a dream

Sometimes you have such vivid dream that it has to be significant.

I was looking for a new apartment and was given an address to go and see. The street there started climbing a steep hill and my Volvo kept struggling the winding turns, gripping the gravel. At some point I noticed it wasn't a street anymore but a walking trail as people with baby transport pushchairs where passing by. This must be a family friendly area, I thought as I embarrassingly passed the 'no motor vehicles' traffic sign.

I finally end up on top of the hill hundred meters tall overlooking the city. No wonder the place is up for rent. No one wants to live here with such a high daily climb!

On the peak plateau there is the usual row house dormitory type buildings they build here for students. These are oddly shaped into large blocks however and I start looking for mine from street address number 1. Mine is numbered 31 - the last one in the block. After circling all the houses I realize it is the central one. Overlooking a hanging cliff down to the city valley.

I enter the building and the whole downstairs is a kitchen and dining room area in the style of an old Finnish log cabin. There are wooden floors, long chairs and tables made of logs and a large intricate fireplace. The fireplace is cocklestove oven covered in ceramic tiles with wolf motifs from old Finnish saga's. They remind me of the art of Snowshadow. She's into firing porcelain tile art now?

Apart from the kitchen area there doesn't seem to be any other spaces. Am I supposed to live here? Sure there are lots of cupboards, even ovens and microwaves embedded into the stove area but it would be a tight squeeze to fit all my stuff.

At the back I find some additional doors for storage spaces. One of them bears the Finfur Animus convention logo and a padlock. I wonder if that is an official con storage as these are student housing and someone has probably rented a storage space here. Somehow I suspect this is the doing of Oppeola. But didn't he move out of student housing a long time ago?

Couple of students greet me from the side table. One of them sais they know me from somewhere and offer to take me on a tour of the building. I question if the cramped apartment is really big enough for all of us. Are you supposed to keep all your things in storage rooms? And where do people sleep? At this point I notice the stairs up. There is an upstairs to this place?

The stairs end in a long hallway with a high ceiling and large windows opening each side to a view of the cityscape and valley below. I realize that this is a kind of loft apartment with a strange almost a cathedral like ceiling. An old school maybe? It is still all wood beams but now painted and decorated and it reminds me of the Jugendstil with white bright spaces and animal motifs. The floor bears a soft brown floor carpet that extends down the hallway. Small alcoves open each side with sitting areas and sofas big enough to sleep on. The student explains that there are no bedrooms. You just pick a place you want to sleep on.

We wonder down where the hall ends in a large wall made of window glass that light up the place. Someone has been building something on the floor with bits of unfinished paws and pieces of fur everywhere. I'm assured that people do vacuum often. I notice there are paintings on the walls. Paintings made of felt and fur depicting foxes and wolves and other animals.

I ask where do people keep their computers and I'm shown to a side room where drapes have been fastened to darken windows and a pillow castle has been built in front of a large screen tv. This is where I live, he sais.

At this point the realization finally sets in. This is some kind of furry commune utopia - and I wanna live here! I frantically dial the rental agent's number and prepare my mind for the flurry of questions. Is the room here still available? Do I have to pay rent in advance? Can I pay in cash and just move in? I hope I'm not too late...