Fantasy Theater

Last night, I dreamed I was watching a movie, starring Tom Hanks. In it, Hanks was a sort of nebbishy guy who was in love with this girl, but couldn't work up the nerve to ask her out. Don't know who was playing the girl. They ended up being invited to the same party, and Hanks thought this would be his chance to make his move. But when they get there, the place was packed with people she knows, and he didn't know anyone. So she spent the whole time talking to other people, while he sat and moped in the corner. Finally, he decided to just slip out.

Here, the dream changed -- instead of watching a movie play out, I was at a friend's house for our weekly Dungeons & Dragons session (which I was last night in real life, although in the dream the house was a different one that I didn't recognize). For some reason, I brought my computer with me, and I asked to borrow a hair dryer so I could open it up and blow the dust out. I took the computer out to the porch, but it was raining, so I decided the heck with it and started walking home.

As I was walking home, I saw a large herd of animals marching towards me. There were elephants and zebras and I think some others as well. I remember thinking that these were the kinds of animals that used to roam the plains, back before there were humans. And then I saw people marching along as well, and I realized they were people from the past, including some famous historical figures. The only one I remember specifically was Indira Gandhi. Her appearance looked slightly "off", like black-and-white footage that had been computer-colorized, and I realized that I was back to watching a movie. But the movie was shot from a first-person perspective, so it still kind of felt like it was happening to me.

Then, instead of watching a parade go by, I (or the movie character) was moving through time, appearing in different important points in history. I was carrying a deck of cards with random philosophical messages on them -- sort of a cross between an Oblique Strategies deck and some kind of schmaltzy self-help "daily affirmations" thing. I handed out cards to different famous leaders, the messages always somehow relevant to whatever historical crisis point they were dealing with. By doing this, I was changing history, preventing mistakes and tragedies. The only one I remember specifically was JFK, who was looking over some kind of war plans with his advisors. I handed him a card that said something about seeking peace. He looked skeptical, so I gave him another one that said someone as smart and good-looking as him could accomplish anything. This made him laugh, and I felt like I had succeeded in preventing something terrible from happening.

I looked down and saw that my hands were all old and withered...traveling through time had caused me to age rapidly. Then I was in a hospital, sitting in a waiting room. The deck of cards had become a large cardboard box full of old board games. There was a young boy in the waiting room with me, and I offered him the box of games. "Here. I don't need them anymore." The kid was happy to get them, and I felt very content and at peace as I quietly expired.

Then, I was back to my normal self, visiting the same hospital waiting room (I was there to meet someone, though I don't remember who). As I was waiting, I chatted with the nurses and doctors about the really awesome, intense movie we'd all seen. Since we only saw the character's hands (first-person perspective, remember?) and heard a few lines in a raspy old-person voice, there was some doubt over whether the lead character was a man or a woman. I said I thought it was a man, and everyone else laughed and said no way, it had to be a woman.

--

That's all I remember. Damned if I know what it means. But I can totally see Tom Hanks making that movie.

Supposedly, we dream every night, but I almost never remember mine. Had an odd one last night that stuck for some reason:

I was working in a photographic darkroom (which I actually did, many years ago, but this one didn't look like any I'd ever been in). Apparently I was living there, too, because there was a shower stall built in. Someone was showing some people around the office, and they walked in on me while I was showering. I remember feeling more amused than embarrassed by this.

There was a cleaning lady who worked there, and I was annoyed with her because she kept moving my stuff around while tidying up.

One side of this very large darkroom was being used as a movie studio. A Marilyn Manson video was being shot there, and there were all these young kids who were wrapped up in strands of Christmas lights. Manson and the film crew had left, and the kids asked me if I could please untie them. I was hesitant, because I was afraid I'd get in trouble.

That's all I remember.