Lexical transference
Is there such a thing, or have I invented the phrase?
I was shocked awake in the early hours of Saturday morning, by Moonface shrieking repeatedly as she struggled from a nightmare into a whimpering, frightened wakefulness. I held her closely as she incoherently garbled about the post that was coming down from the ceiling to hit her. It didn't make sense, but that's what she told me. We snuggled together, and she drifted to sleep again.
Meanwhile, I lay awake worrying. What did it mean? Was it prescience of some sort? We had new roof timbers put into the loft about ten years ago. were they not installed correctly? Had Moonface seen the future of our house collapsing? Or was it a telepathic message from Rio, out on the town still at three a.m. ? Was Rio in a car being driven by a drunken youth, flying off the road and into a telegraph pole down some country lane? I lay awake and worried, until our bedroom curtains brightened with the dawn, and the first birds commenced their songs. I suppose that thereafter I dozed until a normal time to arise, and understood the dream.
It was representative: lexical transference. Moonface dreamed about a physical post, a trunk of wood, a massive pole. But I believe that she was frightened by a metaphorical post: a job; my job, the one that I started that day and the one that I was to start after the weekend. She has told me that she prefers life when I'm not working, and this was her subconscious telling us about how worried about how things will change when I'm working again and less attentive to her needs and or lives together.
Or, that's what I think.
Moonface rarely has nightmares.
The last time that she woke screaming was years ago; I can't remember exactly how long. On that occasion, she was scared of tigers coming down from the ceiling and onto our bed. I've no explanation at all for that dream - perhaps it's better not to wonder too deeply.
X
I was shocked awake in the early hours of Saturday morning, by Moonface shrieking repeatedly as she struggled from a nightmare into a whimpering, frightened wakefulness. I held her closely as she incoherently garbled about the post that was coming down from the ceiling to hit her. It didn't make sense, but that's what she told me. We snuggled together, and she drifted to sleep again.
Meanwhile, I lay awake worrying. What did it mean? Was it prescience of some sort? We had new roof timbers put into the loft about ten years ago. were they not installed correctly? Had Moonface seen the future of our house collapsing? Or was it a telepathic message from Rio, out on the town still at three a.m. ? Was Rio in a car being driven by a drunken youth, flying off the road and into a telegraph pole down some country lane? I lay awake and worried, until our bedroom curtains brightened with the dawn, and the first birds commenced their songs. I suppose that thereafter I dozed until a normal time to arise, and understood the dream.
It was representative: lexical transference. Moonface dreamed about a physical post, a trunk of wood, a massive pole. But I believe that she was frightened by a metaphorical post: a job; my job, the one that I started that day and the one that I was to start after the weekend. She has told me that she prefers life when I'm not working, and this was her subconscious telling us about how worried about how things will change when I'm working again and less attentive to her needs and or lives together.
Or, that's what I think.
Moonface rarely has nightmares.
The last time that she woke screaming was years ago; I can't remember exactly how long. On that occasion, she was scared of tigers coming down from the ceiling and onto our bed. I've no explanation at all for that dream - perhaps it's better not to wonder too deeply.
X
posted by Moses at
10:19 pm
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