“I don’t care. If they come to arrest me, I’ll just shout out at the top of my voice. Then I’ll wake up. Mind you… This is reality for you, isn’t it. Your clothes will be in a mess and you’ll be stark naked. You can’t go home like that. What’ll you do?”
“I don’t know. What do you think?”
“Why don’t we find a hotel? I don’t really want to rape you here. If the police came, they’d only spoil it.”
She hesitated for a moment, observing me with a sideways look. “All right,” she answered eventually, with some reluctance. “I’ll go with you. After all, it seems I only exist inside your dream. I can’t just ignore you, can I.”
So we turned off into a side road and wandered around the back streets looking for a discreet hotel. There were none to be found.
“Where are they all?!”
I was getting irritated. If we didn’t do it quickly, I might wake up.
“We might find one if we went away from town,” she said. “There’s a hotel right next to my college.”
We went up a hill and at last found a hotel. We entered the lobby and stood at the reception desk. A middle- aged woman with thinning hair came out. “I’m afraid we’re full,” she said. “But if you’d like to wait five or ten minutes, there’s sure to be a vacancy.”
I couldn’t be bothered to walk around looking for another hotel, so we went into the little waiting room next to the lobby. There, we sat on a sofa waiting for a vacancy. We were alone.
“Are you married?” the girl asked me.
“Yes.”
“Really? And what’s your wife doing now?”
“Sleeping next to me in our bedroom.”
“You mean you’re having a dream like this while your wife’s sleeping next to you? What sort of a husband are you?!”
“And how do I know what she’s dreaming about?!”
As I said that, another couple came into the hotel. I could hear the receptionist repeating the same words in the lobby.
“I’m afraid we’re full. But if you’d like to wait five or ten minutes, there’s sure to be a vacancy.”
As the couple came into the waiting room, I let out a cry. When they saw me, they stopped in their tracks. The woman was my wife. Her partner was our neighbour, Mr Miyamoto.
“Well, well!” said Miyamoto obsequiously.
They sat on the sofa opposite us. Chubby Miyamoto looked down at the floor in embarrassment.
“Well, aren’t you having a good time!” my wife said sarcastically.
“Yes, and you too!” I replied. I was going to ask how long she’d been seeing Miyamoto. But it was just a dream. It would be pointless to ask.
“She’s pretty,” said my wife, indicating my partner with her chin.
“Is this your wife?!” the girl said, hurrying to her feet. “Pleased to meet you. I’m, er-”
“Don’t be stupid. You don’t have to say anything.” I tugged her back down by the edge of her skirt.
The receptionist came in. “We have a vacancy now,” she announced. “This way, please.”
“Well, excuse us,” I said to Miyamoto and my wife as we got up to go.
The receptionist led us to our room. As soon as she’d left, I jumped on the girl, yelling “Come on, then!”
“Don’t!” she shrieked. She evaded me and stood at the corner of the bed. “That woman will be back with the tea soon.”
“You seem to know a lot about it!”
She blushed.
“Anyway, I can’t wait for all that. Let her come in!”
The girl eluded me again.
As we continued our chasing game, the receptionist came in with the tea. “The bath water should be hot now, so please feel free. Good evening.” And with that she left the room.
“I want to have a bath,” said the girl.
“I can’t wait for that,” I moaned. “Can’t you have one later?”
“Certainly not! I’ve been perspiring with all that walking around. You should have one after me, too. Look at your face. It’s covered in sweat.”
“No! I can’t wait any longer!” I said, lunging at her.
She darted into the bathroom and closed the door behind her.
“All right, I’ll come in with you!” I called out as I banged on the door.
“No!” she shouted. “I’d be too embarrassed.”
There was nothing for it. I took off my clothes and sat on the edge of the bed, naked, waiting for her to reappear. I was getting more and more irritated. This dream seemed awfully close to reality. I even started to think it might
It hurt.
It hurt so much that it woke me up. In my sleep, I’d dug my nail hard into my cheek.
“DAMN!!!”
My wife was still sleeping peacefully, contentedly next to me. In my rage, I jumped up and punched her on the arm.
“Ow! OW!! What are you doing?!” She sprang up, startled. “Just when I was getting to the good bit!”
“Huh! You think I’m going to let you have all the fun? I’m going to go back to sleep and have the time of my life!”
“You think you’re the only one? Watch me!”
We turned our backs on each other with huffs of indignation, and concentrated on getting back to sleep. Luckily, I dozed off in an instant. And I started to dream. I dreamt I was sleeping in our bed at home.
“Yesss!! A dream!”
I slipped out of the sheets. My wife was sleeping naked on the bed.
“Right! Let’s get back to that hotel!”
I hunted around the bed looking for my clothes. But my shirt and trousers were nowhere to be seen. Of course they weren’t. I’d taken them off in the hotel.
I quickly looked around for another pair of trousers. But I couldn’t even wait that long. And anyway, it was only a dream.
“All right! I’ll go as I am!”
I raced out of the house stark naked, with nothing on my feet.
I ran along the dark side road and came out onto the main street. As before, it was as bright as day and full of people. Passers-by opened their eyes wide when they saw me running through the street in my birthday suit. A few women screamed.
“Oy, you! Stop!!”
Near the crossroads, a policeman came running after me. “Stop that man! He’s gone insane!”
There’s always someone who gets in the way, even in a dream. A passer-by stuck out a leg and tripped me, sending me sprawling on the pavement. The policeman jumped on my back as I struggled hard to resist. “This is my dream!” I cried. “Why don’t you just disappear!”
The policeman was desperately trying to handcuff me. “He’s lost his mind! Help me apprehend him!” he shouted to the watching bystanders.
Four or five men stepped forwards and tried to hold me down. I was punched hard two or three times, but I hardly felt a thing. It was a dream, after all. Still, I couldn’t waste any more time messing about like this. If I didn’t get away soon, the girl might grow tired of waiting and leave the hotel. So, reluctantly, I decided to wake up again. Even as the policeman and bystanders were holding me down, I shouted at the top of my voice.
The sound of my voice woke me up.
“What now, for God’s sake?! What are you shouting for? You’ve gone and woken me up again! And just when I was getting to the good bit!” My wife, also woken by the sound of my voice, flew at me in a fury.
“You think you’re the only one who wants a good dream?!” I said. I got up, took a fresh shirt and trousers
