Dream: Prisoner in the Sex Toy Warehouse
Subj: Dream 20030220, 1:00 AM: Prisoner in the Sex Toy Factory
Dream 20030220, 1:00 AM:
I’m a captive in some sort of totalitarian regime. It seems like war is taking place, but we’re not in any battle area, more of a support facility. The uniforms remind me somewhat of the Nazis; the place where we’re being kept is not very prison-like, it’s much more like a dairy barn. I remember walking along dirt-floored hallways with bits of straw, marks from mud on the white walls.
I sneak down a hallway; I think I’m trying to escape. I duck into a room to hide, and there are rows of bins full of small items; I stand next to one of the rows and mutter to myself as I’m looking at the various items, pretending that I’m working on pulling an order. The bins are wooden, and tip forward so that they are easy to reach into; they remind me of an old-fashioned store. There is another man here in a uniform, and he is pulling an order; he is apparently having trouble reading what it says. He sounds out a word that I can’t remember now in German, and I explain that it means “shipped.” He thanks me and goes back to his work. The bins are full of small items that seem to be sex toys. Some are toothbrushes with clear handles, there are several bins of tiny dildos in different shapes and colors; most of them are about the size of one of my fingers.
Further on in my escape plan, I’m beside a swimming pool. There are probably half a dozen people here; they are oddly dressed, not in uniforms, but almost in allegory costumes. They start carrying on an elaborate fight; they are using weapons like a pointed umbrella, a long javelin type spear, and a trident. All of it looks very choreographed and dance-like; it’s definitely not a bloody-minded battle. One of the people, a man with flowing shoulder-length hair, jumps into the pool and sinks straight down to stand on the bottom; another reaches in and pokes at him with the pointy umbrella. Someone is screaming about how they’re trying to kill him, but he comes back up out of the water, apparently unhurt.
Art in dreams
This dream sounds like it stepped right out of a Michael Parke’s painting. It is amazing how vividly I can see the pool scene, you are such a gifted writer. Have you ever thought about doing a documentary on a sequence of your dreams? It would be amazing.
Re: Art in dreams
I’m honored by the comparison… I love Parkes’ work. Thinking back, the people in this sequence look rather like characters from his paintings – the stylized poses, the bizarre costumes – except for the long-haired man, who reminds me of the elder Luthor (Lionel?) in the Smallville series, with a caped greatcoat and a wild expression.

I’m not sure what you mean by a documentary… I feel like chronicling them here in a journal is my first step to understanding them, and the growing body of them (over 300 of them, now) gives me more and more source material for artwork and creative thinking – although I haven’t really done much artwork based on my dreams yet, I want to. My problem is that, vivid though the dream images may seem, I’d need to pose models and work from life or photographs – if I start trying to render dream stuff directly on paper, it seems flat and inconsequential.
Dreamwork definitely makes me look at actual subject matter with a more allegorical, symbolic twist… my mind spins stories on top of things that I see with my waking eyes, and they work their way into my sleeping dreams.
Re: Art in dreams
I collect Michael Parkes for my best friend of 23 years. The more I read the dream, the more it sounded like it was walking out of one of his paintings. I guess documentary wasn’t the word I was looking for, more like a short film made out of several dreams. None would have anything to do with the other, just a brief fade in between each one. I have a thing for art films though, it may sound outlandish. It would be difficult to cast though, you would have more control over animation. It’s just that your dreams are so vivid in your descriptions, I get carried away. For that, thanks!
Animagical
I’m pretty sure it would be tough to do with real people on any kind of budget. If you ever want to do a project, let me know – I’d be happy to be involved!
I love being carried away. Hmm… sedan chair with fan boy and attendants, or over the shoulder of a hulking barbarian? Choices, choices…
Now that is a wild dream and a good read. It was out there and interesting at the same time. I never remember my dreams. I wonder if there ever like this.