ritualistic cooking and the chinese bed

i woke up
and
went back to sleep
multiple times
and
this story arc stuck through it all

i went to a grocery
a new one
kind of a health food store
it was really cool
this was probably inspired by actual events
except
as i was walking along noticing some acai cluster (candy i guess)
i also noticed, or maybe it was pointed out to me, shit on my heel
it was extremely sticky
difficult to clean off
i was wearing sandals, so it was my actual heel not just the heel of my shoe

there was more
i know there was more
but my recollection picks up when i get home with the food

i bought an enormous and beautiful chicken
which
even in the dream
i thought was a little strange
because i don't eat meat

so i am washing the chicken
submerging it
changing the water
submerging it again

then i go to prepare the fire

the fire is like something
but i'm not sure what
there are individual rectangular compartments
each with dual jets
about one and one half the size and shape of piano keys
they have letters associated with them
but not musical scales
rather the alphabet a-z
and
i am cleaning them
removing some sort of paper or boxing or whatever
and lighting the letters
that spell something
maybe it's a word
but
i think it's a phrase
because
as i am checking over it
i am returning to letters
which i have already lit
sometimes having to relight them

i will be roasting the chicken
or baking it
and the inside of the oven will have to be lit
before this can occur
all this spelling
serves some other function

reading and apparently spelling
when contained in dream-time
are problematic for the lucid mind
and so i have no idea what i was spelling
i tried to remember, i really did, but all i've got are two letters
there was a d
there was a y

while i was doing all of this and concentrating intensely
my mother came in
with some woman she was coaching or something
there was a bed in the kitchen
the client was sitting on it
and i couldn't figure out why they
didn't just go sit in chairs

and i talked
but i don't really remember what i was saying
i thought i was just talking about what i was cooking
making small talk or whatever
my focus was on the ritual

but

then i was at a stopping point
and the woman was gone
though i didn't remember her leaving

and my mother was saying:
did you have to tell her her outcome
now i'll never get a second consultation

what did i say: i said

you really don't know

no i really don't know

well, don't worry about it then

and we went downstairs and outside
and it was the house on west alabama street
the one i loved the most
and she was the most proud of
because she bought it for 17,000 dollars when she was a real estate agent
it was like it was years ago
before the house next door burned down
there it was
huge
covered with vines
and
out at the street
by the curb
but set up like a display
was chinese furniture
lacquered black
but old: not shiny and crass
comfortable
but slightly austere at the same time
we never had this furniture
but
in the dream
i remembered it with love

she said: you grab the table
i'll get these smaller pieces
you earned it

i looked around
i remembered there being a bed
it was not black
it was a combination of colors, including black
that left the over-all impression: orange
it was carved
and
kind of
but not exactly
a sleigh bed

but where
i asked her
where is

the chinese bed