Dream CLXXIV

I needed to get some supplies from Office Depot, so I left very early in the morning to walk there, long before the sun was up.  I took my clothes with me in a bag so I could dress when I got there.

When I arrived, I could see from some distance that the store was dark and closed.  So I lay down in the ditch to decide whether to go back home or wait for the store to open, and I started dressing myself. 

As I was dressing, a number of cats and dogs appeared near by, selecting places to rest, so I reached out and patted a cat. 

I noticed an attractive woman across the street making breakfast.  She smiled at me and held up a glass of orange juice.  I smiled back, rose, and crossed the street.

It turned out that most of the dogs and cats were hers.  Her house was bright and cosy, though there were a lot of tables and ottomans covering the floor, making walking a little difficult. 

I thanked her for her hospitality and was about to leave when she called me by name and asked if I was, at least, going to say "Hi" to my son before leaving. 

I was surprised; I hadn't given her my name, and I had no idea what she meant by my "son."

Genuinely puzzled, I turned around, and there were several people in the room, most of whom seemed angry with me.

I said, "I can see you're all upset with me, and if will make you feel better, you can beat the hell out of me."  I turned around, facing away from them, with my arms in the air.  I could hear mutterings from those ready to begin.  Then someone said, "Wait, let's hear what he has to say."

I turned around and told them that I didn't have much of anything to say.  I had no memory of any of them, I had never seen this house before, and any mention of a "son" was a complete mystery.

The woman spoke up.  She told me that she and I had artificially conceived a child, who was designed to synthesize food, much like a plant.  However, the experiment was a failure; the child could barely communicate and couldn't produce anything other than a strange, mud-like compound from his mouth.  He was wired into a life-support system and couldn't move.

I shook my head, saying I still didn't remember any of this.  The folks said that the company responsible must have wiped out my memory.  I got angry then, wondering what else I couldn't remember.

I turned to the woman, and asked if I had ever been by to see the boy?  She smiled and shook her head.

I turned and walked toward the boy's room, beyond the kitchen.  I put my hand on his head and smiled, and he smiled weakly back.  And I recognized him.