Dream Journal: Cobblestone Caper Part II (September 16, 2008)

DREAM Part 2 — Enclosed

Once my unwilling accomplice and I successful sneaked into the compound and found suitable cover, "Julie" threw me against a wall and held a letter threateningly to my throat. Was this a joke? She was threatening me with a paper cut? Then I felt the weight of a distinctly metal object concealed inside the business-sized envelop.

"Who are you and how do you know about the box?" She interrogated as she pressed the blade-lined envelope ever harder into my trachea with one hand and ripped curlers out with the other.

Then we were captured by a Dr. No-type villain who threw us into a multi-leveled Shark tank. The tank was basically a bowl with steps and towers built up around the entire surroundings, I assume, for climbing.

Ten seconds before we could even make the most elementary of plans, a trap door opened and a 15' shark powerfully glided into our tank. I stood motionless on a step, ankle-deep in water, mistaking the enormous shark for a T-Rex. It curved toward me and I made a mad dash for the tallest tower. Fifteen feet above the waterline, my memory raced to recall any and all shark-facts. From that vantage point I could take in precisely how intimidatingly humongous this killing-machine actually was. Then the shark began leaping at me, jaws gaping. My eyes darted about every corner our cage, searching for a possible escape. Then I saw something that terrified me to a new extreme. Two children, no older than 7 and 9, huddled despondently in the corner, just out of sight of the shark. I yelled and signaled to Julie to gather up the kids, but was interrupted when the water-beast swung around and launched itself at me again, this time, grazing my leg with the dorsal side of its head. I climbed backwards another 10' higher up the man-made cliff, hands over feet. It was relentless and determined to eat me.

Julie lept into open water from her hiding spot, splashing flamboyantly. Distracted, the shark left me alone and circled around for Julie. This was my chance to dive into the center of the pool and go for the kids. I closed my eyes and dove feet first into the heart of an inescapable death.

In the moment it took me to surface and orient myself, Julie had managed to make it past the shark and was on my side of the pool. She was holding the trap door open and was motioning for me to swim for it. Fearing that being propelled by the breath of the beast behind me (not remembering that sharks breath through their gills), I made a Michael Phelps dash for the 4'x 4' opening in the tank wall.

Breathless, we splashed up onto a plaster-covered ramp in a oval-shaped room.

"Where are the kids?" I gasped. My lips framed the words, but I was unable to heave a sound.

Julie just stared back at me and I knew; we had time to escape because the shark was getting its bloody satisfaction in the far corner of the tank. At the moment of realization, my soul felt imploded; violently crumpled, like a piece of loud, construction paper. My couldn't move. I sat in a pile hoping to melt into the water that surrounded me. (I was stuck in that horrific moment for at least 20% of my dream.) I remember feeling like The Nothing had swept through my chest and carried away everything inside of me. And then I came back for a second sweep, sucking at my chest, to make sure it got everything.

How I regained the strength/will to move, I cannot remember. But the next thing I do remember is making my way up the ramp to the top of the oval room. Outside the room, Julie and I ran into two nerdy-looking employees.

"How did you like it?" They inquired excitedly.

I wanted to punch his teeth in have my fist extend through the back of his throat.

"The Shark Tank?" They continued. "We designed it."

Their lab coats were each embroidered with cursive lettering, "Microsoft Project Manager."

I tried asking them a question.

"I'm sorry." One of them replied with a condescendingly-kind kink of his neck. "We are not allowed to answer any questions of yours. We are the only ones with permission to ask questions."

(Another dream-puzzle. I had to figure out how to get answers by guiding their next questions with my answers. This one took some time too.)

It turns out, the shark actually was a machine and was programmed to swallow its prey whole. The two kids were scared-to-the-near-point-of-cardiac-arrest, but otherwise, unharmed. The tank was primarily designed and built by "Dr. No" as a possible theme park attraction. After testing, he planned to sell it to the highest bidder. He was betting that the public would pay big bucks for the ultimate thrill of being pursued and finally eaten by a shark. Working names for the attraction included, "Jaws: live", "Sharkbait: You can't come out until you're dead", and "Jonah". There would definitely have to be an age limit, and possibly an on-call psycho-therapist.

Soon enough, I discovered that this entire compound was a top-secret laboratory for various theme park ideas. I never did figure out however if "Dr. No" confused us with contracted ride-testers or recognized us as intruders and used us illegally for his potentially fatal shark ride, pretending that he thought we were contracted ride-testers.

*Analysis:
-The blade: I've watch an episode of "24 Season 5" before bed most nights. Enough said.
-The Shark came from another television show called Mythbusters. They disproved the myth shown on the movie, Deep Blue, where a character shoots a hand held harpoon loaded with gunpowder into a shark and then ignites it by connecting the metal line to a car battery. The Mythbusters end up building a life-size shark and blowing it up with 400 lbs. of TNT. Also in that show, I was impressed to find out that it takes 8000 lbs of tension to pull apart to phone books that have had their pages shuffled, one over the other.
-The unfortunate kids represent my missed appointment with 8-yr-old Faith this week. I didn't find anyone to go with me. I asked Julie if she would go with me next week.
-The tank was an exaggeration of the river bank that Julie and climbed down and dipped our feet into.
-The Microsoft Project Managers must represent my frustration/stress towards my current job unopportunities.
-The Theme Park could be the mystery surround Ceder Point for me. I really have no idea what rides await me there, but I know from the Whiteheads and the Bastians that they are INTENSE!

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Listening to: Yoshida Brothers - Kodo - Inside the Sun Remix