What follows, is an erotic rather than an explicit story, your comments will be appreciated.
When Joe was young, it was a recurring dream. He read somewhere that it was quite common, many people had the same kind of dream. He could not understand the cause or reason. He was in a public place, in the street, on the beach, in a park. The locations varied, but night after night he was walking stark naked in public.
The strange thing was that people around him were all fully clothed and none were taking any notice of him. It was as if he were invisible. He would wake up with a feeling that the whole thing had been real. He had a disturbing thought, had he been sleep walking and was actually out on the street? The clock showed it was only four in the morning and barely light. in his dream it was broad daylight, so sleep walking was not an option.
As the years rolled on, the dream became less frequent and then stopped altogether. Out of curiosity, he had attended a discussion group in college that was talking about the significance of dreams. When the subject of nakedness in public arose, it was generally accepted that it was something that occurred during adolescence as one became aware of bodily changes and the surge of hormones that accompanied them.
That was then, but now he was in his early thirties. He had been in a relationship with a girl he had met at work for almost five years until he learned that she had been sleeping around and they had separated, some six months ago. Now the dream started again. Influences in his life had changed as not only had his relationship ended but he was given a long-awaited promotion. He was appointed manager of a branch of the company for which he worked. With responsibility for a staff of some fifty or so people and a deputy who was several years older than he, so appointment came with some pressures. He had to win the confidence of all those people and overcome the prejudice of his deputy, who from the start had resented the arrival of his new younger superior.
The job entailed a move to a new home nearer the city where his branch was located. This also meant a daily commute on the subway. Perhaps it was not surprise that in recent dreams he was naked in a subway car. The dream occurred in similar vein during several nights over a month or so, not every night. Each time it was the same, he would be riding in an empty train, squatting by the door at the end of a car.
Then, one night the dream took on a new element. A man, a mirror image of himself, also stark naked was squatting opposite him. The doppelganger, for that is what the man opposite him must be, did not look up. The otherwise empty train came to a grinding halt in a station and the dream faded.
He woke, trembling for although he knew he had been dreaming again, this was utterly baffling and in a way frightening. He got out of his bed and went into the bathroom. For a time, he just stood staring at himself in the mirror, wondering if he were going crazy. He stepped into the shower and remained under the warm jet for what seemed an eternity. Finally, he moved on to shave, dress and eat a quick breakfast before making his way to the subway to commute to his office.
As ever the platform was crowded with people on their way to work. An empty train pulled up to the platform and a door opened immediately in front of him. He was virtually pushed into the car by the crowd surrounding him and jostled to the end of the aisle until he found himself sitting in the position he had occupied in his dream. Subconsciously, he looked down and reassured himself that he was fully clothed. The man seated opposite him caught his eye and smiled.
‘Hi!’ he said, ‘I think we may have met somewhere before, I’m Ian Tanner.’ The name rang a bell. Then he remembered, His mother had a cousin called Sadie Tanner. ‘I used to know a Sadie Tanner, are you related?’
‘Yes, she was my mother, we are distant cousins. I am sure we met when we were quite young. My dad was an officer in the Army, and we spent many years abroad. I have only recently moved here to work in the city,‘ he added. ‘From memory, your name is John, John MacIntosh. Am I right?’
‘It’s Joseph actually but you got the MacIntosh part right. My friends call me Joe.’
At that point, the train drew into a station. ‘I get out here,’ Ian said, ‘Here’s my card. Perhaps we can get together for a drink or bite to eat. Give me a ring.’ With that he was gone. Joe was stunned, there was a likeness. As they were distant cousins, maybe that was not unusual but what was weird was the dream.
The next couple of days at the office kept him busy and work left little room for anything else on his mind. He was sat having a coffee during his lunch break when he pulled out the card that Ian Tanner had given him, and he dialled the phone number. After two ring tones, a recorded female voice announced, ‘The number you have dialled has not been recognised, please hang up.’
The line went dead and thinking he had mis-dialled, he tried again with exactly the same result. Why would anyone hand out a visiting card with a wrongly printed number, he thought? He Googled the address on the card and seeing that it was only six blocks from where he lived, he decided that he would walk over after work and see if Ian was at home.
