Last night I was dreaming of vacationing on a tiny island in the tropics. I was laying and reading on a lounger underneath a large umbrella when I heard screams and the loud crash of water. An enormous humanoid monster, looking like something out of Clash of the Titans was coming out of the sea. Imagine a gigantic Xena, but with a set of long tentacles in addition to arms, seaweed instead of hair and eyes that were on fire.

Soon the Sea Monster was wreaking havoc: eating people, crushing and tossing others and destroying anything in it’s path (mainly loungers and umbrellas).  Normally, I panicked.  There was nothing around me for hundreds of yards except sand and palm trees and a small cabana bar. I ran to the cabana bar to hide, fearful that it wouldn’t be a great hiding place and I would simply be crushed when the giant tentacle flaying Xena smashed it in her monster rage.

As I entered the cabana I noticed that part of the patio was an Internet cafe, which at the moment was empty. I sat down and started checking email.

Soon the Sea Monster was behind me, peering over my shoulder and then looking to the other open computers. I took one of her tentacles and placed it on the mouse of a nearby computer and then moved the tentacle around to show her how the cursor on screen was controlled by the movement of the mouse.

Flaming eyes were replaced with normal eyes, now open wide and staring intently at the magic happening on the computer screen. The Sea Monster sat down and started surfing the Internet.

Later she taught me how to swim in return.

It’s no secret to anyone who’s asked me lately, “how are you doing”, that I am suffering from severe back pain. Here’s how this pain has translated into my dream world:

I’m Wolverine, the mutant with super healing ability and a metal alloy skeleton. I’m in a bar shooting pool and three guys with their own mutant powers confront me and start a fight. Being outnumbered three to one the fight is short: one of the bad guys has the ability to control electricity and electrocutes me into unconsciousness onto the bar floor.

While I am out, the bad mutants put me into this ornate, Gothic magician’s box that is used to cut people in half with knives (there is a stage in the bar and a magician has a nightly show). I come into consciousness locked in the box, screaming in pain as they use a big knife to cut me in half from head to groin. They open the box and I fall out in two pieces.

While I lay there in two halves my healing powers go to work: each half of me slides towards the other and soon I am whole again. But something has changed. In addition to my Wolverine powers, I now have the same powers as the bad guy mutants.

Now here things go unexpected, and I think this is an important part of the dream: once healed, I do not kick the bad mutants’ asses. Instead we go out of the bar and run around together playing with our powers.

I need to digest this one some more - having super powers is complicated.