My dream began on a gray street under a gray sky. I was surrounded by gray buildings with ashen faced people in gray jackets, pants and hats milling around me. It seems I was a member of this gray society. But no one spoke to me. As I walked along I saw that we were sorting ourselves out and soon I was with a group going in one direction. We walked slowly and silently. Eventually we arrived at a large beautiful building. It was about 4 stories tall with 8 marble columns that went to the top. I thought it was a cultural center, library, museum, theater or orchestra hall. I sat down on the cold granite steps. We immediately assumed the same posture. We pulled our knees close to our chests and wrapped our arms around our legs. I was uncomfortable and asked if it was really necessary for us to sit in this manner. After furtive glances the man next to me told me it was not only the rule but he had found that it relieved hunger pangs. I realized then that I was indeed feeling very hungry. "When do we eat?" I asked. The man whispered, "In the morning and in the evening. No one gets sick because antibiotics are in the food. No one is nourished to excess. No one runs away." Everyone around us spoke in hushed voices. There must have been 1,000 of us crouched on the steps. We sounded like a nation of contented bees. I noticed there were no children and asked my new friend about that. He said, "Only certain people are allowed to breed. All the children are removed to the university at birth. They all get the same education and are never exposed to new ideas." "Surely they read books that contain new ideas," I offered. The man turned slightly to look directly into my face, "There are no books. Books are banned. Information is available only on the internet. Access is limited, censored and altered on the whim of authorities. Digital pages are purchased with a tzaiyu token." (I'm surprised that I could remember such a word upon awakening but I did. Spelling is phonetic.) He stared at me for a long intense moment and said, "You must be very careful. I know who you are. I know what you are." Then we all turned toward the sound of a siren as a black van pulled to the curb (there was no other traffic on the wide empty streets). Six people in black uniforms got out. Four were armed with guns, two carried clubs. The two with clubs hurried up the steps, grabbed a person in gray and dragged the person to the van. The person was questioned briefly then thrown into the van and carried away. I thought the person arrested in such a hasty manner must be a terrible criminal. Probably a pedophile. But my friend read my thoughts. In a sarcastic voice he told me, "That person was indeed a most despicable criminal. Not a child molester but a storyteller." He stared at me again and said, "Yes, they must be executed at once because they spread ideas and infect minds." Suddenly a group of about 100 police in black marched up the street and formed a line before the building. They were followed by four black vans. Some of the police had small lights that probed the gray nation. It selected those that required special attention. Those selected walked down to the line and pulled up their left sleeves for inspection. Most of them were sent back to their places but several were put into vans and taken away. No one resisted. No one intervened. I pulled up my left sleeve and looked at my arm. There was a tattoo. It consisted of 3 rows of numbers. My friend said, "The first row is your address. The second is your section and bed number. The third is your social security number. We are not allowed to travel because we will only receive food and shelter at this address."
Suddenly I was awake. I was trembling. I lay there for a long time contemplating my fate as a member of that closed society.
