First vivid dream in days...

There were three distinct story lines from last night.

In the first, Linda and I were opening some kind of store in a small town (presumably Clare, MI). The shelves were mostly empty and we were just fussing about. Then I noticed I had a hair in my mouth. I pulled it out, but there was another, and another. Then I finally found the last one and it was very long and went along my tongue and down my throat. It felt awful as I pulled it as I could feel it traveling up my throat. At one point, the hair was caught on my tongue so I had to snap it off, and grab it again from where it broke. As I pulled the remaining few inches, I found that there was a fishing hook on the end.

I was amazed that I was able to pull this fishing hook from my stomach, up my esophagus without becoming lodged along the way. I was also bothered as to how the hook came to be at the end of this hair and how it ended up in my stomach. Two women then appeared in the shop, one young and one older. They were the previous owners of the store. The younger one was excited for us while the older one was bitter. Somehow I knew she was responsible for the hook incident and I confronted her. I threatened legal action. Oddly, the small hair with a tiny hook on the end was now a large hook on a length of burlap twine.

Men started filing into the store. We had a sign up sheet there for a baseball game that was going to happen. We were a bit overwhelmed at the number of people that came, but we instructed all to head over to the fields.

The baseball park was set up on two levels. The upper area a circle with three diamonds, the lower a partial ring following the circumference of the upper, also had three diamonds. The bottom fields had games in progress so we headed for the upper, which our house happened to back up to.

As we approached the diamonds, I became dismayed as I noticed their layout. They had just completed construction of these three fields. They formed a triangle, two of them faced the dropoff and the third faced the other two. Any long balls would either end up over the edge or in one of the other two fields.

Next, we went tuna fishing. It started with swimming in the water and seeing tuna swimming. I then proceeded to work the fish into a boil. Next, we boarded a large commercial charter boat with alot of people. Everyone was standing on the deck. The customers on this trip were not the typical salty tuna fishing community, however appeared to be made up of yuppie couples on their first fishing trip ever.

Linda and I were there with the dogs (at least Stout) and Kitty Kitty. I realized that with all these novice fishermen, I should take advantage and find a bottom bunk so the animals would be close. Long distance tuna fishing charter boats have sleeping quarters that are in the hull of the boat. Typically two or three bunks high. This boat had two sleeping areas, three bunks high for a good 50'.

As I descended into the sleeping quarters, all the bunks were taken. I quickly departed to check the other side but found the same to be true. Linda had already secured a small bunk for herself and the cat. A very small middle bunk. I went with Stout to the deck where the crew was busy readying the boat. Oddly, it was not a typical fishing crew. It was more like the crew of a cruise liner, well dressed and well mannered. I told the captain all the bunks were full (read, the ship is overbooked). He said if I wanted, I could sleep on the deck.

Normally, on a fishing boat, sleeping on the deck would be wet and uncomfortable. This boat was very large and there were several locations that would make for nice sleeping. I was pleased with the thought of being able to breath fresh air as the holds of these ships can become quite stale with so many occupants. As he showed me the spots he suggested, he thrust open a curtain to another area of the deck. There were huge tables with amazing arrangements of food. Giant platters with enormous works of art crafted of all varieties of meats and vegetables.

As I stood there shocked, the captain told me that it was intended to be a surprise for the guests. I told him I had never seen such a lavish table and that this was quite gracious of him.

With this, Stout and I headed to the stern of the ship. This was the first time Stout noticed the water, and at the back of the boat, it was very close. So close in fact that Stout decided he would jump right in. In a panic I shouted, "man overboard! Stop the motors!" I shouted "man overboard" rather then "dog overboard" to avoid any confusion. Just as I did, I noticed that the boat was not even moving. I ran to the front of the boat to see why. Right away I noticed a tropical island about 100 yards off the front of the boat and people were swimming near the beach.

Things changed as we were back at my house drinking at the bar. Things from here become somewhat fuzzy. I said something and Bob started singing Irish drinking songs. Then Stacey showed up with a bottle of some horrible alcohol. She insisted that she liked it but cringed each time she took a drink. We tried to add some root beer to it to help the taste, but her glass was nearly full to the brim, leaving little room to add anything.

As I looked under the bar for another glass, I saw a glass skull. I said, "wow. I forgot I had these." I then noticed a variety of bottles with skulls as part of their shapes. Just then, Stacey calmly mentioned that when she went home to get her liquor she noticed someone had broken into their house. She said, "they really didn't take anything" and pretty much dismissed the event entirely.

She had found the tip of a nail file in their front lock, and looked this 'style' of burglary in a
book that analyzed burglaries much like a book of dreams. The book said that this burglary was most likely committed by a neighbor who had recently been slighted either directly or indirectly. Stacey's expression changed to suggest she knew exactly which neighbor this would be.

Realizing the time, we gathered ourselves to goto the mall to see a movie. I don't recall where it came from, but I was going to ride a scooter to the mall. Linda did not want to ride with me, so Theresa did. It was a small Vespa style scooter and she rode in front of me on the seat. I steered from the back, although she was trying as well. She pointed out that the person in front usually steers, but I noted that I was bigger and this would be easier.

As we approached the mall parking lot, there were huge balloons or floats or plastic statues of winged pink elephants and rhinos. Stacey said this was some Disney display. They moved about the parking lot slowly. As we passed, I caused one of the smaller displays to fall over. An elderly lady came and tried to take my bag, siting it as the cause of the disruption. I held it behind my back, trying to walk past and then I woke up.