Dream LXXVII

I was visiting some friends and we were driving along a main highway. They were going out of town to some mountains to have a picnic, but I was suddenly very thirsty and asked if they could stop in a convenience store so I could get something to drink. They agreed, though very reluctantly.

We passed several before, in desperation, I said, "That one," and pointed to an auto parts store.

Again reluctantly, they pulled into the parking lot, but said they really had no time to spare. I told them to go on ahead and I'd wait for them on the way back. They drove off and I bought a bottle of Mountain Dew.

While I waited, I wandered through the store, and came to an area where several dogs and cats were kept in cages. Noting my interest, a man dressed in an eccentric hat let several of the animals out so I could pet them. One of the kittens wore a little velvet dress, and one large dog with a litter of puppies was able to hoist one of them up in her jawsso I could et him. She was very proud.

While I was waiting for my friends to return, my younger brother pulled into the parking lot in his station wagon. He offered to take me back home, and I accepted, slightly worried that my friends would return and not find me when they came back to the store. But I knew they would figure out what had happened and go onward, so I wasn't too worried.

We drove back to my brother's house, just long enough to pick up other family members, then we drove out to an old barn that he owned.

The barn looked to be in pretty bad shape, but the equipment arranged around it--various tractors, carts, threshers and other farming implements--was still in good condition. Some of the blades on the cutting equipment were quite sharp, and the children had to be warned away from them.

I walked around for a while, and then various dogs and cats started running up to me to be petted. I recognized them all as the same pets who had been kept at the auto supply store--in fact, I recognized one retriever-type dog by his ears, which were like the inner shells of headphones.

As I was renewing my acquaintence with them, the man with the eccentric hat showed up to introduce himself with a flourish, and my brother's family made it known that he was a trusted individual (he took care of the barn when everyone was away). So I petted the cats and dogs that paraded in front of me.

Later, it was time to watch television. The children were enthralled by a cartoon show about pirates, and I let myself be ensnared by their enthusiasm, even though I thought the show was pretty badly presented. You could see the chief pirate's lips move when he spoke.