Interpretation, Anyone? - As an inquiring species, we are moved by symbols, by metaphors, by things that are more than they seem to be. From dreams to prophetic works, we rely on our interpretations to help us find the answers. We open this section with a dream...
The following is an accurate account of a dream experienced by the author in the late afternoon of a mid-summer's day in July of 1971. The reason for this account is the high degree of vividness by which the dream was perceived and recalled. This account was written immediately upon completion of the dream because the dream was a sufficient enough stimulus to disturb the author's sleep cycle.
The sky above was filled with scattered, high-flying cirrus clouds that diffused the sunlight only slightly. It was a silken summer day and from my vantage point atop the tower of Snow White's castle I joyfully viewed the total harmony which is Disneyland. I stood and gazed from between the ramparts at the visitors who, like myself, were mystified by the surroundings. After I was satisfied with what I had observed, I descended the flagstone stairway to the small ante-room to wait for the elevator to the ground level. The little room was decorated with red carpeting with complimentary wallpaper. From the wall paper beamed the smiling face of Mickey Mouse, his face was repeated in a random, but orderly, pattern throughout the room.
Flowing endlessly from some unseen source, the song of the Mickey Mouse Club bubbled into the air. Around me, wide-eyed children and parents alike patiently stood in line for the elevator. I became restless after a minute or so and slipped into the corner of the room where a sign above the door told me where I could exit. I took the exit and found myself in a hallway with stairs that were decorated similar to the elevator room behind me, but Mickey's eyes continued to stare out at me in a watchful manner from the wallpaper.
Below me, I could hear voices fading down the stairway and above me, the recorded song and the children's talk grew fainter until it was lost to my ears. I followed the stairs with no particular haste, humming to myself as I went, "M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E". Five flights of stairs later, the wallpaper ended abruptly and white walls with cement floors took over. There had been no exit along the way, so I kept following the stairs.
Finally, I entered a large room, but I could not see what was there because of a large partition which blocked my view. I followed the partition to the left and finally managed to get around it. There before me was a construction gang, all dressed in overalls and hard-hats, on numerous platforms. They raised and lowered the platforms out of and into the floor by a system of ropes and pulleys. Each platform was a square and all the squares were arranged in such a manner that they formed a larger square, like a chess board, with eight platforms to a side. No two platforms were at the same height, nor did they remain stationary. In addition to the ropes and pulleys, each platform was supported by a hydraulic shaft rising from somewhere below. The platforms rested very uneasily upon the shafts, teetering to and fro with every movement.
I walked onward and chanced to pass a large window that faced into a tunnel-like structure. As I gazed into the window, a carriage of sorts whizzed by me. There were laughing children aboard the vehicle and I watched it speed by on its' way through the tunnel. The children seemed to be enjoying themselves and did not notice me, owing to the speed at which they passed. Finally, one of the workmen saw me and asked where I was going. I explained that I was just trying to find the way out and he said, "Oh, I will help you, in that case."
I followed him through a group of workers to where the foreman stood with a blueprint in his hands. Before I could explain myself, my companion was talking . . . "This is the son of the Caliph of Absolam, he bears gifts for Mr. Disney, an American flag and hashish." Sure enough, I was holding a flag and some hashish, both contained in plastic bags. My companion was now strangely dressed as a court jester. "Well," said the foreman. "He'll have to fold that flag right and then we will see what we can do."
My companion was now dressed in a coat and tie and he led me to a corner of the room where I placed the hashish in a garbage can and withdrew the flag for proper folding. I asked him if he knew how to fold an American flag and he replied harshly, "Of course I do!" On the first fold of that magnificent flag, I noticed dust on the field of blue. Stopping, I cleaned it and again we began to fold. This time water leaked from the ceiling and stained the stripes. We moved from beneath the water drops and they moved with us. "I cannot give Mr. Disney a flag in such condition," I complained sternly. "Well," said my companion. "We'll have to finish folding it anyway." As we did, I noticed that he didn't know how to fold a flag of the United States any more than a Russian did. When it was done, and it was a very sloppy job, he took the flag and said, "Go out that door and you will find the way out."
