Then I woke up

I had a dream last night in which my friend and I happened to be in a sketchy part of town. I was carrying my computer bag under one arm, and under the other arm I had a big box containing the device we had just invented that can be used to predict the future. My state of mind at this point in the dream, as I recall, was one of great excitement and anticipation, as we were just about to try out the device for the first time.

For some reason I needed to put the box down momentarily, and all of a sudden, it was gone! Fortunately my friend spotted a guy running off with the box. We chased the man down, and after a minor confrontation we managed to get the box back.

My feeling of relief at this point in the dream was great, yet short-lived. For in all the confusion I had put down my computer bag, and it too had been stolen away. Whoever had taken it was by now long gone. I thought sadly of all my work still on the computer, work I had not yet had a chance to transfer off, and that was now gone forever.

Then I woke up, and I felt a surge of relief to realize that it had all been a dream My computer bag and its contents were in fact safe and sound.

It took a few moments more for me to remember that the box that told the future was still trapped inside that dream. There was no way now to go back into the dream and rescue it, and I realized with sadness and resignation that my wonderful invention was as lost to me as Eurydice to Orpheus.