A New Skin?

Dr. Dunlop used to bring Katy to visit us in elementary school. We would hold her, play with her and ask a bunch of questions about her care, temperament, lifespan, etc. Everyone loved Dr. Dunlop. He loved kids and didn't treat us as "one more thing on his list to mark off" or anything else like that. Because we loved Dr. Dunlop, and trusted him, we all loved Katy. Katy is a boa constrictor.

I had a dream about Dr. Dunlop and Katy last night. Dreams are odd that way. People I haven't thought of in years, resurrect in my dreams. Katy was quite a bit rounder than I remember. She was in a really big cage, which was odd because I don't ever remember her being in a cage. Dr. Dunlop would walk into class carrying her. And in my dream, I was offered her skin. Another very odd thing. Katy never shed her skin outside of her "normal" habitat. If she was shedding, then Dr. Dunlop didn't bring her out. Katy had grown up with Dr. Dunlop. Literally. So she wouldn't have ever hurt him, but it still wasn't safe to bring her out amongst people when she was shedding. However, the skin I was offered wasn't in a "just shed" state, but a pashmina for me to wear. Weird, right?

I woke up disoriented from my dream. It was like I was watching it all happen on video, instead of actually being in the dream. Yet, I still had the impression that I had a new skin. It took several moments for me to figure out why I would think that and remember it was all only a dream.