mining a map of dreams

...over a large map of forests and mountains and rivers, swirling down slow until I landed beside a watchtower lighthouse on the bluff of a cliff overlooking the sea. to one side lay a low slung beach and to the other was a huge ravine between the cliff and the Vast, the large desert of ruins that lies to the north-east of the city in my dreamworld. turning i entered a large marble open air hallway, towering columns and archways and swarming with a bustle of people all dressed in dingy gray workoutfits and protective coats. i was wearing a black halflength frock coat under a large trench and tall black boots (somewhat like the outfit worn by the alchemist in "Holy Mountain") and had a knapsack with me. none of them noticed me. down the hall they were turning left into a large ampitheatre like auditorium in which the forman was explaining the procedures of the excavation and warning the new workers to keep away from the scourge, who were a bunch of freeloading outlaws who mooched off the operation and just wanted to lay around all day. at this, several members of that band scattered throughout the audience, who looked like a bunch of long haired hippies, started jeering him and goading the workers until he threatened to destroy their camp, at which they got up and left. we were each given a work suit and tools and a locker combination and told to report for the next shift. i got up and found my locker down a hall to the right, near the infirmary, the combination was 601-552 and i dropped off the outer coat and extra boots i was carrying along with the tools before going to look for the hippies, which wasn't hard as they were standing about the hallway literally aping the workers. i approached one, with long hair and large beard named john (?) and explained my mission and asked if he could take me to their camp so i could plan my next move. something about my attire and eyes swayed him. he agreed, and they led me wandering through the halls till we got out the back to where the cliff overlooked the sea. it was really a steep hill and they started down it slowly, while i decided to just slide down it spilling out near the bottom into a pile of red dust, the contents of my bag also coming loose and getting covered in the stuff. i sat down to clean them off while the scourge sat around me and out of the bag fell a round red coin (or ball) which rolled in a perfect clockwise circle around us. john, who was sitting opposite, smiled and joked that i was casting a circle. i shrugged and he suggested i should probably talk to mambie (?) since i was one of "those ones". he led me through a grove of palm trees to a wicker hut on the beach. inside was like a storehouse hung with food items, fruit, fishing nets, etc... in the back was a smaller room also crammed with stuff, but of a strange and voodoo-like nature. laying on a cot by the wall was a young woman who seemed incapable of getting up. around her stalked a yellow catlike creature that seemed to be made more of liquid than flesh and bones. i approached, and she began to explain to me the nature of their tribe, how they had a somewhat symbiotic relationship with that of the mining operation (though in what way was left unclear) and that her community felt she was more a burden at this point since she lost the use of her legs, even though she was the one who predicted the tides of the dunes and sea which dictated both were they would move next and which ruins would be uncovered. as she talked she unshelled seed after seed and tossed them in a large basket/ pot in which was the pulp from what must have been an enormous amount of cantaloupes. she seemed sad because they would probably off her soon and she suggested i get out of there before i was recruited in her place. on the way out she pressed several tattered pages into my hand.

back at the watchtower i examined the pages, which turned out to be several maps. the first, which i got the best look at, was of the cliff face below the tower marking out all the tunnels and bridges that had been carved out of the side of the ravine. the others were of the beach and the desert ruins. i quickly stuffed them in the pocket of my jacket as a bell rang, and hurried back to the auditorium for the next shift meeting. there i ran into M, wearing only a leather bra and leggings who was laughing and teasing the workers, i tried to see if she knew anything about what was going on at the dig site but she was too distracted. several other strangely attired characters filed by. soon the meeting was over and i went back to the locker room and entered my combination. however, since i hadn't reported to the shift (i assume this is the reason) the locker imploded and destroyed my belongings. for a moment i tried to entertain that it was the wrong locker, but no i was out of luck and thought i would have to give up my plans. but then Spat came up and gave me his tool bag and told me he'd find me a coat since it was deathly cold out on the Vast. he did so and i geared up in the leather work outfit, strapped all the equipment on and placing the goggles tight on my eyes clambered down the south side of the cliff and out onto the desert. towering dunes of stark sand, craggy cliffs and a biting wind, in the distance ancient crumbling structures swam, old marble and caryatids decimated by the centuries of sandstorms. checking the maps i pulled myself together and began to walk... and then woke up.