Written Contusions

I saw the Exorcism of Emily Rose tonight. It gives me the creeps with all the hair on my back standing on end. It made me think a lot about the dark side again. Nothing much to tell about it though.

On a heavier note, I saw Discovery's Inside and it featured the Tennessee State Penitentiary for women. There's a part there that made me say, " Damn! Talk about a double edge blade! " This is the toughest catch 21 I've ever encountered.

The show featured a mother-and-daughter in-mate. The mom was going free earlier than her daughter. The problem is, the mom is sick and might just die before her daughter is set free.

Then, there's this woman who broke a parole duty. In her defense, she said she had to attend to her mom in Texas who had an injury: the elevator the mom was riding fell 4 floors. Since she rushed to her mom's side, she failed to inform her parole officer. That's why she went in again. Catch? She just found out 3 days ago, she is pregnant.

Here's the thing that will take the whole cake. Freedom is about choices. Here, an inmate was sentenced to death but the state of Tennessee banned electrocution. Good thing? You spoke too soon. Now, she has to decide if she wants to be executed using lethal injection or still go through the electric chair shebang!

So here I am contemplating about the sadness that we call the human condition.

Indeed, hell is here on earth. It's the devil's playground. And I am left with my mouth gaping open.

Two nights ago, I dreamt about another disturbing thing.

I dreamt that I went into an apartment near my house. I sat in the living room on a turquoise colored sofa and I started reading a book. Suddenly, my little nieces and my kid cousin came in and started playing in the living room. Afraid that they might break something, I told them that they should stop. I got up, folded my book and started holding their hands in mine when I noticed that there was an old lady sitting on the other sofa.

Her hair was gray and it reached down to her forearm. Her face was kinda stern looking. It was kinda wrinkled in an austere kinda way. She had her hands folded on her lap.

After seeing her, I felt embarrassed that I went into her house without her permission so I faced her and I said, "Sorry Ma'am. I didn't realize you were there. I will be taking the kids home now."

"That's a good idea," she replied as she smiled at me.

When I looked back to grab the kids, they were gone. Instead, I saw the old woman standing in the door way. She said she was lonely and asked me if I could stay longer. She pointed to a photo behind me to show me her family picture. I turned my head and the old lady was already on the other side of the room, sitting behind a desk. She was smiling dubiously now.

I approached the desk but I felt funny. It felt like every step I took didn't reach the floor. My body felt light.

Then the old woman asked, "What's wrong?"
"I think my body is levitating and I can't control it."
"I can do that too. Just concentrate," she advised.

I put my palms together and opened it slowly like a butterfly while making sure my index fingers and thumbs were together to form a triangle. Slowly, I was able to prevent myself from floating. I was able to control the rhythmic bobbing of my body.

Then I got surprised because hand gripped me from behind and pulled me down.

I turned to face the person and I felt relieved to see my colleague from work. Her name was Ena.

"Hey! What are you doing here?!" I asked enthusiastically.
"I'm visiting my friend," she answered.
"Ah! Yes, that's right. You told me you had a friend living here but I didn't know your friend lived so close from my house."
"Where do you live ba?" she asked.

I walked towards the window. It was made from jalousies. "There! I live in that compound just across the street."

As I pointed it out, our view of the street zoomed in like it was being focused on a video camera.

I said, "Wow! Auto-focus!"
"I could also do that!" my colleague said and the window view zoomed even more til I could see my house's very own door.
"That great! So is she your friend?" pointing at the old lady.

I twisted my body to look and point but the old lady was gone. I looked back to Ena an the old lady was beside her already, sitting on a wooden chair.

The old woman was stilling smiling and I noticed that I was not able to move my whole body. I could manage to wriggle my toes and fingers and jerk my hand but that was it.

I struggled but my efforts are in vain. Then, a spark of inspiration hit me. I realized I was dreaming!

Local superstition states that if you are dreaming and you can't move your body, the solution to that is to clench your toes or cross you fingers. I was starting to get frantic. I tried both at the same time. I was starting to curl my toes when I saw Ena hugging the old lady to prevent her arms from falling to her side.

I immediately saw the connection. I was put under a binding spell and the only way to break it is if she unfolds her hand or if I was strong enough to break it on my own by curling my toes or crossing my fingers.

I was near victory and I saw the old woman straining to stop her arms from being lifted up when suddenly, Ena helped her and hugged her really tight.

