As with most dreams, parts of this particular sleep event are murky. I can't remember how it started, which is not really surprising for a dream, but I do remember being in a huge beautiful home to which I felt some sort of connection. I don't know if it was where my dream self lived or if my dream self was just visiting, but I knew I was supposed to be there.

The house had all the trimmings including trey ceilings, crown mouldings, shiny hardwood floors and even solid surface countertops. Every detail was so clear it was like looking at a real estate brochure while touring a home with a realtor. Somewhere along the way, I lost something in this vast house and it was a matter of life or death that I find it. Unfortunately, I had no idea what this something was or would it could possibly be hidden.

I searched frantically from room to room and finally stumbled upon a high boy chest of drawers tucked back into the corner of a bedroom. The top of the chest was immaculate. It was inlaid with different woods and was obviously expensive. I could see my face in the glossy surface. The panic was evident in my wide eyes. I started searching in the top drawer and slowly made my way down. However, with each drawer, the chest began to deteriorate as did the conditions in the room. The wood started to age and splinter, the finish dulled. The room darkened.

When I opened the fourth drawer down, I was startled to find a decaying human body. Upon further inspection, I discovered it was that of my mother-in-law, who died in real life in July 2006. Her corpse was lying there in the drawer on top of a pile of clothes that I just knew I was going to have to dig under. This was not a neat tidy dried up skeleton, folks. I'm not going to get into an icky CSI-esque description because it is just too much. You can use your own imaginations and you probably won't be all that off base even if you think the worst you can possibly think.

I didn't find what I needed under the body, so I pulled out the fifth drawer. And if I thought the last drawer was bad, this one was worse, because it was in this drawer that everything had "puddled." Again, I knew I had to plunge my hands into the contents despite a lack of gloves or other sterile garb. By this time, the drawer was really falling apart and it was all I could do to keep it in the chest so all the contents wouldn't spill out onto my feet. I also noticed that the floor, which had been expensive tile just moments before, was now hard packed dirt, like that of an old basement or cellar. There were cobwebs and other haunted house type "decorations" where before it had been upscale furnishings and art work.

The feet of the chest of drawers were beginning to rot and crumble and I had to press my shoulder against it to keep from falling over on me. I was already in a panicked state because I knew if I didn't find whatever it was I was looking for, I was a dead woman, but it appeared I was going to be a dead woman anyway.

I woke up drenched in sweat. My heart is beating fast just remembering this to type it.

~k