Wednesday, February 25, 2004

I'm at a big party at somebody's rich parents' house—probably my friend Jakob's parents, although these parents are not divorced, and not the same parents he introduced me to before. There's a big meal around a table that I'm somehow unprepared for, it's unclear exactly how I'm unprepared, but I'm nervous about being there. Also, more and more people I know are revealed to be at this party, and I'm kind of worried about who I'm going to bump into next. Everybody that's there is the same age as they are now in real life, but there's the whole atmosphere and the dynamics of a party for little kids. I run into Jakob's "dad," who looks like a sloppier, heavier Drew Carey, and I really don't want to talk to him but he asks me why I'm avoiding walking through some living room of this giant house, even though it's clear I'm trying to avoid seeing/talking to Jakob's decrepit old "grandma" that might be in there. I'm trying to find Jakob's sister, who is the only relative of his here that bears a resemblance to their waking counterpart. I want to talk to her but I don't want this father to think I am trying to get with her. When I find her, she says she's really tired and is going to take a nap. She doesn't seem to mind that I follow her to her room, though, which is on the lowest level of the house and down a really long hall. One wall of the room is made of glass and looks into another room about twice the height and depth, which is clearly made for animals to live in. There's trees in there and piles of hay on the ground. Some housekeeper-looking women are cleaning this zoo-room with regular vacuums, and they occasionally watch us while I sit on the bed talking to Jakob's sister. We're both overwhelmed and bored by the amount of people at this party, and I feel much more comfortable in this room, safe from awkward situations with party guests or parents. After a while, I notice that four skunks are coming into the zoo-room through what must be a hole in the wall behind some vines, and I know that they're not the animals that are supposed to be in that room. A little walrus comes in after the skunks and waddles around on two hind legs, trying to follow the housekeepers out the door on the end of the room opposite the glass window. Then I notice that we've talked all night and into the morning, and all the guests are starting to leave.