I’m walking through the narrow streets of a very old city. There is dirt and dust everywhere.
The buildings on either side of the street I’m on now, are all at least three stories high. One has tall white pillars and crumbly sides. The stairs are crumbly too. I am suddenly drawn inside. Someone in front of me is beckoning for me to follow.
I follow this person up the crumbly stairs. It seems like I’m climbing many more stairs than could possibly be in this building. We go up to a landing and follow along the railing at the top. The railing is overlooking a large open space.
There are many people in the space below, and all along the corridors and walls of this building. Everywhere I look there are people. None of them look at me. As I continue following the person (who I never recognize) I notice there is some kind of activity going on below. It’s like a play or perhaps some kind of athletic competition.
Up and up I go through this building. I’m still following the person from the street but now I see him getting farther away. I quicken my pace and then see that the person I’m following is now walking on the molding of the building’s exterior. Balancing on the narrow ledge. He stops and climbs up along the outside of a window and onto the wall of the building adjacent to the one we’ve been in.
Somehow, I keep following.
I keep following this person who is now climbing up a steep, rocky path. Up, and up. We keep going… and keep going. The steep rocky path eventually becomes less so. Less rocky and less steep. Soon, we arrive on a kind of plateau.
There are more people now. This time, they are sitting and lying down in the grass and it looks like some kind of party. People are laughing and talking and having a good time. I look around but don’t see anyone I recognize.
Suddenly, I feel something touch my naked ass. Like a twig or stick or something. I turn quickly around but don’t see anyone. I begin to get very angry and demand to know who did that. I start searching the faces of several of the people in the grass at my feet. I curse at them and see that I do recognize a few of these people.
They are people I used to work with many years ago when I was living and teaching English in Japan. I call thier names but they do not respond and instead get up and leave without comment. I’m soon alone with my anger. Now aware that I am completely naked, I turn around several times to find no one is left.
I decide to leave as well.
I begin to descend the grassy path and as it again becomes very steep, I lie on my back and slide down. Soon, I’m back inside a building. It’s a different building but similar to the one I was in before.
I’m now descending the stairs inside this building and soon I come to the bottom. Again there are people everywhere and I have to push past many of them to keep going. I step over a railing that is blocking my way and find people are now quite resistant to me doing this.
It looks like I am now interrupting whatever it was that these people have been doing and they are not amused. It seems like an athletic competition. Perhaps a martial art of some kind. I don’t stick around to find out and soon I’m back on the narrow streets.
The dirty old streets of this dirty old city. I awaken and find my muscles are a little sore.
Like I’ve been climbing stairs.
