i had one of the cooler dreams last night. molly and i were living in some apartment on a high floor, and we had many animals: 3 dogs - jake, claire, and one other - and a couple of cats. i got home at night and realized that molly hadn't taken the animals out to pee, and the dog that wasn't jake or claire had peed all over the floor. so i decided to just let them out onto our porch slash fire escape. once they got out there, though, they started hearing dogs all over the neighborhood barking and yowling, and dashed off down the stairs. then for some reason everyone's dogs escaped, and there was mass chaos in the neighborhood as people tried to get their animals back.

to make things even more confusing, once the animals got out they changed into people, and no one could recognize their pets anymore. at some point i found a curly-headed teenager that i thought was jake, and gave him a stern talking to: 'don't ever, ever run down the stairs again!' for a good five minutes. the kid looked at me and said something to the effect of 'the imagery is simpler than you think,' and then laughed at me and walked away. i realized that he was either really a curly-haired dog, or not a dog at all.

finally i found a middle-aged woman with long, auburn hair, who looked at me with recognition and relief and i knew she was claire. i think i found jake and the other dog too and brought them back inside.