Early Spring Flowers

Something about counting ducks... I am flying around a winter park about two foot above ground level. There are jonquils in the flower beds.

Precarious Exit

I have been trying to get downstairs at Camberwell Art College, taking my usual route through tiny windows. I decide it is too precarious this time and am advised to use the fire escape caked in pigeon shit. I am going up rather than down. I climb higher and higher into forbidden rooms - through the head's empty office. Here the chequered marble steps grow narrower leading into Russian style copulas until they are impossible to squeeze through. I race back down skating over the stairs to avoid contact with any official. Once outside I gaze up at the hundreds of complex towers and spires and crazy rocket launch pads.

High Diver

A film director plays back the last scenes of some footage she has put together showing what appears to be a busy Californian road. In fact the film is an illusion, a carefully constructed model. An earlier scene shows two sets of high divers, male and female, and although the setting is pasted in, the diving is for real. I am one of the male divers- I'm not the best but I'm ok at it. I climb a steep bank removing my clothes, and in front of an uninterested crowd I look for the male diving stump. Although I have made this dive a few times in the dream I cannot recall the actual diving sensation.

The Purple Parsnips' Mother

A man shows me a group of purple parsnips in the ground and explains to me that they will have a purple turnip as a mother. As we dig down, the soil turns to thick black liquid and I find myself under the surface closely inspecting these parsnip/turnips. They are choked with ivy and water weeds. I pull one and deliver it up to the surface. It is now a small dog's tail and wags with pleasure at having been set free.

Vanishing Tight Rope Walker

Encased inside a cardboard puppet C performs a mesmerising tightrope trick. Although you can see into each cardboard compartment he is nowhere to be seen. Everyone is baffled. He tells no-one his secret not even me. When I tell him how good it is he says nonchalantly yes I should give up the daily job and do this full time. I fall back to sleep and am woken sharply as half of the cardboard puppet explodes with a bang. This is C's finale - he is of course safe within the other half.

Underground Flight

I am flying through a strange underground network of old tunnels, aware that I am inventing the space as I go. The sensation is like swimming underwater without the difficulty breathing, and I find I am quite good at it. Gliding round a corner I grab a rock from the crumbling brickwork and hurl it at a corpse covered by a tarpaulin far below me.

Magic Song

An exuberant dance to I Can't let Maggie Go in an otherwise empty dark hall. A man half in drag careers round on a wheelchair while Rufus Wainwright dances wildly in the shadows. I am swimming and gliding along the floor strewn with glitter and toy coins, leaving sparkling ripples behind me. This is me as a young man and I am reminded that he is still part of who I am. As the music comes to an end I see the beer stained floor and the grubby walls, yet during the song everything shone and was alive.

Anything Is Possible

To demonstrate that anything is possible in dreams, Marlene cheekily removes her head and hangs it on the hatstand.
"Oh don't DO that, Marlene," I say, "It's so creepy."

Hand Passes Through Glass

I know I am in a dream. I need to find some proof that dreams have a purpose. I see a CD in the window of a junk shop. (Junk shops are the only shops I seem to dream about.) I concentrate hard and push the glass firmly so it folds back allowing my hand to slip through and remove the CD. The shop assistant is powerless to stop me.

The Great Thames Swim

A group of us are swimming a long distance race down the Thames. I am near the front. A rope to our right guides us forwards. After a few hours it leads us out of the river into a house, through holes in walls to a bedroom where Hazel and I take a rest. When I start up again I can just make out an old metal fire escape under the surface of the water. I am expected to leap down onto it but instead I lower myself gingerly. The great swim continues.

Flying Carpet Ride

I am at the Dokumentar in Germany. Have been showing interest in one interactive art event and it is now my turn to participate. A woman leads me up a long corridor and sits me down. "It didn't happen right last time," she warns me, "Don't worry though."
Immediately I start to worry but I have no need. I am suddenly whisked off at high speed as if I am on a flying carpet, red stars sparkling underneath me. The ride is probably only 50 metres long, through an impossibly crowded passageway. I land totally exhilarated. Everyone looks at me as if I have done something amazing.
I explain - I've done this once before - years ago in exactly the same spot.

Agile Fireman

A fireman pulls himself up a metal shuttered wall the height of a tall house. There is barely anything to grip onto - it is an amazing feat. Just one foot from the top his colleagues cheer him as they haul him up.

Swimming Down The Thames

Following much controversy a new bridge has been built over the Thames. The protesters have been won over because it is such a beautiful structure. As it opens up I swim down river for about half a mile passing under a low Victorian bridge. The water is brown and opaque but I have no sense of feeling cold. I pull over to the bank near Wapping where Sal is about to go in.

Audition Piece

Five candidates are waiting to audition for a fashion show. I know I am too old and my figure isn't right but I am confident I could do a good job. "Just dance around a bit," the judges say to me. My movements are a bit awkward but I've always thought I dance quite well so I persevere. I notice some of the judges are smirking slightly. I decide to try out a few different moves like jumping up and staying in the air that little bit longer before I land. I've got their attention now. I spring upwards and hover about three foot above the ground with my arms outstretched. Yeh - no-one else can do this.

Is This How To Run In Dreams?

I am a bit lost, running home from King's Cross. Usually when I run in dreams my legs are heavy, but this time I seem to have got the hang of it more and I am kicking my legs back forcefully for added propulsion. It is all a question of not visualising myself as a bad runner. I take huge strides, my feet barely touching the ground, leaning forward at an extreme angle. I get along much faster than usual and am very pleased with myself.

High Boots

The stiletto boots I am wearing make me 4 foot taller and walking on cobbles is tricky. I settle down against some rough steps and take them off before jumping 12 foot down onto an uneven wooden surface. I land effortlessly but when I wake my toe is throbbing.