What a weird dream. Let’s see if I can still remember.

***

I’m in an airplane. And for some reason, I, including a few passengers, were kneeling down on one spot, with some of the crew members with whips on their hands, ready to give us a lashing (were they really whips? I don’t remember anymore). I think we were caught committing some violation, and this was the only airline that allowed corporate punishment on its passengers who didn’t follow rules.

Just when one of the crew members raised his whip in the air, I shouted: “This isn’t right!” I then made this entire speech about how they were violating our rights (I don’t remember what I said exactly).

The crew then panicked. “We’re just doing our jobs,” one of them said. At that point, a group of men in suits came into the scene, and I figured them out to be the managers and executives of this airlines. One of them, an old bearded man with a bald spot in his flock of fluffy white hair, came towards me, and pulled me out of the scene.

We chatted as we walked (apparently the plane already landed, and we were already in the airport). He asked me what the problem was, and I told him that what they were doing was an attack on our basic human rights. He then replied by saying that what their airlines was doing was necessary. “We need to discipline our people,” he said. “Otherwise, nothing will happen to our country.”

“You’re being totalitarian,” I told him, my fists clenched (was totalitarian even the right word to use?). “To discipline the people, we don’t need corporate punishment. We have to work on our structures and services and create an environment that fosters discipline. For example, to get people to line up well, all we have to do is introduce some fences and barriers that will get them to line up.”

***

I’m not quoting verbatim, if you must know. And please don’t judge me if there’s something wrong with the logic in our little debate. It’s only a dream. Anyway, things are a bit hazy after this, and I don’t know if I’ll be saying them in the correct order. Let me see if I can still pull them out of my head.

***

I’m trying to get back to the exact spot where the plane landed. For some reason, I’m holding a balloon and a backpack. I’m having a little trouble walking. My backpack’s heavy, and the balloon seems rooted to its spot, like there’s some force keeping it there.

So picture this: I’m trying to walk while holding the balloon and the backpack, trying to step as far away as possible, only for my stepping foot to slide back towards me. Like I’m trying to walk away from a pole, even though my hands are still clamped onto it.

There’s probably a metaphor hidden here somewhere.

***

I’m in our kitchen, and all of a sudden, a tiny flame burst from a corner of the oven. I take a closer look, and see that there’s hole punctured there, allowing the gas to leak out. So I blow at it, and it disappears.

A second later, the entire oven catches fire! I run out of our kitchen and call our driver. “Nasunog yung oven!” I yell at him.

“Teka lang!” he replies. He’s still doing laundry at the back of our house.

So I try to put out the fire, which has now spread to the kitchen counter, to the back of our refrigerator, and to random corners of our kitchen. I decide not to use any water, since (this is where logic escapes me) the water might ruin our appliances.

I then use the broom to slap away at the flames, which for some reason worked. Later, I decided to use my rubber tsinelas instead, which was actually a lot better at putting off the flames. So I slap my tsinelas at random corners of my oven, at our kitchen counter, and at the back of the fridge. And soon, the fire is already out.

Just then, the driver comes, but I tell him it’s fine since the fire’s gone.

***

I don’t remember exactly when I woke up. All I know is that it was a weird dream and that I had to write it down before I forgot.