May 31, 2000

Age 19

First: In this dream, I was with my family along a warm, clear river in a heavily wooded (semi-rainforest) area, surrounded by beautiful, full foliage. There was either a radio or a park ranger, I forget which, who warned me about strange little creatures called Cochlea, which could kill us. I then got into the water and swam around. I went through several bends in the river alone, and as I traveled further down the river, I began to see small little Cochlea. They were completely black, resembling an H. Geiger creature, with tiny heads and arms, a large abdomen (like a spider), with one or two inch tails. At first when there were only a few, they seemed to be minding their own business. Then, as there were six or seven in view at a time on the waters' surface, they seemed to slowly be moving towards me. I quickly swam to a rocky shore, where a beautiful waterfall was. My father was there, and I told him what had happened. I turned around to get my towel and shoes, which mysteriously appeared, when my father told me I had some of the creatures on my back. I panicked, but he got them off. I then sat down to put my shoes on (which were bluish/greenish shoes I hadn't seen before), and I noticed a strange larva on my heel. I grabbed my shoe and started to grind and 'sand' the creature off. It took a few minutes, but eventually I just had a fine powder of what was once a Cochlea on my heel. However, I noticed an indentation in my heel where the creature had been, and I could see that my heel was hollow, and there were more Cochlea inside. I held out my heel, and squeezed my foot, and twenty or so of these larvae dripped out among a yellowish mucky fluid. As the fluid thickened, my father said, "that's the last of them". I then put my shoes on quickly, threw my towel down, and yelled about what a stupid place this was for a vacation, and jumped in the water to swim back to the car. I swam as fast as I could; however, this dream ended with me furiously stroking through the water as the creatures gathered around me.