Contact with Buttons

MORNING OF FEBRUARY 20, 2009

I dreamed that it was already morning and I had just gotten out of bed. I was attempting to put my contacts on and noticed that the right contact lens, even though it had been properly sealed in solution, seemed to be a bit dried out. Upon closer inspection there were two contact lenses dried together. I had no idea how there came to be two, as the left lens was still there in its location.

I tried to put the stiff, dried-out contact in my eye anyway, but I kept flinching. I was upset because this pair of contacts (I was thinking of them as the actual real life pair) is pretty new, and I didn't want to have to throw them out before they'd run their course (contacts aren't cheap, you know).

Suddenly I noticed both of the "contacts" were actually bronze-colored buttons. This is very obviously inspired by my recently reading the book Coraline and seeing the corresponding movie (characters have buttons sewn into their eyes, if you're not familiar). But in the dream I gave no thought to the existence of Coraline--I merely was frustrated that my contacts were now buttons.

They weren't the traditional buttons with the holes on the front, but were the kind with the little bump sticking out of the back. For some reason now I was out of the bathroom, sitting on the edge of my bed, trying to put the buttons in my eye like a contact lens. The bump side went toward the eye. I kept trying to push it in, but it would hurt my eye and I'd have to stop.

The alarm went off.