He had no difficulty in finding the brown stone house. He walked up to the door and rang the bell. What seemed like a long minute later, an elderly woman opened the door, ‘Yes, how can I help you?’ the woman asked nervously, not expecting callers at that time of day.
‘I’m looking for Ian Tanner, this is his address.’ Joe said. The woman stepped back a pace. ‘He did live here before he died,’ she replied.
‘There must be some mistake, I saw him the day before yesterday,’ Joe said.
‘He fell under a train on the subway two years ago,’ the woman said. ‘You can’t have seen the Ian Tanner who lived here.’
‘But he gave me this,’ Joe said holding out the card. ‘We are distantly related, the man I am looking for resembled me.’ The woman scrutinised him closely, ‘I can see the likeness,’ she said. ‘But he quite definitely died in the subway, I attended his funeral.’
Dazed, Joe walked home and later made a search online for obituaries in the local papers. Sure enough, there it was. The report bore a photo of the deceased, who without doubt was his distant cousin. Surely, he thought there was some mistake, what else could I have the card with his phone number and address? He felt in his pocket for the card. It wasn’t there. He searched his other pockets but no card. Perhaps he had dropped when he was talking to the woman at the house. He would never know.
Joe’s mind whirled, as he sought an explanation for what happened. In desperation, he made an appointment with a therapist.
‘Hmm, all that you have told me has two possible answers. Your dreams of being naked in public are symbolic of anxiety. You worry that you are being critically scrutinized by those around you. It may be subconsciously, but that is a common factor. As to the rest, I am as puzzled as you. I am no student of the occult or paranormal. It is possible that at some time you had learned of your cousin’s demise and his appearance in your dream part of your brain’s dealing with the loss. As for seeing him on the train, either you saw a ghost or had a waking dream. I cannot tell.’
‘But what about the card with his address, I could not have seen that in a dream and his address did not appear in any of the reports of his death that I have found.' Joe replied.
'You said that you no longer have the card,' the therapist. Joe shook his head, the only tangible evidence of his encounter with the mysterious man he had first met in his dreams was lost – or did it ever exist being no more than an hallucination? A question no one could answer to Joe’s satisfaction.
your comments will be appreciated
When Joe was young, it was a recurring dream. He read somewhere that it was quite common, many people had the same kind of dream. He could not understand the cause or reason. He was in a public place, in the street, on the beach, in a park. The locations varied, but night after night he was walking stark naked in public.
The strange thing was that people around him were all fully clothed and none were taking any notice of him. It was as if he were invisible. He would wake up with a feeling that the whole thing had been real. He had a disturbing thought, had he been sleep walking and was actually out on the street? The clock showed it was only four in the morning and barely light. in his dream it was broad daylight, so sleep walking was not an option.
As the years rolled on, the dream became less frequent and then stopped altogether. Out of curiosity, he had attended a discussion group in college that was talking about the significance of dreams. When the subject of nakedness in public arose, it was generally accepted that it was something that occurred during adolescence as one became aware of bodily changes and the surge of hormones that accompanied them.
That was then, but now he was in his early thirties. He had been in a relationship with a girl he had met at work for almost five years until he learned that she had been sleeping around and they had separated, some six months ago. Now the dream started again. Influences in his life had changed as not only had his relationship ended but he was given a long-awaited promotion. He was appointed manager of a branch of the company for which he worked. With responsibility for a staff of some fifty or so people and a deputy who was several years older than he, so appointment came with some pressures. He had to win the confidence of all those people and overcome the prejudice of his deputy, who from the start had resented the arrival of his new younger superior.
The job entailed a move to a new home nearer the city where his branch was located. This also meant a daily commute on the subway. Perhaps it was not surprise that in recent dreams he was naked in a subway car. The dream occurred in similar vein during several nights over a month or so, not every night. Each time it was the same, he would be riding in an empty train, squatting by the door at the end of a car.
Then, one night the dream took on a new element. A man, a mirror image of himself, also stark naked was squatting opposite him. The doppelganger, for that is what the man opposite him must be, did not look up. The otherwise empty train came to a grinding halt in a station and the dream faded.