It was the same door that I had come in, but not wishing to be troubled further, I thought it best to return the way I had come. To my surprise, the stairway led down and not up, but I followed it anyway. One flight down, the stairs opened into another room. It had glass windows high upon the walls and I could see the familiar blue sky that I had seen from the castle tower. To my right was a moving escalator going up to the next floor. On every step of that escalator was an elf with a silver serving tray. Each tray held a large sundae glass with a cherry sundae and a spoon in it.
Directly in front of me was a soda fountain where elfin soda jerks served cherry sundaes to and endless line of elfin waiters. One of the elves on the escalator saw me, pointed at me and shouted, "You don't belong here!' I looked at him, his face was chubby, with rosy cheeks and his ears were pointed and there was a cherry stuck in each nostril of his nose, which gave him a shrill voice. His clothing was red and was that of a court jester, and each and every elf looked and was dressed just the same. "I know," I replied. "I'm trying to find my way out, can you help me?" "Help you?", they all screamed in unison. "No, no, no, no, no!" Then everything was quiet for a moment and then I heard the ding of a bell and elevator doors opening behind me. I turned to look and there stood Mickey Mouse, just finishing one of those cherry sundaes.
Mickey Mouse threw the sundae glass over his shoulder and walked toward me. As he did, he lit a cigar and I saw that he was about six feet tall and had a full day's growth of beard on his face. "What's the problem?" He asked and coughed into his gloved hand. I explained my presence and asked if he could show me the way out. "I'm afraid that's not possible," he said with a grin. " It's after closing and there's a time lock on the gates."
This whole thing was getting just a little too ridiculous to suit me and I got mad. "I don't care what you say, I'm getting out of this crazy place!" I bellowed into his face and thumped him in the chest to emphasize my sincerity. He didn't say a thing, then he turned around and boarded his elevator after grabbing another cherry sundae. I dashed onto the elevator after him while all the elfin waiters behind me tried to stop me.
As the doors of the elevator closed, Mickey Mouse disappeared and in his place there was an elf who was kicking me in the shins and who had one hand caught in the door. I picked the little guy up and grabbed at his face, pulling the cherries out of his nostrils. At the same time, some make-up came off his face and onto my hand and I discovered that he was not an elf at all, but either a midget or a dwarf. Holding him up in the air, I pushed the button on the elevator's control panel for "Ground Level". When the doors opened, I dropped him inside and pushed the top button to send him up somewhere. I turned back around to find myself outside at last.
The streets of Disneyland where deserted and it was about a half an hour before dusk. Looking around, I saw a restaurant and remembered that I was hungry. The only thing available was milk, from a large dispenser, so I drew some off into a paper cup and drank it.. It settled me down somewhat and I was starting to reason things out. During my second cup of milk, the loudspeakers began to blare out, "Goblin Groups 1 and 2, search Snow White's castle; Mrs. Possum and children, into the children's park; Braer Fox, Braer Rabbit and Braer Bear, check out Frontier Town; Captain Hook and crew, man the flying lifeboats; Ghouls and Henchman, roam the streets!" Orders kept pouring out from the loudspeakers and I, with my cup of milk, ran for a hiding place.
I thought it best to hide in a high place where I could see what was approaching. The nearest thing I could find was the Children's Roller Coaster. It was covered on top and on the sides for the safety of the children. There was about a four foot wide space between the side and the top so the children could see out across Disneyland. Perfect. I entered the roller coaster and started climbing the support work. As I went up, I heard the metal bars of the entrance gate clang shut behind me, cutting off that avenue of escape. I reached the crest of the ride and sat straddling the tracks, sipping on the rest of my milk.
