It was a very late Halloween night.  JK and I were arguing about something trivial when I looked out the window into my front yard where some of my halloween decorations consisted of plywood cut outs of crazy looking hillbillies.  One had the face cut out, like the things you see in Niagara falls.  You stick your head in there and snap a picture.  I gasped to see that the hole was not empty.  There was a dirty, leering, lunatic face grinning out from it.  If I didn't know any better, my eyes would have passed over it without even noticing that anything was wrong, it looked just like it belonged there. 

The other cut out was of another hillbilly.  This one was missing an arm as well as a face.  Again, the holes were not empty.  The face laughed with mischevious glee while his plaid covered arm swung in wide arcs, seeming to invite me to come closer. 

I was very concerned about having these people in my yard and was avidly watching them from my window.  JK seemed unconcerned.  He thought it was just some kids playing around.  Maybe he was right. 

We continued our conversation for some time.  The next time I looked out the window, the men were gone.  I opened my front door and gasped when I saw the two men standing on either side of my front gate.  Both wore trenchcoats and one had shoulder length hair.  Both men were armed with rifles.  Neither man moved.  They just stood there motionless, silhouetted by the street lights behind them, staring at the house...staring at me.

"Don't freak out, I'll go talk to them." JK told me.  "I dont' know if you should, they're armed." I said.  JK went out and closed the screen door behind him.  "Don't worry." he said with a smile, and decended the steps toward the men.  As soon as he was within range, the man with the long hair raised his rifle and smashed it into the side of JK's head.  He dropped like a stone.  The other man moved aside to reveal a young woman kneeling on the ground behind him.  He lifted her to her feet and dragged her into the yard where he forced her down again.  The man with the long hair expertly threw a knife at him and he caught it in his free hand.  He then brought it to the woman's throat.  I could hear the girl whimpering and the quiet taunts of the man holding the knife. 

I grabbed my phone which was nearby, and dialed 911.  A man with an accent answered the phone and I didn't understand what he said.  I didn't care.  My state of mind was only revolving around getting help.  It didn't matter from who.  I started talking, telling him what was going on in the front yard.  What happened to JK.  I told the man that I was so scared for the young girl.  All the while, the men in the yard continued having their fun.  They genuinely seemed to be enjoying themselves.  Neither one made any attempt to enter the house, though they both knew I was there, and presumably could hear me talking into the phone.

Finally, the squeak of the gate made me look up to see a third man walking up.  He was dark skinned and had dark curly hair.  The other two dropped what they were doing and together they started advancing toward the door.  I quickly shut the security door and bolted it, but I jumped at the thunderous thud when they tried to break it in.  I saw the door buckle inward just a fraction and I knew that I didn't have much time.  I ran to the back door and peered out the window.  There were three more people standing out there, all women, holding pistols and knives.  Jen McV was one of them. 

My daughter was sleeping on the couch.  I grabbed her up and fled down the stairs to the basement.  In the laundry room, there is a small cubby hole with a dirt floor and two doors.  One entering into the house and the other, on the other side, exiting outside.  I put my daughter in there with a blanket and her favourite teddy, and told her to be very quiet.  No matter what happens, be quiet as a mouse.

That's when I woke up. 

Analysis anyone??

Self-Analysis:

I believe that this dream has everything to do with my relationship with my mother.  I stand in my house, the place where my morals and beliefs reside (my home) and observe the scene through one open door and one closed, trying to guage how to react yet unwilling to enter the situation until, finally, it comes breaking down my door.  The figures in the dark reflect that I am not clear about some things, that I recognize that there are some things that need to have some light shed upon them.  The rifles, knives and guns represent hate.  Horrible anger, which I do harbour when it comes to this subject, but which is also used against me from a distance in hur ting someone important to me.  It may also signify my fear of that outside hate causing the removal of someone important in my life. The man with the long hair represents something that has been thought about for a very long time, and the fact that it was uncombed indicates that I need to re-evaluate or think things over.  My inability to speak up to her or say anything for fear of her wrath is represented very well by the girl with the knife to her throat.  The significance of the man's arm in the cutout, is her power to reach out and do things.  The unintelligent, dirty, disheveled appearance of the men say a lot about how I think of those opposing parties and their intelligence and mindless want to hurt someone.  Also, the fact that they wait until they are joined by reinforcements before trying to come after me, speaks of their low self confidence and they must wait for reassurance from a similarily minded person before they are willing to risk proceeding.  Unwanted intrusion into the yard is an invasion of privacy, time, space or lifestile and my need to do something about this.  The front yard is open to criticism and public opinion.  The people in the back yard represent my fear of being hurt behind the scenes by trusted people who may be family, cutting off my last line of safe retreat and trapping us.  It is much less open public opinion and not so visible to others.  I hide Leah in the basement laundry room in an attempt to protect or remove her from the surface situation, before she gets hurt, into the foundation and from there try to make the best of what we have, clean up our attitudes and washing away our problems.