I became desperate. I was able to talk so I started shouting for my mom. I was also starting to wake up but still I couldn't move my body. My mom was fast asleep. Good thing my aunt woke up and I was able to tell her to curl my toes and then cross my fingers. Suddenly, every was ok.

It felt horrible. I thought I was going to die in my sleep that night. I felt like I traveled the astral plane again and I met someone really powerful. Could this also be a test of power?

Yesterday I dreamt that I went to a clinic for a medical exam. I walked up to the counter and they gave me directions on how to proceed. My first stop was a male nurse across a corridor strewn with all kinds of things like blood test kits, syringes, plastic wrappers, test tube racks, and beakers.

With patience and a considerable amount of dexterity, I was able to reach the nurse and he took my hand. He put a test tube with a jagged opening to my wrist. We slowly moved the jagged glass around my wrist and I got lacerated. My wrist was bleeding slightly so I pressed on it with my other hand to stop the bleeding.

Anxious to get the medical tests completed, I asked the nurse, "So where should I go next?"
"To avoid crowding, go to the last nurse's station and then back track."
I said, "Ok. Thanks!" as I was walking towards the place he was pointing to.

When I got to the nurse's station, the nurses rushed up to me and they looked horrified. They asked me, "Sir, what happened to you!?"

As soon as they got to me, they held up my hand and I realized that my wrist was bleeding like a stuck pig.

"How did this happen to you, Sir?" they asked as they were cleaning my wound.

I pointed to the male nurse and said, "I think he wanted to get my blood sample using a test tube."
"Sir, we know you've done this before. Weren't you weirded out when he did that? You know that its not the standard procedure!"
"Yeah. I thought that was weird but...." I never finished my sentence. They ushered me in to a room to get my wound dressed.

They finished dressing my wound quickly. They told me to wait my turn for the other procedures for the medical test. They said I could walk around the garden while waiting. I got up and went out through a side door.

Stepping out on the garden felt like a visit to the zoo. There were cages with all sorts of animals. I am particularly delighted with ponds so I approached a pond when I saw a monkey wallowing in the sludgy water. I didn't notice it earlier but there were two crocodiles approaching the monkey and another animal. It seemed like an aardvark or a hairy ant-eater.

The first croc slowly plowed through the mud and snapped at the monkey, taking away most of its snout with it. Surprisingly, the monkey was able to still struggle away from the hungry crocs and it helped the aardvark/ant-eater escape the jaws of death. When they stepped on land, they ran with their front paws held outward and they ran erect with their hind legs.

I felt queasy considering that the monkey only had half of its face left.

I was distracted by the ruckus so I didn't notice that there is an even bigger crocodile approaching me. Good thing I was standing in front of the door so I didn't meet my end.

As I stepped inside, I saw that I was in another sector of the clinic and I was surrounded by a wire mesh fence and there were benches to sit on. I had my bag with me and one kid was yanking my bag. I felt scared that he would get my cellular phone or wallet so I shooed him away. He left but he put out his tongue at me.

I saw my mom there too.

I tried getting back to the nurse's station I was previously at but I didn't find it. I was tired already so I sat on a bench. I had nothing to do so I examined my wounded hand. I felt relieved that it stopped bleeding but I got chills looking at the muscles moving beneath the torn skin. I felt frantic when I saw that instead of blood, the wound gaped open like a talking mouth. I was so outraged that I mocked the passing medical personality by making the wound close and open like a mouth when speaking.

After that, I felt ashamed because I saw that everybody was staring at me already. I sat down again and tried to cover my face with my hands when I saw Eli (Elizabeth), my ex-girlfriend. I didn't want her to see me that way so I wished I could be invisible. Nevertheless, she still saw me and she sat beside me.

I don't remember anything more about that dream. That's all I have. It felt weird and actually felt that my hand was aching when I woke up. I was pretty shaken up because of that.

Welcome!

Vintage photo?

The flight of two birds
called "Dream and Nightmare"
in a sepia sky.

Hour glasses?

The endless autumnal molting
of red maple leaves
or the vernal tears welling
down weeping willow boughs
that are barely visible
except on moonlight nights.

Balloons?

Giant ogres orbitting over our heads.

Looking glasses?

You - a pale fairy prince
pointy-eared with damselfly wings.
Me - a rain child with scarlet scales
and lionfish fins.

Rings?

A fin & a feather intertwined.

I'll take that, thank you.

You're welcome
and thank you for shopping.

-Marso 8, 2007