It was almost dusk. The loudspeakers opened up again, "Look for the Seven of Diamonds everyone! Look for the Seven of Diamonds!" Puzzled, I drew myself up and peeked over the railing. There on the ground was a trail of playing cards leading from the restaurant I had been in, all the way over to the Children's Roller Coaster. Directly below me was the Seven of Diamonds lying at the entrance I had gone through.
Just then, I heard a helicopter and looked up to see a Marine CH-46 flying over the area in a search pattern. Knowing that I would be found soon, I took a chance. Holding onto a support beam, I started waving at the aircraft above. The crew chief saw me and notified the pilot, who circled around and began a landing run towards me. I motioned for them to land, but the pilot just shook his head, banked the helicopter and flew away. With the helicopter went the sun, it was now dark.
"There he is! There he is!" Mrs. Possum and her children cried in gleeful, excited, unison. They were on a roof top directly across from me. Not wishing to be caught where I was, I climbed down the outside of the Children's Roller Coaster and jumped onto the top of a refreshment stand. I had just reached the ground when two Ghouls, one from each end of the street, raced toward me growling and waving their arms. They were blue with different sized brown splotches on them. They were built like gorillas with all their weight at the bottom of their bodies.
Seeing that I would finally have to fight, I picked up a broom stick and faced the nearest Ghoul. I broke the stick across the left side of his head and sent him staggering into a bench across the street. I turned quickly to meet the other one and grabbed him by the shoulders. Going down on my back, I put my foot in his stomach and flipped him. As he landed, I was up again and ready. He got up slowly and I smashed my clasped hands full force into his neck. He stumbled across the street, crashed into his friend and they both fell over the bench and down a small hill into the water below. These Ghouls were almost seven feet tall and I was amazed at how easily I had beaten them.
While I had been atop the Children's Roller Coaster, I had noticed a cyclone fence, topped with barbed wire, running around the entire place except for a short strip of the parking lot to the north. I ran down the streets and alleys, avoiding the odd-looking search parties, heading for that part of the parking lot. I cut through the woods of Frontierland and the jungles of Adventureland. I hid where I could to rest and eventually came across the railroad tracks which encircled Disneyland. I followed the railroad tracks for a while, then I went back across country in the direction of the parking lot.
Finally, I came out of the bush in a small clearing, only a hundred yards or so from the parking lot and freedom. Cautiously, I started to move out. Suddenly, a lifeboat landed and out stepped Captain Hook himself. "Aye, laddie." He said. "Tryin' to leave us now, where ye, eh?" He was an impressive and cunning figure and he pranced around in front of me as he spoke, keeping both his hands behind his back. The buckles of his shoes glistened in the artificial light which shone down from the lamps above the parking lot.
Captain Hook was between me and the exit, beyond which my car sat alone in the silence of the night. He stroked his mustache with his good hand, keeping the other one, the one with that hook, hidden. He skipped back and forth in front of me, blocking me as I tried to walk around him. "Get out of my way," I shouted and advanced a few steps. Slyly, he stepped aside, bowed and gestured with his good hand, indicating that I could pass. But before I could move, he dragged a chain across in front of me and locked it to a post. "This magic chain shall not let you pass." He spoke with a chuckle. "At least, not as you are." I was tired of the whole thing and stepped over the low slung chain and found myself in a pair of red flannel long johns.
Captain Hook was leaning on the post that held the chain, stroking his mustache. To my left, I heard a rumbling and turned to see a steam shovel with its' jaws gapping wide, rolling toward me. As it lunged for me, I ducked behind Captain Hook, picked him up and threw him onto the teeth of the steam shovel's scoop. It was now he who was wearing the red flannel long johns and I was in my regular clothes. I turned under the street lamp to go to my car and I heard him say, "I guess you knew it was just a dream." Then I awoke.
~ Robert W. Baird ~ July 1971 ~
What do you see in this dream? What secrets are the author's subconscious hiding? Nonsense, warnings or truths? You tell us!
I want to send in my own interpretation. I know that all responses will be considered for inclusion in next month's response article.