Dream journal: From a tornado to the Bunny Hop

I thought it might be interesting to catalog dreams that I might encounter - perhaps they may help me in my writing journey - who knows, it might help with yours too!

But man, we're starting with a doozy. It gets real weird at points, making me think of David Lynch and his style of symbolism and inward-looking insanity.

It starts with my husband and I back in Austin, where we lived for a few of the lean years. We're seeing large McDonald's fry containers - larger than the large size, actually. They're white and look like they contain double, if not triple, the standard amount of a large.

We eventually find ourselves inside a store not unlike a Walmart and are trying to leave, but we have to leave by going through the cooking station, where we see that this jumbo size of fry is the only size they're making. Someone is also salting an order of hash browns - we seem to be leaving right during that breakfast-to-lunch-changeover.

We finally make it back outside and we get in the car, ready to go 'home.' As we get on the highway, we notice a tornado in the sky behind us. Now, normally, when I dream about tornadoes, they're frightening and large and foreboding. This time was noticeably different - it was a pencil-thin, rope-like tornado, with a beautiful pink sky with wispy purple clouds behind it.

Ahead of us is where the skies get blacker and more violent looking - but we continue to drive forward, and as it begins to rain we sort of veer off into a loop. When we pass under the overpass is when the scene seems to shift entirely.

We stop under what seems to be a viaduct for a tram or train. there is a massive amount of scaffolding that reaches and exceeds the tracks, leading up to what appears to be a cafe of some sort, the only building to be seen for miles, with an old neon sign about as big as the building sitting on top.

Then the scene changes again.

We're in what seems to be an abandoned building or the outer shell of a building. It's dank and there's water everywhere, and my husband and I are just chilling. Even though the building is very threatening-looking, we don't seem to be in any distress.

It's when we're advised by an approaching cop that we need to vacate the premises that we obey, get back in our car, and drive out.

The scene instantly changes and that's when I lose track of my husband. I now seem to be inside a gathering place - maybe a town hall-type of thing. There are lots of adults around, sitting and talking. Someone's at the top of the dais, addressing everyone with a microphone.

The attention eventually focuses on me, and a woman approaches, fanning out some thin objects to me, like playing cards. It appears I am to choose one from the deck. I do. The smell tells me these objects are chewing gum. I hold on to the object but do not look at it.

I see the person next to me stand up and address the crowd, reading some print on his piece of chewing gum before putting it on his mouth. Another person nearby begins to look sad and embarrassed and leaves this meeting as the others in the group point, laugh, and ridicule him.

Whatever's printed on these oversized sticks of gum must hold profound truths or embarrassing details about us all.

The person to the other side of me begins to read his stick of gum, and I try to read what mine says, but my vision is replaced by the mental manifestation of a computer desktop, with a window being clicked-and-dragged in an upward motion.

When the scene returns to the town hall, everything is in black-and-white, and everyone's clothes, mine included, look as if we are in the 1950s. Everyone is beginning to dance the Bunny Hop, moving in a circular path, gathering anyone standing in the way of that motion. I get swept up in the crowd and begin to Bunny Hop along with them.

It seems to be great fun.

And then I wake up.