Last night for only the second time I can remember, I awoke from a dream laughing. (The first time was the memorable "Fat Metal Babies with Slinkies" dream of 1999.  But that's a different tale.) Most of my dreams involve high levels of stress, not laughter.  I am trying to pack for a trip and don't have enough suitcases. I arrive at an airport with no passport. I am sent back to college because I somehow failed to complete a course.  One way or another all of my dreams involve anxiety.

Last night's dream involved anxiety, too, but it managed to turn comic when I realized that it was a dream and I shook myself to consciousness with a spasm of laughter.  

The dream started in the nebulous past when our friends Brandon and Lina had only one child, a beautiful (and for the purposes of the dream, normal) daughter.  In the dream we were going to visit them after the birth of their second child.  We arrived and began admiring the baby.  Slowly I became aware that something was not quite right.  My first thought was, "Jesus, he's tiny!"  As in most dreams, things were foggy and they shifted as the dream went along.  He seemed all head, but he was wrapped up.  Everyone cooed.  Brandon and Lina seemed content.  We must've been talking for a bit when he suddenly leapt up and trotted off on four legs.  He was a cat!  

Nobody except me seemed distressed, but my mind was racing.  Cats only live 10 or so years, I thought. I could already see the disaster coming.  George Carlin said that purchasing a pet is like purchasing a small tragedy.  Imagine giving birth to one!  Did Brandon and Lina realize he was a cat?  Why were they acting so casual?  I finally calmed down enough to probe them for answers.  I started with, "Will he need special care?"  They seemed baffled by my question.  I was struggling not to alarm them, but dying to shout, "He's a fucking cat!"  Still, the casual mood prevailed with everyone except me.  Brandon wandered off and got in a hot tub.  Lina admired her new "baby."  Jimmy helped himself to the fridge.

I was turning the whole situation over and over in my head when I came to the realization that I was dreaming.  And that's when the laughter got me and I woke up.

Have at it, Freudians.