the roof of my home

I was looking at the internal structure of a roof, at the metal beams that held it in place. Although I was not familiar with the house underneath, I knew it to be my home. The metal beams formed a pyramid shape: a square around the bottom with four beams reaching up and in from each of the corners, meeting in the middle point at the top. Each length of beam was actually made up of smaller beam sections, interlocking, so that the structure was, theoretically, quite sturdy. I was up inside the structure, looking around, and, from this vantage, I could see that there were three pieces of the beams missing, all from different parts of the structure and each a different length. I knew that without these three pieces, the roof was both incomplete and unstable. I climbed down and searched the house for the missing pieces. I found all three in different rooms of the house. The longest piece I found last, tucked away behind the door of the bedroom cupboard. I then set about putting each beam piece in place, the two shorter pieces first and then, most challengingly, the longest beam.

journey to a new home

I was on a bus, travelling through an unfamiliar city, although I understood that I had made this journey many times before and that I had spent great lengths of time on board, even living on the bus. I also knew that this was one of the last times I would travel this route. I gathered my bags and collected my personal belongings, some of which were strewn about, under seats and such. Approaching the stop where I was to alight, I scanned the bus, thinking that I may have to come back to thoroughly search out any remaining belongings. I thanked the bus driver and he leaned forward, pressing a gold coin into my palm. I looked at the coin, noticing how incredible the designs on either side were and how unusual the shape. I leaned forward and pressed my nose and forehead against his for a moment before a grass green butterfly flew between us as I stepped back. I left the bus and walked to where my friend lived in a huge, old white house. There seemed to be quite a lot of people loitering about the grounds and in the rooms. I felt unsure of what to do, being quite new to this place. I looked into great pots of food that were being prepared and thought that this was an area where I could contribute once I had settled in. I followed my friend outside and around the corner of the house to where the outside tap was. The mud under the tap was extremely slippery and we both began to slide down the hill, alongside the house until we shot out into the back yard. The yard was filled with big mud puddles and we continued sliding. I was wearing my long black boots so my feet were quite protected. I concentrated on maintaining my balance and held out an arm for my friend - who was not wearing any shoes - to hang onto. In this way, we slid down the sloping backyard, past a couple who were relaxing on the grass, through deep puddles nearly reaching my knees, and then coming to a halt on the other side of the house.

ticket and man

I was journeying home. I had been away for some time and now it was time to return. I boarded a bus and purchased a ticket from the driver. It was quite expensive and, although I asked him to select my cheque account, he selected savings. I knew that I did not have the money to cover the cost and that I would be fined for overdrawing. I was a little annoyed but told him not to worry. He wrote out a receipt and I left the bus, aiming to return when it was due to leave. I wandered down through an underground terminal, searching for something to eat as I had not eaten since early in the morning and it was now night. I found a kiosk that was closing so I quickly took a big bottle of water from the refrigerator and stood in line. The lights of the kiosk flicked on and off. As I waited, I scanned the shelves, but there was little food left. A man in front of me in the queue with longish brown hair was playing up, teasing the person behind the counter and creating gentle havoc. He scooped out the few remaining hot chips onto a plate and then handled them before throwing them back into the counter tray. Though the chips had been touched, I was hungry and bought the remaining hot chips. They weren't great but they would do. Suddenly the man, his friend and the few people in the shop started to head down the stairs of the terminal, outside and down a hill. I too sensed that the bus was ready and hurried after them. As I reached the man, I started running and grabbed his hand, pulling him after me. We gained speed, running incredibly fast and leapt up and over the fence that blocked our path with great ease. Landing, we laughed, sitting down on the grass. I started searching through my bag for my ticket, but couldn't find it. I found numerous receipts, notes and brochures, but not the ticket. He too rummaged through his bag. Embarrassingly, I pulled out a wad of papers stuck together with stray chewing gum, but, somewhat comfortingly, he too found papers in his bag glued together by chewing gum.

pink flower

Again, I was with a lot of people, camping in a big building and this time we were all studying. Again, I went into the next room and found my friend there, asleep with a pink flower in her hair, this time a hibiscus.

camping and pink flowers

I was with a large group of people, camping in a huge building. Our sleeping mats lined the floor forming a grid of bedding. I ventured outside onto the verandah, and sat on a high stool. A man, who last time I saw him was a teenage boy, ran his hand over me and I smiled at him, telling him that I had always allowed him to get away with too much. A second man, who I also knew in my teenage years, copied the first man's actions, but with him I felt angry. I told him never to touch me again, not to assume such intimacy. He appeared surprised, presented me with two long-stemmed yellow roses and justified his behaviour saying that we were on a date. I could not recall arranging a date with him and told him so. I went inside and took the flowers with me, but I forgot about them, later finding them on the ground under some clothes, their petals damaged and browned. I went into the next auditorium where hundreds more people were preparing to sleep. I found two close friends there, their beds next to one another, and I felt a little envious seeing as I was alone in the other room. They had arranged beautiful pink frangipanis in garlands around their heads. I wished that there were enough flowers so that I could wear a garland too.

sea creatures

Walking through knee-deep water, ice blue and crystal clear. The body of water, though vast, seemed to be indoors, under a giant roof. Swimming in the water were all kinds of sea life: fish of many sizes and colours, small sharks, striped sea-snakes, neon jelly fish, florid sea horses, and nebulous life forms moving through coral and waving sea grasses.
Later, I was swimming in the ocean, way out at sea. The sky was grey and the water was immeasurably deep and dark. Fear crept into my body, rising within me. I scanned the water for shadows, sensing danger. With my mounting fear, I rose out of the water and found myself sitting on the edge of an old wooden jetty. From there, I could see several huge shadows moving through the water and I realised that I was surrounded by sharks and killer whales. The grey sharks remained submerged, zigzagging menacingly beyond the point at which the waves were breaking, whilst the black and white Orca jumped out of the waves, diving and dancing. Suddenly a killer whale leapt out of the water at the jetty, but a dolphin leapt with it and knocked it away from me, protecting me. I was delighted and, as the dolphin leapt out of the water again, I reached out and touched its skin, feeling it briefly as it descended back into the sea. A third time it reared up out of the water, but this time I could see that it had changed shape, that it was now a predatory shark, perhaps a great white, although not fully grown.