Last night I had a dream where my house is built on the train tracks. The trains literally pass through my house. Every night as the trains pass through one by one I am able to see into the sleeping cars and experience what the occupants of each sleeping car are doing. They appear to pass through my awareness in slow motion such that I am able to get a good glimpse into their lives. At first the experience of looking into peoples lives is very intriguing but as the nights progress I become very sleep deprived. I am becoming more and more tired and my vision is becoming tunneled.
There is a man who rides one of the nightly trains. I am very intrigued with his life so I maintain in my mind a mental image of him. I specifically look for him at night to pass through. The house is in need of repair as the air conditioning is no longer functioning. All the windows in the house are open but there is little relief from the heat of the day. This adds to the discomfort of the night.
On this day, I decide to leave the house to try to find someone to repair the air conditioning. As I step out the front door I turn around to go back as I believe I forgot something in the house. I am in a hurry. I can hear the next train approaching. I am just about to jump the tracks to go back inside when it occurs to me the severity of my approach. I could be killed by the oncoming train. Although I can hear the train, I don’t know what track it is traveling on or in which direction it is headed. I realize I need sleep because my judgment is impaired.
I reach for my cell phone to call my doctor. My doctor answers the phone and I proceed to explain the circumstances under which I am living. He tells me I do not need sleep. Angry with his response, I insist emphasizing our working relationship. I am his patient and I am the one who is paying for his service and I want him to prescribe some sleeping pills.
At this point, I begin to awaken from the dream. I can now see my bedroom but my vision is still tunneled. In the tunnel is walking a man through the corridor of the oncoming train. My first thought is to ask whether this is the man I seek? Knowing the dream is about to end. I quickly place his mental image in my mind and rush through the corridor to pass him to get a good look at his face. As I pass him up I turn around and look squarely into his eyes. I can see the soul of the man before me. By this time I am now fully awake. The man is now standing next to my bed. He is in fact the same man I’ve been pursuing on the nightly train. He is the image in my head. There is a moment of clarity as his image slowly fades.