In my dream I descend a staircase, an institutional one, like something out of a hospital, or office block. Under the earth there is a nether world. The sky is weirdly white, there is no sun here, except what can filter through all that soil, yet there is light, a natural sort of light. I walk about, confused at the familiarity of my surroundings. Here is the building that I attend class in, inside the desks look the same, even down to the bored scribbles by so many students. I pass through a glass door, wondering at this weird world. The dream turns on me, all around there are people with a indefinable sense of loss. What has happened? A woman sits on a park bench, she has a black bob and a high necked black sweater. Her face is covered by fine lines, and her back is stooped, yet she dresses youthfully. She looks so very young, yet old, and the sadness cloaks her like an odor. Nearby is a young athlete with no leg beyond the knee. He looks so strong and fit, as if the missing foot is still there, like he is haunted by the spirit of his own lost leg.
I am aware that there is a connection between these people. Then as is it is beamed from the sky, the information comes to me. There is a disease here, it manifests itself through red, yellow and purple flowerlike legions that grow from the collarbone with long hairs in the centre, like stamens. These two people are victims of the diseases, which can only be cured by giving up something. " See "said my dream self this woman gave up her youth, the man his foot.
I am filled with revulsion, pity, and a nervousness grips my stomach.
Then I feel something pushing from my foot. I look down, a long dark hair is curling from my right foot, I pull it out in horror. But then comes the sensation again, something pushing, twisting through layers of skin to reach the outside world. I can see the hair curling through my skin and it grows thicker and thicker....