I was a wolf in this dream, escorted by others to an appointment at an old lady's house. The doorbell rang in changing sequences of repeated tones. I pressed it again, out of curiosity. The woman stood discontent in the doorway as the bell chimed its melodies till the end. The wall and the door were covered with szlaczki* and, trying to relieve the tense atmosphere, I mumbled something about the similitude of the doorbell tune and the repetitive graphic patterns.

The woman wore a scarf bordered with golden sequins over her head, and held a half-unwrapped gift in her hand. She reproached me for having emailed her only yesterday and added that the gift arrived only today. Indeed, I felt a tinge of guilt over my poor communication skills, but I explained that I wanted her to receive the gift before sending an electronic message. She seemed a bit placated by this explanation, and invited us inside.

Us included me and other animals. I remember an owl and a fox. We sat at a coffee table and had tea poured out of porcelain tea pot. I committed other faux pas, although I cannot quite remember what exactly infuriated my host. Soon, however, the tea party turned into a persecution as I was chased by the fox around the room. My limp was a great disadvantage. I must have limped for a long time. Yet, suddenly, cornered between the couch and the coffee table, I realized that the pebble -- or something that felt like one -- that caused the limp had disappeared. Free to run, I took to my heels. I swore to bring all other wolves from the forest, and shouted a parting threat: "This was the last party in the history of the Western civilization."

*) szlaczki are repetitive patterns used by Polish children to decorate their notebooks. The wall & the door in my dream were covered with rows and rows of such patterns, each row forming its own distinctive band, drawn in black and white.