The bride

I'm at Disney World. We're walking around inside the park when I suddenly notice a voluptuous woman with long brown hair running toward us, by herself, in a wedding dress covered in red dots. The bodice has small red dots all over it, while the rest of the dress is covered in much larger red dots. I realize it's a Disney-themed wedding dress, and I smile and congratulate her as she runs past.

The realm

There are two realms of existence that are represented by a building, like a long shopping mall. One end is for those who have passed on, and one is for the living. Those who have passed on have a gatekeeper/watcher who helps those who are new, and almost acts as an events coordinator. I'm a small child -- boy -- who has passed, and I have no idea what's going on.

I notice that most around me are couples, either parent and child or husband and wife or siblings. There are pairs everywhere. I also notice that some of the pairs have scary scars running the length of their bodies and they're constantly arguing. Loudly. I begin to think that maybe they killed each other and are doomed to bicker for all eternity together. I start to get a little scared and uncomfortable so I start to wander toward the exit of the room, which is the entrance to the living side of the mall. The door has glass panels so you can see the other side easily. It looks like the hallway at one of the casinos in Vegas, full of people. I decide I want to go to that side, and I understand I am allowed to because no one will see me, but that those who are living cannot enter the back room.

I turn the handle of the door and push it open and am given some papers to bring with me -- similar to paper dolls, only much larger. Carrying them is a burden. I've only taken a few steps when a man approaches me and I'm shocked that he can see me. At first I assume he is alive, then I notice his eye is messed up and I think there is a hole where it should be. He looks at me and there is urgency written on his face but he doesn't speak  -- can't speak? He grabs the papers from me and throws them in a large trashcan in the middle of the hallway, then takes my hand and begins to run.

He's leading me through the throngs of people, then turns a corner into an adjacent room that has windows and a door. He stops and looks at me again for a moment, then starts running for the door with me still in tow.

I'm not afraid; it feels like somehow I'm running toward freedom and a better place.

Unprepared

I was at work and was leaving to be picked up and taken to an after-school event for my son. Since I had a ride, I decided to leave my purse at my desk at the office so I wouldn't have to carry it around.

I walked a ways to a local shopping center where I waited and waited over an hour for the ride from the friend to take me to my son but it never came. I even saw other people I knew but didn't ask to ride with them because I didn't want my ride to arrive and find me gone, which would have been rude. I eventually realized it wasn't coming and everyone else I knew had left long ago, so I went inside a local business and borrowed their phone to call a cab. The cab dispatcher kept me on the phone for an hour, telling me the rules and how the ride would work, and one of the rules was that he would need his payment immediately when I arrived. Then I remembered I didn't have my purse, and the office was now closed and locked and my key to the office was in my purse, so I canceled the cab.

We recently canceled our home telephone number to save money since we always use our cell phones anyway, but it took several minutes and several tries to remember my husband's cell phone number (usually I just selected his name from my cell phone contacts) so I could ask him to come get me. He was very put-out, since he would have to cancel some long-held plans, and it would take him an hour and a half to get to me, then to drive to where our son was, and then two hours to get home.

I wandered around the shopping center while I was waiting for him and then realized I didn't tell him where to pick me up at the mall, and I had no cell phone for him to call and ask once he got there, so likely he would never even find me.

I was cut off from my family, my son was abandoned (unless someone had taken pity on him), and, because I had left my purse at work, I was completely unprepared for the turn of events.

I felt hopeless, and wandered aimlessly around the shopping mall for days and days, hungry, cold, homeless.

The jogger

J and I are driving down the rainy road, when a huge branch of a tree appears in the middle of the street. I point it out and then notice a woman in a pink top is jogging right next to it, seemingly pulling it along with her. Then she falls, hard. We swerve around the branch, coming to a stop in front of her and I quickly get out of the car to make sure she's okay and to see if she needs help. A bright white light appears on the other side of the branch, and then she screams at me to get lost; she doesn't need my help.

I turned around and got back into the truck, thinking, You're welcome.

What did you say?

