started doing a funny dance. "What are you doing, hon?" the wife asked him.
"Being funky," the kid said. (I do remember the word "funky" was used.) I believe he was imitating the prisoners' dancing, and the fact that he was so young made it even funnier.
The wife turned to her husband and got an "Awwww!" look on her face. "He's being funky," she gushed, as if it were the most adorable thing in the world. The husband, "Ray," smiled--then they both kind of slumped as tiredness and irritation resumed. The wife got a sort of pained look. "'Funky,'" she echoed, as if thinking, "We should really not have let him learn that word." The husband nodded in resigned agreement and they both went to get in the vehicle.
This dream might have been the same as or shifted into "My Tapes Are Here!"
My Tapes Are Here!
I can't be certain if this was the same dream as "Back On The Chain Gang" or not, but I was now at home and I had gotten two of my three packages from eBay. The thing is, in real life they are books, but in my dream they were cassette tapes, some kind of music I'd really been wanting. I exclaimed, "Oh, two of them came!" and took them to my room if they were not there already. This was very weird. Dad was around, doing something like mowing the lawn or wandering the house; I think he'd brought them in from the mail. It was daytime and there were all sorts of things in my room that shouldn't have been there--I seem to remember a coat in particular, odd things piled on my bed--but I don't remember what they were, just that there was so much stuff it was more than enough to hold my interest for ages. I went in and started opening my two arrivals. I can't figure it out but something was odd about the dream and what was going on; like maybe I was expected to reply to the people who had sent these things, right here, right now? I can't even remember what the albums were, but I was very thrilled to have them and I believe I took out and perused the tape jackets. I think I might have been showing them to my family and/or getting ready to go somewhere or do something; all I know is I was unusually happy. Sorry it's so vague.
2003 Dreams
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