Dreamboree

Last night, I had a strange dream...

I dreamed we were at Fennboree (it must've been Fennboree, because there were a lot of cars parked willly nilly and Cynthia was pointing people in the right direction), and it was in a really remote place and I think it was Montana, but out in this middle of nowhere place, was a giant, Dr. Seuss-like mall.

It reminded me of this cover:

But the actual Fennboree was being held at a beach...attached to an ocean. And it was still Montana. Lol.

As I was driving up with the kids, Cynthia waved me to a parking spot behind her. We got out of the car and suddenly, from out of the blue, lightning flashed, followed by the largest peal of thunder I've ever heard. Everyone ran for a garage that was suddenly there. Another flash and boom had us diving for cover around big empty boxes.

Then the weather was nice again, and I joined Forrest as he waded in the shallow ocean water, looking for seashells. We had a really nice time, and there were a LOT of seashells. Then he said, "Oh!" and reached for something in the water.

"What is it?" I asked, peering closer.

He pointed to a thin, tin-foil-ish bottle cap thing. He pointed to the scalloped edges and said, "It's an 0-5 Nickel. Worth a little bit."

I saw another little gleam in the shallows as a weak thread of sunlight touched the water. "There's
another one!" I said, and pulled the piece out.

He said, "That's a 1910 dime, and not worth as much."

I said, "Well, it's still pretty, so I'll keep it."

Another shell caught my attention...it was a deep brown conch, and protruding from it's underbelly was another, smaller shell. I think it's called a "whelk," but I like "hermit crab shell" better, so that's what I call it.  The hermit crab shell was a rich, deep blue--my favorite color. Before I could discern the telltale spiral, I thought a large dark sapphire was stuck in the conch. Sapphires are my birthstone, and also my favorite gemstone.

It looked a little like this, but a deeper, richer blue...

The conch was an ordinary, hand sized conch like these, but deeper brown:

I showed it to Forrest, and he said he wanted it. Someone walked up and scolded me as I gave it to Forrest. Whoever it was said in a haughty voice, "You shouldn't be taking things from the sea. Others should enjoy them." I think her name might've been Edith.

I shrugged, then replied, "Forrest wants it. If we leave it here, the waves will bury it in the sand and then no one can enjoy it." I gave it one last wistful look as Forrest put it in his pocket. I hoped he wouldn't put it in a file cabinet. I sorta had wanted the shell, but the way his eyes lit up when he noticed the color of the blue reinforced my belief that it's good to give away small joys.

Then, there was this little, tentacled creature that came into sight. I grabbed it, and it was slither-y and sorta slimy, but also had a tingly, slightly electric feel. It was like a cuttlefish, sorta, but had a soft shell and it's tentacles were long, thin, and purple. And it was much cuter than this:


I held it up to Forrest, and he wanted it, too. As he took it, it slipped from his hands and shot off into deeper water.

I was determined to catch it, so I followed it. As I closed in, a giant squid grabbed it and gobbled it up, swallowing it whole in this freaky tube mouth thing. It was like a vacuum cleaner. Lol.

I scowled at it, and it returned my gaze with a remorseful look that told me it was sorry. It spit out the little creature into my hand, and as I was returning to shore, I wondered how Forrest would manage to keep  it alive, as it couldn't survive without seawater. I thought about letting it go, but decided to see if Forrest had any ideas.

He did. I walked up the beach, and Forrest already had a little purple plastic octagon-shaped aquarium, and there were a few little hiding places for the creature to squeeze into. I gently placed the squiggly thing into the water, and it looked kinda happy as it explored it's new surroundings.

However, I didn't especially like the thought of this little squirmy thing living a life of captivity.
Then, two eyes poked out from the top of a hollow log decoration. The creature I put in bugged out it's own similar eyes at the sight. Somehow, Forrest had found this little guy a friend, probably a female friend, and I assume the two lived happily ever after.

Then I woke up.

I remember this dream very vividly, probably because it occurred just before I woke up this morning, and I type this as it's still fresh in my mind. And no, I didn't fill in any gaps with parts I couldn't remember, as people often do to make their dreams intelligible. This was actually the dream, step by step. It's rare that I remember every part of a dream so clearly...

Anyway, time to get ready to look at and take pictures of bones...