I'm at work, but it's the end of the day and I've just changed into a long, beautiful party dress for some special occasion. As I'm about to walk out, my boss calls me in to her office and is talking to me about something very important. Meanwhile, I'm twirling and admiring the dress, and then suddenly realize it has pockets!

My boss finishes speaking and I look up at her with a huge grin and say, "I'm sorry, I didn't hear a word you said. My dress has pockets!"

Cats

I'm eating lunch out in an open courtyard with some family members and friends. Out of the corner of my eye I see a man riding a bicycle pulling an ornate train box-car type of cat house -- with the sides all fitted with glass so you can see the cats frolicking within. There were 11 of them. The bicyclist stopped at our table and just stared at me.

The bug and the squirrel

There is a bug in my ear -- I don't know what kind, and I'm not sure I want to know -- and I'm begging my father to get the tweezers and take it out but he is busy and I can't find the tweezers.

And we have a pet squirrel who is running around getting in the way of trying to find them.

Left out

I was given a prominent role in a relative's wedding. Just before the ceremony, I was told to go look for the bride's parents, who hadn't arrived yet. I went out to look and didn't see them, and by the time I came back the ceremony was almost over and I didn't get to participate. And the bride's parents were there already.

Tom

I won a contest with the prizes being millions and millions of dollars, and Tom Hanks being your butler for one day.

He helped me fold my laundry.

The address book

I had a tan tri-fold leather address book, but when I picked it up and opened it I saw the inscription in capital letters, "IAN MCKELLEN". Somehow our address books had gotten mixed up and I had his and he had mine.

Space shuttle safety

I can see the space shuttle outside my window. It's not being used; it's just sitting there basically in storage. There's a storm, though, and it is getting worse and worse, and it looks like people are starting to get worried that the shuttle will get damaged. So they strap it to a plane, the plane takes off, and the shuttle disconnects and goes into space. All to keep it safe while the storm surges below.

John Deere

My husband and I are walking around a strange city, when we come across the entrance to John Deere's headquarters. We walk inside and notice immediately that in addition to it being a place of business, it's also a huge hotel. Evidently this allows the business people who come to John Deere for meetings to have a place to stay that is the most convenient possible. We take a seat in the circular lobby and start people watching. A business woman dressed in white is saying goodbye to a young, blind man who obviously was there for a job interview. She smiles and shakes his hand, and turns around and walks away. The young man goes to the sofa just across from us and, after sitting there for a few moments, looks over at us and starts a conversation. So I think to myself, "He fooled the woman who interviewed him! He's not blind!"

Then we walk back outside into a run-down, empty carnival-type place. Imagine Disney mixed with a state fair and a circus, but abandoned. It was super-creepy seeing clowns with their heads dangling, dark buildings, and dust over everything.

Don't just stand there

I'm standing on the curb with a group of people. We all need to get somewhere, but we're not sure how to get there. I stepped off the curb and started walking, and everyone followed me. After we had been walking for a while, people started complaining about why we were walking this way instead of that way, and why was I the leader, and did I even know where I was going. I informed them that I merely stepped off the curb and they began following -- I did not invite them to follow me. I also informed them that I may not know where I am going, but at least I was willing to step off the damn curb and attempt to make it to my destination, which is more than I could say about the rest of them.

Creativity Schmeativity

I'm very angry at society for the high value placed on creativity. Creativity is a wonderful thing, don't get me wrong, but it does not need to permeate the normal workplace environment -- at least not to the point of it being valued and prized above all else.

If  you have a company full of creative people, nothing will actually get accomplished. People will sit around all day and think up wild (impractical) things, which is all well and good, but in the meantime nothing is getting done.

I'm the one who knows how to balance a checkbook, how to use directions to find my way around, and remembers to take out the trash -- no one can tell me I shouldn't also serve a valuable resource in this creative-focused society.

Wrong size shoe

There's this white sandal, and I'm trying to force it onto my foot. I'm really confused as to why it's not fitting. Every time I squeeze my foot into it, my big toe starts to curl and it's ripping the shoe. I look at the size and it says "9," or is that a "6"? Either way, it's not my size. It's time to stop trying to force it to fit.