29.

   The river narrowed and we drifted into a deep canyon. The acrobatic school of fish followed us. The river ran faster now, and the rickety basket ran very low in the water. The dogs seemed oblivious. “You should enjoy the adventure which, after all has got off to a pretty good start with you mugging the Doctor and all. That’s a moment you should treasure, young man!”, marveled Nannette. “With that kind of quick thinking, you’ll go a long way.”
   “Quick thinking?”, I asked. “What quick thinking? Things have gotten so out of control that I forgot that I was dreaming, or if I was dreaming. I have had dreams when I knew I was dreaming before, dreams that were so real I would wake up wondering when I was going to wake up, long dreams with adventure and a complicated plot, but never all at once. Maybe I’m not dreaming. Maybe someone slipped me some acid.”
   “You’re not dreaming and you’re not on drugs.”, sighed Pat as he leaned out of the basket snapping at the fish and causing it to ride even lower.
   “But I was dreaming about Monkey Boy and Zombie Thug and Snake Lady, and I woke up. Then on the eleventh floor they were back!”, I said exasperated.
   “Shit happens!”, Pat proclaimed. “So now you’re in a world with angry Sphinxes and talking dogs. Did you ever think you would be in a world where your country tortures people, where a thousand years of Habeus Corpus is thrown out with the bath water?”
   “Your point is well taken.”, I admitted.