Dream CXLVIII

I was napping on the couch when I heard what sounded like snow falling off the roof.  Still tired, I slipped my feet into my slippers and stood up to check it out.  My feet were freezing, and I opened my eyes and saw that the carpet was coated in snow--in fact, snow was falling all around me.  I yelled that it was impossible for snow to fall indoors, and I checked the roof to make sure that it was intact.

At that point, I recognized that I was still asleep.

Shortly thereafter, I heard some people outside opening the outer door and recognized my wife's voice.  She came in, bearing an enormous cardboard box.  "Hang on a second, just a moment," I said, and hurriedly ducked into the bathroom and flushed the toilet.

She and the children were just passing through, but they wanted to show off their new cars.  I went outside to look.  One of them was an enormous bus, which had all the members of a team sitting inside.  Another was a kind of flat-bed car, which I was told could haul a boat or a railway car.  I was impressed, though a bit cold from the snow.

She told me that this was the "season of forgiveness" and I wondered allowed if that meant my debts would be forgiven.  She seemed not to hear, but told the story of a woman who had been thin all her life until, just recently, "her teenage eating habits came back to haunt her" and she gained a lot of weight.  My wife deliberately avoided using any names, and I wondered who she meant.

After she left, I went back to the couch.  The cat was having some trouble scratching so I asked her if she was all right.  Just then I heard more voices, and actor Darren McGavin showed up with several scientists, all dressed for winter.  They went to the various rooms of the house and started settling in.  Apparently they were stopping here on their way to climb a mountain.

One red-haired young woman went downstairs.  I followed her down, and she grabbed a box of snacks and started eating them.  She would only answer my questions with a single word, or a nod of the head.  I found her both intriguing and a bit off-putting.

I saw what looked like a stack of snack boxes, arranged from largest to smallest in a pyramid shape.  I picked up a box from the stack, trying to figure out how to open it.  Finally, I just bit the top box and a small explosion went off in my mouth.  I realized then that the boxes didn't have snacks, but different types of fireworks.  As I went through the rows of boxes, they changed what sort of fireworks appeared.  One of the middle boxes had a kind of burning snake-ash, and it stayed hot long after it should have burned out.  I thought it was a fire-hazard and was going to tell folks to be careful with it.

The office manager came by and told me she was just here to pick up some papers.  She left, but returned shortly saying that she was very close to accepting an offer from a veterinary school, and she thought they might have a position for me as well.  "Do you have a copy of your current resume?"

"No," I thought.  At this point, I knew I was still sleeping, and there was a resume on a small table not too far from reach, but it was outdated.  If I could awaken, I could use it....

Then I remembered that the office manager had died the previous Spring.  "When you say they have a position for me," I asked her, "does this mean that I'm dead, too?"

She smiled but did not answer.