Dream or Journey

 

Date: 9/12/21	Dream State:SD
Title: Karori Fragments
Summary: 3 parts all set in or near Karori, the Wellington suburb I grew up in.  1. I’m secondary school or university age. One sunny afternoon I leave home telling my mother I’m going for a walk. The streets are empty. Walking gives me a sense of freedom. 2. No. 8 Firth Terrace is up for sale and I am inside it looking across at No. 7 (Pam’s house). No. 8 belonged to Old Ma Fuchs and has been illegally divided into flats.  It is in great need of renovation.  It has been empty for 7 years.  Who will buy it after being empty  so long? 3. I’m out walking and discover a newish café so I go in and order.  The young student waitress is friendly but pretty clueless. I have my coffee and some healthy food and try to pay.  At first the waitress tries to work out the bill but can’t and disappears.  Then I spot the owner who is a friendly woman in her 40’s called Pia.  She has family members with her including her father and they are seated at a table.  She gets up to help with serving too so I ask her for the bill.  She doesn’t know what one item costs and is hesitating over the bill.  I say it must be written down somewhere but she can’t find it.  We try to work it out comparing process with similar items. Nothing is clear. I am enjoying her friendly chatty manner so don’t get too irritated but I do want to pay up and leave. She suggests that I don’t pay for that item but come back another day and she could give me a job. This is not my intention or the point but I can see that the café management needs some order given to it, especially as it is busy.  In the end I pay an approximate amount as no one else seems to be able to decide.
Feelings afterwards? Confused but quite calm and happy.
Connections, associations, then and now. Karori streets and my neighbour’s house are familiar.  That house has been occupied all the time by a string of owners since Mrs Fuchs. The café is fictional but could exist.  This is the second dream in a few weeks about people not knowing what to charge me in a café.   Could any of this play out? The café scene could.
What would I like to know?  Symbolically what is this uncertainty about charging?  Is there a soul loss in these scenes of my home suburb?
Input from others
Action plan Short story or dream reentry
Themes and symbols:  Café, bill, uncertainty, Friendly strangers
Bumper sticker Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth