3.17.2002

An old dream. I had this one last year, while I was still pregnant, about August or so.

Two brothers go on a trip to Chicago. They want to see the city from the observation deck of one of the skyscrapers. About halfway up, the elevator stops. The two brothers get out of the elevator and go into the open door of an apartment. The sunlight is beautiful, the apartment reminds me of a grandmother's house, decorated in yellow gingham. There are no cats. One of the brothers, who is a writer, opens a large toy box sitting on the floor of one of the rooms. In the toy box is a flat-chested fashiion doll. The brother likes the doll, but he doesn't think she has big enough breasts, so he tries to push the plastic of the doll's body into the right shape. The plastic bends, moves, and stretches, but he cannot make the plastic into the shape he desires, so he stretches the doll until she is as thin as a pencil and as tall as a woman. The doll says, "If you rescue me, I'll live with you for one year, and live with your brother for another year. I am enchanted by a witch." The brothers rescue the doll and leave the city.

The writer-brother keeps the doll for a year, taking his pleasure with her, using her as a muse, writing several successful novels. At the end of the year, he's reluctant to give the doll (who has fleshed out) to his brother, but...it's his brother. The other brother, who is a soldier, takes the doll, and turns her into a commando. The soldier-brother and the doll go on many adventures, rescuing prisoners from foreign country, shooting guerillas in the jungle, going on safari. At the end of the year, the soldier-brother refuses to give up the doll. The doll demands her freedom several times, but the soldier-brother refuses, saying that he loves her and can't release her.

Now, it happens both that the doll turns upon the soldier-brother and tears him to pieces, eating him as she goes along, and that the doll turns into the brother, becoming a plastic soldier-brother doll. When the consumption/transformation is complete, the soldier doll runs away, finally free of his/her enchantment, or so he/she thinks. However, he/she is pregnant, and currently trapped in the form of a soldier-doll, with no way for the baby to get out.

The soldier-doll travels the wilderness, looking for help with his/her condition. Finally, he/she wanders into a hovel that rises out of the mud. Inside is the witch. The part of the doll that is the soldier-brother doesn't recognize her; the part of the doll that is the doll does. The witch offers to deliver the baby; the soldier-doll accepts. The witch slices open the belly of the soldier-doll, who, being plastic, feels no pain. The witch removes twin babies, which begin as a pair of normal, flesh-babies, but one of them slowly shrivels into the shape of a plastic fashion doll. With this, the soldier-brother becomes himself again, except that he is now female. The witch gives him the flesh-baby, saying that the doll is her responsibility. The witch apologizes to the soldier-brother for the actions of the doll, and sends him away. Finally, the witch packs the doll back into the toybox, saying that she should stop being so cruel to these men, that if she wants her freedom, all she has to do is leave. But the doll says nothing, and the lid closes.

The soldier-brother wanders until he finds his writer-brother, who promises to take care of his brother and his daughter for as long as he lives.