Dream IV

My boss and I were working in the upper reaches of our building--reaches so upper, in fact, that they consisted of little more than iron scaffolding, and we needed breathing equipment and pressure suits in order to work.

While we were up there, I related the story of Dream III, presenting it as "the latest remake." He seemed partially interested. (Note: as with all dreams, Dream III became something different when inside another. In particular, there were lots of soldiers, and firefights in underground corridors. In fact, the whole thing took place in underground corridors.)

As I prepared to leave, I opened the hatchway to the next lower floor. On the steps was some paper money--I picked it up, and found that I had one $450 bill, one $350 bill, one dollar bill, and one $100 bill.

I called out to my boss, saying that I had found a considerable sum of money; he replied that I should keep it, and I answered that I didn't feel comfortable keeping such a large sum.

He asked, "What is it, nine dollars?"

I replied, "Try one hundred times that."

He said, "You mean, twenty-nine dollars?"

Despite repeating the figures, I could not make him understand that nine times one hundred was not twenty-nine.

Eventually, I showed him the bills. He looked at them for a long time, without saying anything.