Medical Cadaver

MORNING OF AUGUST 29, 2010

This one's disturbing. Oh boy...

I was at work and someone had brought a cadaver to work that we were supposed to film for one of our shows! It was supposedly a medical student's practice cadaver, and it was really unsettling.

More unsettling still was the fact that, at some point, I needed to cut off one of the cadaver's hands. I can't remember the exact circumstances, I just remember coming to that realization. And for some reason, I was able to summon the fortitude to do it! Really gross, and, again, unsettling. I can't use that work enough here.

The worst part of all is, when all was said and done (it's all just a vague lump of blur in my mind), it was left to me to dispose of the corpse. I wrapped it in a tarp and unceremoniously tossed it in the dumpster outside.

I went to my parents' house for something after this and apparently stayed the night. I apparently had my own room at their house, and it looked similar to one of the rooms I really had during my teenage years.

I was rearranging things in the room. I had a large, glass-fronted display frame hanging on one wall. In real life I do not follow any sport in any way, shape or form, but in this dream I filled this display case with Alabama football memorabilia. Most notable a jersey and a baseball cap with the team logo on it.

My mom came home and asked if I'd left anything in my car, because there was a strong odor coming from it. I suddenly "realized" that I must not have really ever put the cadaver in the dumpster--I must have forgotten and left it in my trunk!

Now I was terrified that someone would find it and not believe me that it was a medical cadaver that I had been asked to dispose of. Even if I could prove that, did laws against abusing a corpse apply to medical cadavers? I was trying to scheme how to get it to a dumpster discreetly.

I'll be fine if I don't ever have this dream again. Really.

*I once, years ago, very briefly dated a medical student who would enthusiastically describe the cadavers she got to work on. I'm thinking those stories might have churned up in my subconscious and played a part in this. Mixed with whatever terrifying psychology.