Fish Dream
"Please watch them while I'm gone. They're easy to take care of. Just feed them once a day." The old woman handed me an oval shaped glass bowl filled with murky water. As she walked out of the room, I peered inside the bowl. I could only make out a few shapes. They appeared to be a small squid and two catfish. I felt both repulsed and intrigued as they swam near the surface of the water and then dived back under, disappearing within the fog of the grey-green algae.
I walked over to the other side of the room to set the bowl on the fireplace mantel. It seems that I had not calculated the width of the bowl into the space provided because as soon as I set the bowl down, it fell and came crashing down onto the floor. The dirty water splashed all over my legs. For an instant, I felt a soft, fleshy creature brush by my right knee.
I looked down. The contents of the bowl had increased several times over. The entire floor was covered with fish, snails and squid, all splashing frantically in the shallow waters. I called the woman's name with a strained voice. She came running in "Look what you've done! Pick them up immediately! Can't you see they're dying?!" Muttering apologies, I bent down and attempted to pick up a crab. As my hand drew close, it reached up and snapped its claw shut on my extended fingers. I drew back in pain, "I can't believe there's so many..." "What did you expect!?" she snapped back, marching to the corner, grabbing a broom and shaking her head as though completely disgusted with my incompetence. She started to sweep them back with violent swift strokes. The creatures splashed and squealed. I stood there watching them, feeling powerless and immobile.
I walked over to the other side of the room to set the bowl on the fireplace mantel. It seems that I had not calculated the width of the bowl into the space provided because as soon as I set the bowl down, it fell and came crashing down onto the floor. The dirty water splashed all over my legs. For an instant, I felt a soft, fleshy creature brush by my right knee.
I looked down. The contents of the bowl had increased several times over. The entire floor was covered with fish, snails and squid, all splashing frantically in the shallow waters. I called the woman's name with a strained voice. She came running in "Look what you've done! Pick them up immediately! Can't you see they're dying?!" Muttering apologies, I bent down and attempted to pick up a crab. As my hand drew close, it reached up and snapped its claw shut on my extended fingers. I drew back in pain, "I can't believe there's so many..." "What did you expect!?" she snapped back, marching to the corner, grabbing a broom and shaking her head as though completely disgusted with my incompetence. She started to sweep them back with violent swift strokes. The creatures splashed and squealed. I stood there watching them, feeling powerless and immobile.
posted by Tina Banda | 7:37 PM
3 Comments:
Wow that was cool. Very vivid. Actual dream or fable? I can never remember my dreams with that much clarity so it always amazes me when others can.
Sooooo... a psychoanalyst might say you feel like you're taking things on that you feel you have to, even though you don't really want to, and when you try to do what you feel is right, the things explode and become bigger problems than you thought they'd be?
It was an actual dream that I had written down several years ago. I really should get back to writing down the more memorable dreams on a regular basis. They are such rich material for doing all kinds of other creative work and not just writing. Plus, I really see it as our other life because we do it every night, but then that experience slips on by into oblivion unless we make a deliberate attempt to write them down.
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