A Witch

I don't remember the circumstances that led up to it, but I was following an old woman who looked to be somewhere between 65-75 years old. She was leading me to her home, as it was understood that I and a past school chum of mine, one BDP, were friends with here. Also, it was understood she was a witch. She was slender, and wore predominantly white clothing, and had medium length white hair, held in a ponytail, if I remember correctly. For some reason my friend wasn't coming along this time, and the more I thought on it I found it a little odd, but no cause for alarm.

She walked about three or four steps ahead of me, and she and I were discussing something dog-related. She then commented something to the effect that there was only one that fit the bill for whatever we were talking about, a white dog, husky-ish, or maybe it was a wolf, I'm not sure. It was 529 years old when it died. I asked if she might have a picture of it, and after thinking about it for a moment, she responded that she wasn't sure, but it was possible. Incidentally, as we conversed I noticed the path we were taking was markedly similar to the route I would take home from middle school.

We passed a particular tree I remember from said route, and started into a tan-brick or hewn-stone tunnel; but suddenly a raccoon fell out of the tree and hit me in the head, yet in a way that suggested it was projected at me, rather than merely falling. It made raccoon chirrups and scurried off. Immediately afterward, I noticed that the fox i was carrying (and also that I was apparently carrying a fox) began to squirm, so I set it down and it ran on ahead of us, into another room on the left, as we were now apparently inside her house. She went into the room directly in front of us, presumably to look for photos of the dog or wolf that we had talked about before. A notion then started upon me that what if she maintained her longevity through the consumption of young male hearts, and my friend who was absent had in fact already met such a fate? I didn't like where that was leading, so I quickly dismissed it. Then i started to get very drowsy, and I was laying down with a blanket over me and a pillow under my head. Moments later I was waking up, for real, uncertain whether I was still in the witch's house, or my own bedroom.

A Fox of my Own

Where I was exactly, I'm not completely sure. I may have been in a random beach house or hotel room, or maybe my grandparents' house, perhaps even an odd combination of the two. My cousin was there, as were my brother and sister, and my mother, grandmother, and aunt and uncle (this particular cousin's parents). I don't remember what was going on at the time, but I suddenly became aware of a fox in the room. She approached me in a bit of a sidling manner, then lay down close beside me (I was sitting on the hardwood floor). I stroked her gently, and she nuzzled in closer, then closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and let out a slow, soft, sigh. It suddenly occurred to me that perhaps this fox had sought comfort in what would be her last moments alive, and this pained me deeply. I continued stroking her soft, red and white coat, and noticed a few seconds later that she started breathing again. It happened rather quickly, but a few seconds more and it would not have been so (as dream-rules may then have demanded she be truly dead). I was filled with relief, and a renewed joy that she not only permitted physical contact with me, but she'd desired it as well; and also, that I finally had a fox of my own.

I write this with a small sigh of my own, for it was bitter-sweet; such dreams exist because they very rarely, if ever come true, least of all for one such as me.

Fireworks, Croquet, and a Fox in my Bed

I don't quite remember how it began, perhaps it reflected some of the annoyance at waking up at 3:30 this morning to a double tap of something, on something across my room.

I was in a field, or perhaps outside of a stadium or arena, along with several of my family members, and a bunch of random children. It was decided that we would set off some fireworks. There was some concern as to whether we had the appropriate forms filled out, but I selected a plastic bag containing mine, and got in a pickup truck, where I awaited my brother and either my dad or my maternal grandfather, whichever of the two decided to take us to our expected destination, known familiarly as simply "The Land".

The trip never happened though, for I found myself somehow in charge of activities for all of the children, and I set about preparing for a number of different games, one of which particularly interested me, though I can't remember what it entailed. Then I gave one boy, who was wearing a red and white horizontally striped shirt, and blue and white horizontally striped pants, a croquet set, since it was his birthday apparently, and he also happened to resemble one of the children depicted on the box. But then he wanted me to play croquet with him, and since it was implied that he looked up to me (even though now in conscious reflection I have no idea who he was), so I conceded and left the others continue on their way to play the game I'd wanted to play, to set up croquet to play with this little boy.

I'm not sure at this point if anything more occurred, if there was a span of emptiness, or if it transitioned immediately, but I felt myself awaken, and began to notice something crawling around on my blankets. Each second brought an increasing sensation of dread; I realized it wasn't the dog, it felt too small to be him, plus I knew my door was shut. Was it the cat? But we didn't have a cat. In a burst of fear, I shoved the thing from under the covers, and then I felt it start to move back to where it was. My heart was pounding, and in all this I failed to fully realize I wasn't in my present bedroom, but rather one from the house we lived in during my high school years. I must have briefly dozed off, and suddenly became aware of something warm, soft, and furry lying against my right arm. Very, very slowly, I reached out my left hand and touched it. It was an animal of some kind, curled up in a ball, apparently asleep. Though it was too dark to see, I suddenly became aware that it was in fact a fox, and that it had some how come into my room, and decided to warm up next to me for the night. I remember having read long ago how foxes sometimes snuggle up against hibernating bears if it gets really cold. At this thought, I found myself start to relax, and to drift off to sleep, still in a dream, albeit rather lucid. Some people think that when you fall asleep in a dream, you wake up in reality; but my experience has been that it only depends and expands the subconscious realm, and often brings a piece of the conscious mind along with it. It was quite the endearing moment, my fox and I, but sadly it was to be short-lived.

A fragment of nightmare drifted in, as my subconscious began to ponder some unpleasant "what-if's". What if it's really a rat? It's not a rat. What if it's some unearthly parasite feeding off of me while I sleep? Wait, what? I reached over and lifted the creature up in the palm of my hand, and saw what resembled a tiny, brown tiger-striped kitten, with what appeared to be a line of yellow-brown vomit down its chest and around its mouth. It just sort of looked at me and mewled. Then my subconscious spoke, "blow some carbon dioxide on it." I blew softly on its face, and two large, spider-like fangs appeared, and began to move in ready of piercing my flesh. In disgust, I quickly threw it down along the gap between the wall and my bed, and woke up shortly afterward.