In Mr. Dream's Dreams

Adam: Aliens are attacking Earth. There's mass death, mass chaos -- basically this is it for
mankind. I'm an obituary writer for the Times. Rather than fleeing I'm typing up impromptu
obits. For some reason the first celebrity killed by the aliens is Albert Pujols, then Stephen
Hawking. I'm trying to do justice to their careers but as the deaths increase I resort to copying
their Wikipedia pages.

Penney: Adam is tuning into a planetary process where people may be starting to die in increasing numbers due to the acceleration of time and energy. Second, he's attributing the change/transformation to aliens, but that might mean forces we don't yet understand. There is a tendency to become shallow with increasing speed and intensity, and meaningful things (like the life of someone like Hawking) can be shortchanged. He may be reminding himself that he doesn't want to be that way, and to pay attention. Writing obits is symbolic of reviewing his own life to make sure he's living it the way he wants in spite of what's happening on the planet.

Nick: I'm in a hot air balloon, accompanied by a medium-sized dog whose breed I can't identify. While I'm stoking the balloon to keep us afloat, the dog disappears. This is where things get weird. I look for the dog over the side of the basket -- and suddenly I'm standing on the second floor balcony of the room where Lenny Kravitz shot the "Are You Gonna Go My Way?" video. The room is empty, except for the janitor from my grade school. He always says the same thing when he sees me: "They finished up about an hour ago." That's when I wake up

Penney: The balloon symbolizes Nick's movement up in frequency to higher dimensions in his dream world, e.g., from the physical to emotional to mental realm. The dog is often a symbol for a part of the self that is a protector, guide, and friend. Looking in on Lenny Kravitz' room symbolizes a reality or kind of experience that Nick is interested in -- this would have personal meaning to him -- but the title "Are You Gonna Go My Way?" could be a question his own soul is asking his mind. The janitor, too, could be a reminder from his own higher self to clean up his "space" and perhaps he is falling a bit behind since "they" already finished ahead of him.

Matt: I'm watching the end of a video on YouTube when I suddenly realize that there was
a flashbaby in it. I didn't actually see it, and the comments are ambiguous, but there's no
mistaking the sick sense of dread -- there was definitely a flashbaby. Now that I know it's there
I have to see it, even though it's the last thing I want to see. I press play again and wake up,
unable to remember what a flashbaby is.

Penney: Matt is becoming aware of some- thing from his subconscious mind, information that may pertain to old anxieties. His daily life (the video) has hidden content that may give birth to a new sense of self (baby).

Above: Adam Moerder, Matt Morello and Nick Sylvester.

Fatherland is out now.