Dreams and Things

I fell asleep last night with the face of the moon pressed against my window pane. The sky looked barren and emitted a kind of strange desolation. I got out of bed and fumbled with the curtains at my window to get a better view. It suddenly occurred to me that i had not seen the moon, let alone stars, for longer than i cared to imagine; after all, gongoozling at the celestial body is not exactly a pastime in a big city. I opened my window for a preferable view but only so i could further study its uneven pale face. I soon realized that there were no pimples or wrinkles, except a few minor scrapes here and there. I retired shortly after to the comfort of my pillow top mattress with a blithesome feeling of discovery that you can only get from the physical world. Eventually, i was able to fall asleep, and sleep did come easy but not without companions. I had two disturbing dreams. The abridged version of the first is that, for a reason i could not understand or, perhaps, remember, one of my incisors had fallen out and another was loose and pulsating. I held on to the one intact partly because i did not want to lose it, and partly because the pain was agonizing. The other dream was less painful but equally questionable: i was having a bowel movement over a long period of time with three other individuals in the same room impatiently waiting their turn. Luckily, i awoke to the piercing sound of my alarm clock and with only a sudden urge to urinate.

In West Indian culture, each dream has a meaning, good or bad. A dream is also considered a dose of luck for the dreamer, since it can be a solemn call for lottery winnings. There is a dream interpreter in every West Indian family, religious or non-religious, who is always willing and ready to tell you exactly which subconscious symbol matches a number; and the interpreter does not have to cajole anyone into buying a ticket; it is expected that you would not want to miss the chance of winning, and would, therefore, buy...(to be continued).