THE POWER PLANT

      He's in a building. Someone runs by and yells at him to get out, that the power plant is about to explode. He sees people running for the exits. He starts to run too.

      He doesn't focus much upon this dream. It doesn't seem very significant, certainly not touching upon what's been most on his mind these days. He does think about it though. He tries to get into all his dreams. He figures they're all trying to tell him something. He knows that he's in some sort of explosive situation, but he doesn't know what though.

      He's seeing a new analyst. He's seeing him now for the first time. He tells him this dream along with others, and the analyst blows him away. He asks him, how's his heart? He immediately makes the connection - Oh, that power plant! He realizes that the therapist may have just saved his life.

      He thinks of the beach in Venice where he lives. He can walk or run there every day. He can get himself a dog too. Walking is always more fun with a dog along.

      On his way home from seeing his new therapist, he actually stops by the dog pound and takes a liking to a young dog, a handsome shepherd mix. He takes him home and calls him Strider, after the character in Tolkien's Lord of the Rings.

      He and Strider hit it off, and soon they're taking long walks every morning. It's fun for both of them. He's usually calm and centered after their walks and has a good day later working in the city. And if the city does trash him, they can always walk together again later.

      One day though, he comes home, and Strider is in convulsions, frothing at the mouth, trying to bite himself, and in obvious agony. He tries to take care of him, but he's in terrible pain. He finally takes him to their vet, who tells him that Strider has distemper and there's nothing they can do.


      He feels that Strider took the death for him, that if he hadn't gotten him from the pound that day on impulse and hadn't become so close to him on their wondrous walks, Strider would still be alive today, romping his way through life - and he would probably be dead! Strider's life won't have been in vain though. He decides that he'll become Strider himself. He'll continue their walks every day. He thinks that he may even start running soon.