In my dream he slides into the thick black fluid that fills the tiled pool. At next glance it is clear, chlorinated water. At next glance opaque globules are drifting past my legs. I must keep them separate before they can all congeal again.

In my dream my pile of papers has the notification for my hospital in it somewhere so I keep shuffling through them. If I can drill out the graphite rod I’ve found, I can insert the headphone jack.

In my dream I should feel tired after swimming through the mud in the racing competition, but I feel ready to press on as we enter the next phase: wending our way through multiple kids’ birthday parties.