Last night, I had a long dream that caused me to rush downstairs this morning after only brushing my teeth, washing my face, without combing my hair or eating breakfast.

This is no longer important; what matters is that I remember the content of the dream very clearly.

This is a rare vivid dream. So, I want to write it down and interpret it for myself.

Baidu says: “Dream interpretation is a science. ‘The Interpretation of Dreams’ adopts the principle of psychodynamics, emphasizing the social and cultural background of dreams and the relationship between dreams and reality, helping people to deal with and resolve inner conflicts.”

Four years ago, I read the translated version of Freud’s “The Interpretation of Dreams” twice, but I didn’t understand much.

Fortunately, I have the habit of taking reading notes over the years. Two points deeply resonated with me. He said, “In every dream, one can find the dreamer’s beloved self, and it expresses the self’s desires.” “A dream is a true dialogue with one’s inner self, a process of learning from oneself, and another life closely related to oneself.”

Last night’s dream was like this: A large group of us were controlled by several terrorists on the sixth floor of a building. The people trapped in the room were crowded on the floor, filled with terrified screams and wails. CHU and I were among them. Someone tried to escape, but was stepped on by a terrorist, beaten with a sharp gun, and shouted at: “Anyone who runs again will die.”

I had a camera with me, turned off the flash, and secretly photographed the terrorists’ atrocities. But when they approached, I was so scared that I trembled all over. Fortunately, they didn’t notice. Then I quietly asked him beside me how to save the photos because I planned to throw away the camera, which was a liability.

He taught me to take out the memory card, then took out a crumpled breakfast bread bag from his pocket, put the memory card in it, wrote a few words, and sealed it.

He said, “I’ll throw this down from upstairs later. There’s a shop below, and someone will pick it up and find a way to save us.”

He slowly moved through the crowd, approached the window, and when the terrorist lowered his head to smoke, he threw the bag out with all his might.

I was so nervous that my heart was pounding. Time passed minute by minute, and it was almost dark. Each of us received a small tin bowl, and the terrorists actually gave us something to eat.

The terrorists, carrying guns, paced around the crowd, scanning us with a ferocious look. CHU started to hold my hand tightly, saying not to be afraid.

After a while, one of the terrorists spoke: “Let me see who is holding hands, be careful your hands get chopped off…” I quickly pulled my hand away like lightning.

Suddenly, I noticed a door open—it was the elevator, and a woman came out! I wanted to get her attention, so I threw the camera hidden in my clothes, hoping she would notice the danger here.

She glanced this way, with a mocking expression, and retreated into the elevator, disappearing. After a long period of suffering and exhaustion, the trapped crowd became quiet and desperate. We didn’t know what the terrorists wanted?

I started to ask him beside me again: “After so long, can we still trust the government?…” At this point in the dream, I woke up in confusion.

The plot of this dream is simple but coherent. From the context of this dream, there are many things related to me.

We live on the sixth floor, and there are indeed shops on the first floor. Regarding the terrorists, it is directly related to the major news I have seen this year, especially the shocking impression left by the news footage I watched some time ago.

Of course, I interpret it as a reflection of me starting to enter normal life, where there are pressures of daily necessities and even difficult trials.

Our attempt to escape represents a longing for freedom in life and a desire for a chance to breathe. The final calm and despair represent most people’s compromise and indulgence in the face of difficulties. The detail in the dream about him holding my hand made me feel very happy, which is one of the little secrets that usually makes me happy.

When I’m happy, when I’m sleeping, especially when I’m tired, when I’m about to lose my temper, he comes over and holds my hand, making my heart instantly bright.

As for the few words between him and me in the dream, they are indeed a reflection of reality. Due to my simple mind and shallow knowledge, I have various questions to ask him for help every day. (Of course, silly questions like those in the dream naturally become good material for him to tease me.)

Sometimes, I get nervous about him, worry about him, and even consciously protect him, hence the intertwining of panic and bravery in the dream.

Speaking of carrying a camera, that was a fleeting dream I had in high school, and later I fell in love with someone who carried a camera. Of course, some things are destined to be unsuitable and inappropriate, but heaven arranges some encounters to occasionally stir the unextinguished fire in your heart.

So, I don’t seek to track and edit like a journalist, but only to record life more truthfully, gather warmth, and accumulate gratitude, so that when memory fades, those precious things that should not be forgotten can still be traced.

“The woman in the elevator” might be those cold-hearted people we are already accustomed to, who watch from the sidelines, see danger but do not help, and stand by indifferently. They are well-versed in so-called worldly conventions, selfish and hypocritical.

Of course, everyone has been taught since childhood: “Sweep the snow in front of your own door, don’t worry about the frost on others’ roofs.” I’m afraid the social atmosphere will be hard to change for a while.

In short, I understand myself more and more, so now no dream can cause me depression or fear.

I have had several dreams this year about losing loved ones and a big fire at home. My first reaction was to call home, and hearing my parents’ voices made everything seem light and easy. Dreams instead serve as a reminder for me to cherish health, care for relatives and friends, or as a release, a deeper dialogue with myself, why not?

Our work and life are about to undergo a major change, with some clear benefits and unforeseen difficulties. Many people say that the older you get, the harder it is to change.

If this is a change that must be made, then face the difficulties head-on. Right now, my stomach is growling, but the last question in the dream keeps echoing in my mind, asking it in a ridiculous and mocking way. CHU is on a business trip.

If I really asked him this question, I should get some interesting answers. By the way, here’s a cold joke to share: (There is a very poor mountain village, so poor that it’s a place where ordinary people would flee. But a certain township party secretary stayed there for eight years, worked hard, and turned the poor mountain village into a beautiful and prosperous place. How many people are in this mountain village?)

-by Jessie