OPD: five boxes of fish

Feb. 22, 2011 - another dream from Ms. Danielle Peña.

Last night was pretty interesting:
I was at some sort of sleep-away camp/center - like where organizations go for 'retreats' and to go do 'workshops' about 'teamwork.' It was nestled within a group of small hills, much like either the Oakland or Mariposa foothills - lots of oaks and shrubby, dry grassland. I was there with a group of about 20 people - either from my past, present, or future... they were all familiar to me, but their features and identities were blurred. At one point wandering around the complex I was talking to someone and they became very shocked and curious about my tongue piercing. In the dream I had a 10-gauge barbell with black glass spheres on either end going through the middle of my tongue. Having such a piercing was completely mundane to me (even though in the dream world it was done recently and still healing, the edges of the piercing were raw, as in they were rough, but only stung, didn't bleed) and was mildly annoyed at how much of a ruckus it was causing - the person had started to call others over to look at my tongue. I could feel myself clicking the top sphere against the back of my front teeth as a nervous tick... waiting for all the attention to be over with already.
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continue to next sequence...
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I was traveling within a subway system. I'm dressed in fancy, flowing egg-shell off white clothes as I have a very important appointment across town. It was very late at night so there were very few trains still running. I wanted the "O" train which runs directly to my destination, but it wasn't going to arrive for an hour or so. Instead, an "R" train pulls up - I glance at the grungy map on the white-tiled wall and see that the "R" will take me at least halfway to where I need to go, so I hop on.

This particular train is itself unusual; it is only one car (given the late time of night and therefore less passengers) but still it is about two-thirds full. Most people sit with their shoulders slouched forward with weariness, a young man bobs his head to the inaudible beat expressed through his over-ear headphones. I find a seat towards the front and the train lurches forward.

Arriving at the end of the 'R' line, I walk outside to gentle rain and open my umbrella. After a bit of walking I arrive at a round plaza about the size of a soccer field. It is entirely white marble, and many rectangular streams of water are cut in a labyrinthine pattern on either side of the central, bisecting walkway. The plaza itself is about twelve feet below street level, with a small platform leading from the sidewalk to an ornate curving staircase.

I approach the platform and peer over to the labyrinthine pattern. Each path of water is only about a foot deep, and ripples gently with the influence of a small spout pouring water from the level of the platform. I turn to go down the stairs but I am stopped by an omniscient presence that did not allow me to descend. It required me to organize five boxes of fishes - which at that moment appeared to my right, near the edge of the platform. The boxes ranged in size from the size of a tissue box to the size of a violin case. One was long, narrow, red and rectangular. Another was small and navy blue with square holes cut in the sides. Another was shaped like the skull of a blue whale, bone white and made of light, semi-translucent plastic. Each box contained various numbers and sizes and colors of fish - it was my assignment to organize them into the appropriate boxes. A small shower of water appears from above to provide the fish with a constant supply of oxygenated water, but it only can do so for up to two boxes at any given time, so I must continually rearrange the boxes so all the fish have adequate oxygen.

The first fish I pick up is a thin tropical fish, long and black with two blood red horizontal stripes on each side. Almost immediately it slips out of my hands, flies off the platform and plops into one of the paths of the water maze. The entire plaza (being white marble) is empty of all fish or other forms of life, so I can easily spot the fish I dropped from the platform. I make a note to fetch it later when the other fish are organized. I'm busy handling the other fish with more care than the first one when the omniscient voice (a little angrily this time) demands that I fetch the red and black fish immediately. I respond (telepathically) "Okay okay! just a minute no need to freak out! I don't mind going down and getting it!" I think of my fancy clothes and consider that I should remove them as not to get them soaking wet in the fountain. I'm just thinking about what boring underwear I had to wear (all white/beige as well) to accommodate the fact I was wearing fancy white clothes ...when I woke up.