Tail Proud

Recently I've been thinking a lot about a dream I once had. The beginning of the dream was a mish-mash of partying, fights, drugs, gate-crashers, bikies, knifings, and all those things that go along with that sort of thing. The setting was a farm house we used to live in (the nearest neighbours were a few kilometres away).

We were in the lounge room and I was trying to cool down a heated argument between a couple of drunks when someone yelled the police were coming. I had to get out before they arrived (although I'm not quite sure why) so I ran out the door and through a crowd that had gathered on the front lawn. Just as I made it out to the track that served as our driveway, I could see the headlights of the police car about a kilometre away.

I ran out into the paddock where it was dark and I was going to hide behind a fallen tree that I knew was there. I neared the log and as I began to leap onto it, I changed into a panther. I was hyper-aware of my newfound agility and as I walked the length of the fallen tree I looked out into the night. The paddocks and treeline were highly visible but tinged with red-light, as though I had infra-red vision. I could see clearly, everything that stretched out before me.

I began to overbalance but quickly used my tail to regain my equilibrium. It was then I became aware of the heaviness in the end of my tail, like the last fifteen centimetres was weighted in order to act as a counterbalance. I swished my tail around and revelled in the sensation.

Despite its dreadful beginnings, the second part of the dream was beautiful and created a lasting memory. It seemed that the main focus of the dream was the 'infra-red' vision. But man, I really loved that tail!