Dream #1: "Roller Coaster"

Classification: Type II
Age: Approximately eight years old.

There is a roller coaster that winds upward around a massive mountain. The mountain is to the right side, the tracks of the roller coaster set about three meters away from the side of the mountain. A vague entity representing myself is seated rather complacently near the rear of the cars. The other seats are filled with all sorts of cartoon characters, their heads disproportionately large as if representative of being masked. All these characters are engaged in adamantly expressing their glee and enjoyment at the concept of the ride, waving their arms in the air, laughing, screaming, and shaking each other by the shoulders. They turn often to glance ahead or behind at each others faces and at me.

As the summit of the mountain is reached, the track veers out away from the mountain a great distance and then turns to plummet directly into a vast, dark cave set in the center on one side. The cave has massive stalactites and stalagmites on the edges, and is formed in the shape of an ellipse with the longer axis vertical.

As we round the last curve before the plummet, we realize with one accord that the mountain is actually the head of a gigantic monster or giant, the cave being its mouth, and that we have been tricked. Two massive eyes then open to gaze at us as we begin the descent. All the cartoon characters panic, and in a frenzy turn to each other seeking help, scream in terror, and then leap out of the roller coaster to their deaths. The image of myself remains perfectly complacent throughout these events. The roller coaster plunges into the blackness of the cave and the dream is ended.

Interpretation:

I can only imagine that this first dream was a result of a recent childhood experience at Disneyland, although unfortunately I cannot place the time of the dream precisely enough to guarantee this fact. The "mountain" of the dream seemed to bear an intuitive association with the Matterhorn.

It was a common occurrence as a child for my family to embark on a trip from Washington state to Southern California each year to vacation at Disneyland. The stated intent was that we should "spend time together as a family," but my family being rather exceptionally dysfunctional, these escapades more often than not proved more stressful than relaxing, and usually degenerated into tension, constant bickering, incessant fighting, and the like. Hence in the dream, the overarching paradigm of the "fun" being a deception from the truly grim state of affairs.

Interesting in itself is the emphasis contained within the dream on my character's complacency and disassociation from the proceedings. I would venture to say that my childhood demanded an advanced development of maturity and independence.