Dream of: 02 April 1997 "Tiger"
Many people were gathering at an outdoor event being staged in a large grassy area surrounded by trees. Cars were being parked randomly about, and people were beginning to mingle all over the area. Suddenly I saw one of the attractions of the event: huge orange tigers with dark stripes were being exhibited to the crowd. As I approached nearer to the tigers, I became somewhat concerned that none of the tigers was restrained by any sort of chain; the tigers were kept in check only by the will of their trainer.
My apprehensions soon proved to be well-founded: before I could react, one of the beasts had revolted from the master and rushed toward me. I could hear the trainer calling to me that I needn't fear, that the tiger wouldn't harm me. My instincts, however, cautioned me differently, and as the tiger leapt toward me, I recoiled in fear. But I couldn't escape, and in a blink the tiger was looming over me. First it grabbed my right arm in its teeth and held me, not enough to break the skin, but enough so I couldn't pull loose.
I could still hear the trainer in the background, the tension in his voice becoming more apparent. The trainer was saying that the tiger wasn't angry with me, but simply that the tiger had taken a strong liking to me. The trainer was still trying to reassure me that the tiger wouldn't hurt me, but by this time I was definitely of a different opinion. With mounting fear I watched as the tiger's mouth moved down to my right hand and began to clamp down on one of my fingers. Fortunately I was wearing a pair of black gloves, and as I felt the pressure of the teeth increase, I slipped my hand out of the glove, leaving the tiger holding the empty glove in its mouth.
For a moment the tiger didn't realize what had happened. I saw my chance and took it. Glancing around, I perceived that if I acted quickly, I could probably run over to one of the parked cars before the tiger had a chance to react. I jumped to a run, and before the tiger realized it, I had reached an old small brown car. Ascertaining that the car was unlocked, I quickly jumped in. But I didn't feel safe, for no sooner had I shut the door than the tiger also raced up to the car, stalking around it, looking for a way in. Feeling vulnerable, fearing the tiger would be able to break into the car, I tried to figure out what I should do. I began working with the gear shift until finally the car started rolling. The car wasn't actually turned on, but since I was on a slight incline, the car began moving along downhill.
As the car rolled toward the woods which surrounded the area, I realized I had yet another problem: the brakes weren't working. I pressed frantically on the brakes, trying to bring the car under control; but nothing happened. As I continued toward the trees, I steered toward an opening in the trees, finally entering the forest. Continuing to roll through the woods, I hoped that at least I might lose the tiger in the forest, but when I looked out the window, I saw that the tiger was still chasing along outside the car. I also began having trouble with so many trees; I was worried that soon my way would be blocked by the trees and I would be unable to continue on. Finally I spotted a small opening in the trees and I steered toward it. I managed to steer right between two trees and I came back out in the green area, where all the cars were parked.
I continued moving along a small dirt road which appeared to surround the green area where all the people were. As I passed by the cars parked on the road, I realized I needed to get out of my car, since I couldn't control it, and find another better car. As I rolled along, up ahead of me I saw a nice blue pickup truck. I could see that the truck was unlocked. Somehow I managed to pull my little brown car right up next to the truck and bring the car to a stop. But only when the car had ceased moving did I realize my newest problem: I had pulled the car too close to the truck, and I couldn't open my door to get out. How could I have been so stupid? I had wanted to just pull close enough so I could jump out of my car and quickly open the door to the truck and jump in. But I had blown it.
And now I saw that I had an ever greater problem. I hadn't realized it before, but now I saw that the left rear window of my car was down, and the tiger was squeezing into the car. I quickly saw however that I might be able to turn this disaster to my favor. When the tiger was almost completely into the car, I slid across the front seat, opened the passenger door and leaped out. The tiger was left in the back seat. However I saw that this diversion wouldn't long beguile the tiger, and I frantically looked around for some means of escape.
I saw no people, and it looked as if I weren't going to be able to depend on anyone else to help me. Finally however I saw a possible hope on the other side of the street: a small store, probably a little grocery store. I ran over to it as fast as I could, only to discover that the store was completely locked up and I couldn't get inside. I could only look through the large pane windows. Looking back toward the car, I saw that the tiger was already out of the car and was running toward me. Only one last hope: maybe I could climb up on the roof. I jumped up and grabbed the overhanging eave, and pulled myself up on the roof. I scrambled up to the pinnacle of the roof, which was shaped somewhat like a small dome, only about six feet in diameter. Right in the middle of the top of the dome was a round metal hoop attached to the tip-top of the dome. Tied to the little metal hoop was some kind of cord, which I grabbed. I quickly discovered that the little hoop could move around so that I could hold onto the cord and swing around to all sides of the sloping dome-like roof. This flexible movement of the loop quickly proved to be important, because the tiger was now trying to leap up onto the top of the dome. However the tiger was unable to get a foothold on the dome. So every time the tiger would leap up, since I was able to hold onto the rope and swing around the dome, I was able to avoid the tiger's grabbing me. Time after time the tiger leapt up toward the dome, and every time I swung out of its way. Holding onto the rope was rather strenuous, and I could feel myself tiring. But I could see the tiger was becoming more tired. Its tongue was drooping from his mouth, and the tiger was taking more time between each jump, trying to gather up strength. If I could only hold out a while longer up here on the dome, maybe I could work my way out of this predicament.
Copyright 2002 by luciddreamer2k@gmail.com
