Providence...POSSESSED! Part 3: Puppy Uprising

What Cheer, 31 Dreamers?  We round out our trilogy of spirited dreams from Rhode Island's "Beehive of Industry" with a final tale of possession—this time not by sorcery or soap opera stars, but by none other than a cute raggedy puppy. Hee is Gillian's dream:

I dreamt that I found this really cute raggedy puppy on my roof. I let him in and he jumped into my arms. My cat was freaked out and ran under the bed. I started walking the streets asking if he belonged to anyone, and then I realized that he had a tag with his address on it and it was very far away. I brought him to the address on his tag (drove with him on my lap, curled into a ball) and the man who answered the door said that he was not their dog, that he had never seen the dog before. I kept showing him the tag but he was dead set against taking the dog inside. I held the puppy up and said, "I guess we're stuck with each other."

What could this possibly MEAN?

Good question. Before attempting an answer, we need to make a little point about people's feelings for dogs:

During the Vietnam War the populace of the United States was divided even-Steven as to whether or not its military (i.e. teenage boys, fresh out of high school) should be in southeast Asia killing and being killed based on the ideologies that nations thrust unto their people. College campuses were hotbeds of this schism, as all students were exempt from the draft and some felt exempt from the politics behind it as well. Others felt that it was their responsibility to stop the war, no matter what. On one particular campus whose scales were tipped more toward an angle of apathy, some activists circulated a letterhead with a press release stating that they'd be holding a demonstration where they would be napalming a dog in protest of the war. People were outraged—not because thousands of human families were being burned alive by napalm that their tax dollars were paying for, but because a dog—one dog—would be so cruelly murdered in their own city. Huge crowds showed up to protest the protest. People brought their own dogs, and nine veterinary ambulances were on site to respond to any potential of an animal being hurt. No "activists" or napalm were anywhere to be seen, but a flyer, printed on the same letterhead as the earlier press release, was circulated to the crowd, congratulating everyone for making the event the largest anti-war protest the city had ever seen. "You saved the life of a dog. Now, how about saving the lives of tens of thousands of people in Vietnam."

People get so attached to dogs, don't they Gillian? Yet in your dream no one wants anything to do with the cute raggedy puppy. This puppy is an abandoned idea, rain-soaked and neglected like a stray sock on your roof. He could be an old idea, but relatively speaking an idea that has tremendous potential for growth if cared for properly. But who will care for this cute raggedy puppy of an idea? You kind of like this idea but (as your cat would explain) you can't really take it on as your own. You need to find the right place for this idea and so you take temporary responsibility. But no one else will pick up the slack, not even (especially not) the originators of this cute raggedy puppet of an idea. So you resign yourself, feeling "stuck" with the follow-through, but also seeing the beauty and vulnerability in this little inkling that could grow into something wonderful. But getting to that point will likely be a pain in the ass.

Gillian, you strike me as a person who's willing to ask for help but independent enough to take whatever comes your way and swallow it whole. Do you really want to swallow this cute raggedy puppy? If you truly must adopt him—whatever he is—you might want to look for a co-parent, a collaborator to share the duties of whatever it is you're jumping into. Remember also: the puppy has possessed you, but you also possess the puppy. You are "stuck with each other." What does it mean? You're the dreamer of the dream, so you probably know best. If you care to share it with rest of the class, drop a note in the comment box for 31 Dreamers.

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Our book of the day is The Dispossessed by Ursula K. LeGuin. Read this book, dear Providence. Dispossess yourselves. And get some rest.

Cute raggedy puppy photos from Sharon's Puppy Uprising website. Sharon has appeared previously on 31 Dreamers as Choco Taco: Super Hero.