dream diary: mother's day, 2008 May

last week, i dreamt about my mother.

i appeared on top of a tower, or a building, or some other tall structure. in the dream, i knew i was dreaming; i knew i had just appeared there, and i knew that i didn't know where i was. i was with my mother, who was a spy deep in cover, and a man who was only there to be comic relief.

as we descended on the outside of this structure--did we go down the long, narrow ladder? or did we rappel down?--the man told me to be careful of the snakes. i wondered, where were we, anyway? above him, my mother, in a black cat suit, looked and moved like a female Bond--silent, sure of herself, subtle, inconspicuous. such economy of movement.

the man noticed my confusion, and he said we were in Scotland. he told me, when Saint Patrick drove the snakes from Ireland, they all went to Scotland, so be careful of the snakes when we reached the ground.

it was night, and the rain fell in torrents. when we reached the ground, i saw that there were indeed many snakes on the ground, slithering in the water. they were all small, and short, and i took care to avoid them as i ran. we were rushing towards a helicopter that was waiting to take us to the safehouse. we barely made it.