He woke, trembling for although he knew he had been dreaming again, this was utterly baffling and in a way frightening. He got out of his bed and went into the bathroom. For a time, he just stood staring at himself in the mirror, wondering if he were going crazy. He stepped into the shower and remained under the warm jet for what seemed an eternity. Finally, he moved on to shave, dress and eat a quick breakfast before making his way to the subway to commute to his office.
As ever the platform was crowded with people on their way to work. An empty train pulled up to the platform and a door opened immediately in front of him. He was virtually pushed into the car by the crowd surrounding him and jostled to the end of the aisle until he found himself sitting in the position he had occupied in his dream. Subconsciously, he looked down and reassured himself that he was fully clothed. The man seated opposite him caught his eye and smiled.
‘Hi!’ he said, ‘I think we may have met somewhere before, I’m Ian Tanner.’ The name rang a bell. Then he remembered, His mother had a cousin called Sadie Tanner. ‘I used to know a Sadie Tanner, are you related?’
‘Yes, she was my mother, we are distant cousins. I am sure we met when we were quite young. My dad was an officer in the Army, and we spent many years abroad. I have only recently moved here to work in the city,‘ he added. ‘From memory, your name is John, John MacIntosh. Am I right?’
‘It’s Joseph actually but you got the MacIntosh part right. My friends call me Joe.’
At that point, the train drew into a station. ‘I get out here,’ Ian said, ‘Here’s my card. Perhaps we can get together for a drink or bite to eat. Give me a ring.’ With that he was gone. Joe was stunned, there was a likeness. As they were distant cousins, maybe that was not unusual but what was weird was the dream.
The next couple of days at the office kept him busy and work left little room for anything else on his mind. He was sat having a coffee during his lunch break when he pulled out the card that Ian Tanner had given him, and he dialled the phone number. After two ring tones, a recorded female voice announced, ‘The number you have dialled has not been recognised, please hang up.’
The line went dead and thinking he had mis-dialled, he tried again with exactly the same result. Why would anyone hand out a visiting card with a wrongly printed number, he thought? He Googled the address on the card and seeing that it was only six blocks from where he lived, he decided that he would walk over after work and see if Ian was at home.
He had no difficulty in finding the brown stone house. He walked up to the door and rang the bell. What seemed like a long minute later, an elderly woman opened the door, ‘Yes, how can I help you?’ the woman asked nervously, not expecting callers at that time of day.
‘I’m looking for Ian Tanner, this is his address.’ Joe said. The woman stepped back a pace. ‘He did live here before he died,’ she replied.
‘There must be some mistake, I saw him the day before yesterday,’ Joe said.
‘He fell under a train on the subway two years ago,’ the woman said. ‘You can’t have seen the Ian Tanner who lived here.’
‘But he gave me this,’ Joe said holding out the card. ‘We are distantly related, the man I am looking for resembled me.’ The woman scrutinised him closely, ‘I can see the likeness,’ she said. ‘But he quite definitely died in the subway, I attended his funeral.’
Dazed, Joe walked home and later made a search online for obituaries in the local papers. Sure enough, there it was. The report bore a photo of the deceased, who without doubt was his distant cousin. Surely, he thought there was some mistake, what else could I have the card with his phone number and address? He felt in his pocket for the card. It wasn’t there. He searched his other pockets but no card. Perhaps he had dropped when he was talking to the woman at the house. He would never know.
Joe’s mind whirled, as he sought an explanation for what happened. In desperation, he made an appointment with a therapist.
‘Hmm, all that you have told me has two possible answers. Your dreams of being naked in public are symbolic of anxiety. You worry that you are being critically scrutinized by those around you. It may be subconsciously, but that is a common factor. As to the rest, I am as puzzled as you. I am no student of the occult or paranormal. It is possible that at some time you had learned of your cousin’s demise and his appearance in your dream part of your brain’s dealing with the loss. As for seeing him on the train, either you saw a ghost or had a waking dream. I cannot tell.’
‘But what about the card with his address, I could not have seen that in a dream and his address did not appear in any of the reports of his death that I have found.' Joe replied.
'You said that you no longer have the card,' the therapist. Joe shook his head, the only tangible evidence of his encounter with the mysterious man he had first met in his dreams was lost – or did it ever exist being no more than an hallucination? A question no one could answer to Joe’s satisfaction.
your comments will be appreciated