I dream that I’m competing in a game show that is apparently part cooking contest, part Ninja Warrior course. I’m happy because it’s the last day and there are only three contestants left, so even if I come in third place I’ll still win some money.
The first challenge is cooking carbonara, and I immediately panic because I don’t know how. My cousin, who’s also competing, tries to help me but I tell her to just go because I’m hopeless. I end up making a burrito, it does have tomato and cheese. Only one of the judges likes it, my final score is -1 points. There’s a judge who refused to touch my burrito altogether, she’s a singer who shares my name.
On to the next challenge, and now I’m that very singer, petite and with short black hair. I’m supposed to rope down a cliff, when suddenly the rope ties like a noose around my neck! The other contestants are in my same predicament, they’re flailing wildly afraid they’re gonna die. I find a strap that propels me down at breakneck (ha!) speed, and the others are quick to follow my example.
I’m the first to touch the ground and the finish line is near, but the other contestant are much faster runners, and now there’s four of us! With a desperate sprint I score third place, thank goodness. My cousin arrives last and she’s not happy about it.
I dream about three children, prisoners in a secret facility. Adults keep asking them about a code, but the kids don’t know of any code. Eventually a woman (heavy make up, harsh looking) take them to a dungeon where they are told they have to collect glowing seeds throughout several levels; they only have fifteen minutes to do so and unfortunately the dungeon is inhabited by an evil shape-shifting monster.
The first level is a set of towering staircases, the children climb them out of their breath, looking behind their back for the monster. They get the seeds at the top of the highest staircase, they are rushing back when an old scientist, head of the project, walks towards them with a smile, asking for the seeds. They know it’s the monster and decapitate it with a silver sword. They are acutely aware of all the time they have wasted.
The second level is a Star Wars podrace. The kids have to score first, second and third place to win the glowing seeds, but Sebulba comes in third instead, they have to kill him too. The monster has now shape shifted into Anakin Skywalker. One of the children is the son of Anakin and Yoda, he’s very scared of his evil father. At this point they all look like cartoon characters from Diary of a Wimpy Kid.
The children realize they’ve wasted too much time and the fifteen minutes are almost over. They decide to reset the timeline and start over, they find themselves being brought into the dungeon again. They rush to the first level without listening to the head scientist’ explanation: they’ve heard it before.
The level is now a wall full of empty shapes. There are many people in the room, the children must ask each of them to give up a beloved object: it will magically turn into a shape that fit in the wall. The task is almost completed when I wake up, a bit disappointed because I wanted to see the dungeon finally cleared.
I dream that I’m working at the new store, the one above our regular store that I dreamed about last week. I’ve always wondered, when something seems familiar, is it because I’ve legit dreamed about if before or is it just my mind playing tricks? Well, now I know! This time I’m wearing a name tag on my chest that says “I’m new, please be gentle with me.” Indeed I’m so slow that my cousin kicks me out.
The next day I don’t want to go to work, I’m not even sure if they actually hired me back or if this is all just a dream. I go out with friends instead, we stop to buy pizza but the guy behind the counter seems very unhygienic, I slip away without my friends noticing. I’m hungry now and it’s night already, I stop at a restaurant that is just a series of tables under the stars. I’m very suspicious about hygienic standards, I order a simple cheese pizza (the least dangerous, I assume), it takes them ages to bring it to the table.
The next morning I’m walking home after skipping work once again, I hear someone calling me, I look up and see my neighbor C. waving at me from the attic window. I go up to her and she’s sitting at a table eating, she starts telling me all about some gossip she heard (typical!) when a goose flies in from the window, a big brown goose, rather angry. It starts honking at C.’s ear, doesn’t calm down until it’s offered some food.
I close all the doors and windows in case the goose wants to come back, then go down the stairs. I’m in a beautiful old mansion that belongs to my grandfather. It used to be in ruins when I was a kid, now my uncle has renovated and it’s so beautiful it looks more like a museum. I know once grandgfather dies my uncle will kick us out and I wish I could show all of this to my penpal in time, but she’s visited me just a few days ago (I DO dream about old dreams!) and it’s gonna be a while before she comes back. Maybe I’ll give her a virtual tour, once new technologies allow it.
I look at the portraits on the walls and imagine what I would say to 18th century people to explain TV screens.
It’s like a big mirror, but instead of yourself you see other people and stories. It’s connected by a series of wires that transfer electricity, it’s the stuff lighting bolts are made of.
My uncle arrives and catches me looking at his art collection. Just like grandfather, this guy isn’t one of my IRL uncles, he’s a short, balding man with glasses, and expensive suit and a nervous expression. He noticesI’m crying because I’m so moved by all these beautiful neoclassical statues, he says he cries all the time too, maybe he can get along with my siblings and I after all.
We organize a sack race so we can bond, I’m a teen girl, I have a teen brother and a toddler sister, suspiciously similar to A Series of Unfortunate Events characters. The toddler wins the race.
I dream that a tiger cub wanders into my living room. It’s night and I’m the only one still up. He’s afraid at first, but soon he’s in my lap purring. He’s even getting along with my cat.
The next day we try to find out where the cub came from. We call the vet clinic and they say he ran away after one of the doctors, a guy named Maycon, committed suicide. Incredibly, we are allowed to keep the cub until they find a proper home for him.
We bring both pets, cat and tiger, on a trip with us. We visit a futuristic facility where they are creating VR videogames.
I’m told to sit at a machine in the middle of a giant room, there’s a gaming chair elevated from the ground and surrounded by screens. Below there’s a desk with multiple computers, the woman sitting behind the desk is the director of the project. My family is looking up with interest. The tiger cub and my cat are wandering around the room.
My body is scanned so my avatar will look realistic. I find myself sitting inside a futuristic car, a race is about to start but I can’t drive! “What do I do?” I yell, panicking. “Floor the pedal!” I hear my dad yelling back. The program changes to a horse race and I don’t fare any better.
The director is disgusted at my incompetence. When it’s my brother’s turn she asks him what kind of games he likes. I wish she had asked me as well. As my brother plays (as Ranma ½ , and dismayed about turning into a girl) the director looks me over and says, “some people just lack intelligence”.
I grab her by the lab coat and hiss,
Not everyone is the same. I may not be good at videogames, but I have emotional intelligence.
When it’s time to go home we board a super fast train, it’s bright red and looks so modern. Again, my cat and the tiger cub are wandering up and down the train corridors.
We don’t have tickets, the other passengers are carrying their tickets on their wrists, like some sort of smart watch. The conductor comes over to scan the watches, my dad tells her we need to buy ours. She says, you can do that, or you can try your luck at our slot machine.
All the passengers without a ticket get in line, one by one they pull the lever of the slot machine, but nobody wins. When it’s my turn I pull the lever and the machine blinks and whistles! I’m excited for a moment thinking I won a ticket. The conductor is impressed too, because apparently nobody had won anything in years.
The machine spits out a receipt. I read it, it’s a coupon for a pizza place from the town we’ve just left. It says I’ve won a lemongrass pizza. I don’t even know what that is, I’ll just have to give the coupon to someone else because it’s useless to me.
DECADE DREAM JOURNAL 