The Red Room

The Dreamer is inside a room with red carpet, red walls, and red light.

It’s a slumber party. There are other people in the room, and everything is calm until more people start to arrive. The people include the Dreamer’s friends Rory, The Bully, and Thomas, The Trickster. The Bully and Trickster want to set the Dreamer up with a girl, but the Dreamer declines. The Dreamer is annoyed at the noise that the friends are making. The Bully and Trickster invite all kinds of people to storm around the room and sing and dance. “Get out,” the Dreamer says, angry. “Get out,” he says again. “Get out,” he says a third time.

Then there is an unknown woman who approaches the Dreamer inside of the room. She looks Greek. She asks him about a bottle of perfume that the Dreamer has in his hand. The Dreamer has received the bottle as a gift. The Dreamer lets the Greek Woman try the perfume. The Greek Woman then tells the Dreamer that she made the perfume. This is surprising to the Dreamer because if the Greek Woman made the perfume then why did she ask to try it?

Then the Dreamer is inside another room. There’s a film on screen that the Dreamer wants to watch, but then the Bully and Trickster barge into the screening room and start to obnoxiously chant “Seema”. They are making fun of the Dreamer. The Dreamer is not amused. Then the Dreamer’s employee Abi is there. The Dreamer tells her he likes her heavy metal screen print shirt. She says thank you, and agrees that the bullies are obnoxious.

Then the Dreamer is inside another room, a recording studio where his Father’s friend (Joe O’brien) is supporting one of his sons (Doug) performing in a heavy metal band. Doug looks tough, he has a mohawk. Doug is having fun. Joe is proud of his son.

Then the Dreamer is outside. There’s a fist-fight in a public park. His Father is there, somewhere. The Bully and another Trickster (Patrick) are also there, fighting other guys. The Dreamer jumps in the fight and punches an unknown man. Then a really big unknown man comes for the Dreamer and punches out the Dreamer’s lights. The Dreamer awakes from the fight, with someone standing over him holding a bright cell phone. The unknown person says that he wakes people up by turning on their cell phones.

Context: I use a hand-held red light in my bedroom to navigate at night: it’s gentler than the overhead light, better for circadian rhythm.

Associations: Thomas is an old, mischievous, friend from grammar school and high school. “Seema” is the name of a character in the show And Just Like That. Abi is a co-worker, quiet, smart, and does not tolerate bullshit. Joe is an old family friend, a big and gentle guy. He has two sons Doug and Dave, who were much younger than me, but we played together at softball games. The light of the cell phone that wakes the Dreamer is a contrast to the calm red light.

Feelings: frustration, anger