Tag: assertiveness

Bread and Science

Posted on by Decade Dream Journal

My sister is being insufferable as always, to shut her up I turn her into a cat. And not just any cat, but my very own black, grumpy kitten. I put this creature that is both my sister and my cat in her carrier (she bites me through the bars) and bring her to the vet.

I meet my friend F. there, he tells me it’s not much, but he put some free menstrual pads aside for me. I thank him warmly. As I’m sitting in the waiting room though, two men steal my pads. I confront them with all my wit and sarcasm and humiliate them into giving my pads back.

My breakfast toasts are wrong: instead of mozzarella, they are filled with slices of pale, unripe pumpkin . There’s also a bread roll on the table, it has peanut butter sticks inside; my brother grabs it and takes a bite, I yell because the sticks are actually cat food, but it’s too late, he has eaten the bread.

(Photo by Massimo Adami on Unsplash)

It’s time to walk to school! I’m running through a meadow because I’m late. On my way I meet two unnamed voice actors and their dog, I explain to them I’m going to “phone school“.* I finally reach the building and it’s not my IRL High School: it’s a ~technical school that I apparently decided to transfer to. Inside there is a massively high ceiling and a lot of stairs moving and intertwining, a bit like Hogwarts but much more airy and modern.

My class is in the upmost right corner, I hurry up the stairs and I’m very relieved to realize I’m only five minutes late. The teacher pops his head from the door, he’s my usual philosophy prof but there’s something different this time: he has a big smile, like he’s enjoying himself, for once. He gives me a pair of scissors and tasks me with cutting out the tags from his sweater. But wait, all my classmates are teenagers, I realize with a sudden jolt. I’m an adult in my 30s! How am I supposed to get along with them!?

Back home, I boot up The Sims. Since I have all the expansion packs, I find some oriental clothes and objects. I create two Sims, an old Chinese woman and her daughter, give them musical instruments, and listen to them playing in the snow for a while.

*My new job is indeed at a phone store, but of course I’d still be stuck in high school in some way.

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Bloody Magazines

Posted on by Decade Dream Journal

I walk inside a newsstand and browse through the magazines. I want to pick something interesting (Wired, maybe?) and buy every issue starting today. January 2020 is a good date to start building a collection, right?

(Photo by Hatice Yardım on Unsplash)

While I’m still browsing, an immigrant walks into the store, he pays in cash and stands in front of the register waiting for his change. The owner smiles a wicked smile and plays with the five bucks in his hand. He says he doesn’t think he’s gonna give the man his money today.

Now, IRL I’ve promised myself to be more assertive and speak up, so speak up I do. I take a deep breath and say out loud,

Give this man his change or I’ll call the police.

I start rummaging through my bag for my cell phone. The store owner whips out a tiny gun, smaller than his fist, and points it directly at me. He orders to put down the phone. I grab his hand and after a struggle I take the gun away from him. He produces another one identical to the first and I run to hide behind a door. A shootout ensues, and I finally wound him and call the police.

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Of Monsters and Relatives

Posted on by Decade Dream Journal

My first dream of 2020 is a recurring one. I meet my least favorite relatives, Aunt T. and her husband, Uncle F.: they’re bigoted, obnoxious, judgy and loud, they scare me so much I get out of my way to avoid them. In my dreams, though, I always snap like a wounded animal, covering them with vicious insults, spelling out just how much I despise them. I never have the guts to do that IRL.

The second dream is about a Disney-themed water park. Every attraction is rather original, the one I remember best is set in the The Little Mermaid kitchen where Sebastian got almost cooked. The pool is literally just a giant kitchen sink full of dish soap.

As I go through the rides I realize my main objective is to slain a monster, a giant sea monster that lives in a cave. There’s a woman with me, she’s a harsh-faced lady with long black hair. Now I cannot tell who she was supposed to be, I just remember her unpleasant personality, a bit like my mother’s.

(Photo by Ellen Jantsch on Unsplash )

We have obtained a powerful weapon: it’s an animal’s giant nail, yellow, big and round like a satellite dish. It’s clear to me that we have to sneak inside the cave and take the monster by surprise. He’s not gonna see us coming until it’s too late, just like Saurun when the Hobbits reached Mount Doom. I order the woman to not touch the nail we’re carrying, because if she touches it the monster will know we’re here. The woman thinks she knows better (just like my mother) and scratches on the nail. The monster comes for us.

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