Dear Billy,
In my dream I am not myself: I am a young boy in my early teens with dark hair. I am hiding from a cult I’ve just escaped. They go after me with long, impractical knives. They walk with me toward a barn. They’re carrying a few odd things that don’t seem practical because they told me we’re leaving. I didn’t understand that we were all meant to kill each other. I escape and run barefoot up the road until I get to a big rich house behind a gate covered in ivy.
I sneak in the house, which at first seems as if it’s empty, for sale, but then I find all these children playing on the floor of a walk-in closet. I know the cult is still looking for me, so the children and I practice hiding beneath mounds of blankets and toys. The kids don’t know that it’s serious for me — I have to be hidden the best. At some point I go out into the yard of the house and I’m seen — a man from the cult is on the roof. Then I’m in a graveyard, running, and I see a funeral happening, people with dark hair and dark clothes. I realize they are my real family, not the cult, and our mother has died. I call out to them.
—Please Don’t Let Them Find Me
Billy replies: You are a teen boy and not yourself, a sign that new hopes will soon be realized. Knives stand in for lost friends or money, while barns represent the loss of goods through folly. Houses prompt you to make a change, as there’s bad luck ahead. Children bring promises of great success coming soon, while a closet means you need to guard a secret. Toys advise you to rest and play more frequently, while yards suggest a recent disagreement or fight. Mothers suggest you should reform your beliefs or actions in order to put an end to your difficulties, while death portends news of a birth. The cult is the institution where you work, and the killing game? Well, isn’t that exactly how you’re expected to treat your co-workers? It's a cutthroat competition out there. Only to discover that in truth, these people your best family. Your subconscious is prompting you to embrace play and rest as a prelude to some large-scale mental or intellectual shift. Consider choosing to perceive competition in a new light. This change will enable you to end your troubles and realize your hopes.