A Knife Fight
Begin: For some reason, I wished to purchase a sword or long knife. I had in mind a surplus store (C&H Sales ?). Actually, this place did not and had never resembled the C&H Sales of waking life, but that was the name I recall in the dream. Its location was also very different, and I have never lived even nearly within walking distance of C&H. The walk was very long and was mostly down a very wide street with almost no traffic on it.
At one point I walked under a freeway overpass. The lighting for this dream seemed a little dim or overcast. Miles later I got to the right area, and overshot the place because I did not recognize it. I knew, though, it was between two stereo and electronics stores, and I was in front of the far one, so I turned back and looked in between.
The place had been totally changed. Instead of its old open store front, it now looked more like an office. When I went in I found a waiting room and a will call counter rather than the vast browsing space. I could see benches and other work and storage areas through the door behind the counter. On the wall behind the counter were hung samples of some of the things in stock.
A familiar employee came out, and explained to me they did little business directly now, but nearly all mail order from their adds and listings. I asked about knives and he pointed to a couple on the wall. One was almost what I wanted, having a blade over a foot long and a hilt sufficient to get both hands on. It was not quite as long as I wanted but I figured it would do. He said they came from (the Philippines ?) and the price was $35 with a sheath. I asked him to bring out a couple in case there was much difference in condition so I could choose. Being an old customer, he agreed. I wondered about writing a check, but decided I had enough cash and paid for it that way. I did consider it a touch expensive, but it was available. I may also have bought a small short knife with it.
I left the store and headed back, walking up the same street. It was now getting quite dark, with very diffused lighting. ( 1). As I approached the freeway bridge I saw two persons coming toward me behaving in a manner that caused me to suspect them of no good. I cut diagonally to my left across the wide street, and my suspicions were confirmed when they turned so as to meet me in the middle of the street. As they approached, I pulled my knife, which they had not suspected I had. They came on anyway, displaying short knives of their own, but more cautious now. They split so one of them would be behind me when the other was in front.
As they got close, I planned my course of action with deliberation and
care. I grasped my knife with both hands on the hilt, and bent my knees into
a position I figured they would interpret as the springing stance of an
expert (Oriental ?) swordsman. I knew I wasn't, but figured I knew enough
to fake it. As they closed in I moved diagonally with a whirling dance like
step, aimed to crowd one, but not directly, while moving away from the other
so I would never be directly between them. Whirling quickly, but not
predictably steadily, I could cover both with my long knife and keep them
off balance. I started to wake up at this point, so there are a couple of
versions of the last portion. In the main one, I was doing severe damage to
the hands and arms of the one who had tried to come from behind. In another
they had not closed yet. In none of the alternatives was I loosing.
End.
(1) I do not recall ever seeing the sun in a dream. The light is most often diffused and often, but by no means always, a bit dim. I will have to check the record for any appearance of the sun.
BDOS ERROR ON A: BAD SECTOR was reported sending this dream to disk. This was a bad sector in the swap file. I could find no damage to this document, so Perfect Writer must have skipped over it when swapping. Badlim identified the sector (000E) and locked it out. Nice to have a real bad sector for a change after all the problems at the beginning of the month.
2023 Comments: I still do not recall seeing the sun in any dream, and it is my understanding that other people have commented at not having ever seen the sun.
C&H Sales: This was a surplus store in Pasadena, California, that in my early 20s I visited, usually accompanied by Paul Shoemaker, every Friday evening (the day they stayed open late). I was a well known customer, so was allowed to browse in the stacks, not just the customer area. I still have a number of items I had purchased there. Perhaps 10 years ago I went by to see if I could visit, but they had moved, leaving a new address on the window. Probably Pasadena rents had become too high for them. I copied down the new address but have never visited there. All the guys I knew must have died long ago.