Sometimes my dreams stay with me in daylight. I dream of friends and family, of my lover and of people whose blogs I read but whom I’ve never met. They’re all themselves but different. I wander my dreams like K. searching for an exit but everywhere I go back-to-front versions of the people I like and love confront me, contradict me, confuse me.

When I finally wake up the relief that it was just a dream doesn’t stop me feeling awkward all day. Layers of dream wrap softly around reality. I look askance at people I meet whom I dreamt about last night. The dream was not real but my feelings during it last. It takes days to shake those emotions.