TOW 		             
Dreaming; Night of
May 8, 1987
       5:37              Great! Else before. Then I was in a house along with a couple of others. A speaking ferret came out of a closet and bothered us individually a couple of times. There was no escaping it; I even went up on the roof at one point. Else. Then a shift. V and I were in another house. No, it was a different part of the same one, and there was no shift. KP showed up, and I talked to her about the ferret. V went outside to his truck for some reason. Then I asked one of the girls who lived in the house where its secret doors were, knowing that, as neat as it was, it must have some. She took the pillows off of a couch, revealing an opening with a ladder leading downward. While she was doing this, I noticed some color photographs of nude college students on an end table. V reappeared, and I saw that he noticed them, too. I insisted that I be allowed to descend the ladder and explore the hidden depths, and I requested a flashlight, as it looked quite dark down there. They didn't seem too happy about letting me go down there, but finally they gave in. The girl got a flashlight and led V and I down the ladder into darkness. Soon we passed out of the dark zone, however, and the girl left us. We wandered around a bit, until we came to some sort of kitchen. There were about twenty or so people milling about here, but they didn't pay us any attention. There was a salad bar set up in the middle of the room, and I got a plate and helped myself (I believe V did the same). As we were loading our plates, Jerry Pournelle walked in. I think his wife was with him, but I'm not sure. He gave us a wary look that seemed to bespeak recognition and avoided us, perhaps even muttering a few comments under his breath. He didn't have to worry about me bothering him, though; I was feeling quite embarrassed and uncomfortable and avoided him. There was a pot hanging over a fire in a fireplace set in one wall, and, going over to it, I helped myself to some of the beans that it contained. They were delicious! When I'd cleaned my plate of both salad and beans, I noticed that there were dark letters set in its brown porcelain which said something to the effect that it was for the salad bar only and didn't entitle its holder to anything else (it said this in much fewer words). I took it and handed it through a hole in the wall, where a woman was working, evidently washing the dishes. I saw that V was talking to RC (fan) and walked over to them. R was saying something about Mr. M and V was showing name recognition. Then R told me that this was the place that Mr. M had loved and talked about so often in class, recommending that we come and spend all our free time exploring it. By this time, I was ready to get on with the exploration, and the three of us started out, going into a stairwell and descending a number of flights. When we went out onto that level, we discovered that we were in a plush, old-fashioned, somewhat odd hotel. We looked around a bit, and then R disappeared. I saw a flag hanging on the wall in a glass box. It was an American (U.S.) flag but had little differences that made it look a bit odd. V said that it was a (I think) sixties model. I said that I didn't know that they'd been different from the modern version, and he replied that his father used to get them through his work. We continued walking and went through the front doors to the outside. I got a little confused as to perspective and tried to figure out logically whether we were really outside (by my calculations, we were quite a way underground) or whether we were still inside the enormous complex. I looked up at the sky and pointed out to V that though it looked vast and sky-like, if one looked closely he could see a darkness behind the clouds and blueness which suggested a ceiling of some sort. I wasn't sure, however, speculating that it was possible that the effect was merely the result of darker clouds behind. In support of this possibility, I pointed out a thin, very black cloud that was spreading across the sky like ink dropped into water. It almost seemed to be guided by an intelligence and added to the magical feel of the place. We continued on, now in some sort of sedan, which V drove. Shortly, I had him pull over. I'd seen a man puttering about in the yard outside his house, and I wanted to talk to him. I called out to him, as he was about to go into his house. He stopped, and I moved to go over to him. There was a shallow ditch about 10-12 feet in width separating the road on which we'd stopped from the man's yard. I was going to jump across but stopped myself at the last moment, deciding I'd get very wet if I tried it as the ditch was filled with growing weeds and standing water. I walked around it and went over to the man. I asked him if that (I pointed) was really the sky or not. He was quite odd (I don't remember just how), but he answered that no, it wasn't. After a moment, I went back to the car, and we prepared to explore further. I neglected to mention that when we were leaving the kitchen of above, I became briefly aware. V had been a little concerned that he should be studying for finals. I told him that since we were dreaming, it was all right and he should stay and explore. He seemed very rational, and I wondered if perhaps this time he would remember this dream later, but I didn't have much hope. Then at least some of my awareness drained away, and the events of above followed. The great degree to which my presence of mind manifested itself in the latter part of the dream may have been a residual effect of the awareness. Anyway, after the last described action, the dream faded away. I tried to maintain a grip on it but failed and awoke. (G)(A)