THE DREAM I cannot recall the events that led to the significant part of my first dream that I remember, but I do recall that I had this absolute urgent need to stop my best friend from doing something. As he turned away from me, all of a sudden, I looked down and saw a very large, heavy, shiny gun. I panicked, and I shot him twice in the back. I specifically remember thinking in my dream that I had to be careful not to hit any major organs. I didn't want him to die, or even to hurt him. I just needed him to stop whatever he was about to do. In my dream I actually hit my mark twice and somehow did no discernible damage. Yes, there were bullet holes, but he didn't even bleed, and it only slowed him down slightly. He was hurt that I did this, but he didn't get especially angry though. He laid on the couch with me on top of him, apologizing.

I tried going back to sleep but only ended up having a worse nightmare that this same best friend's mother passed away and that, overcome with grief, he took it out on me, assaulting me in the parking lot. He said to me (in the dream) that now I would be burdened with a secret and I would know what it felt like to feel so overwhelmed.

GUESSWORK The previous day the dreamer visited the man in the dream and while she was there, he complained that his chest had been hurting him all day. His whole family has a history of heart disease, so she basically begged him to see a doctor, especially when he said his arm felt tingly. He, being stubborn, said he would be fine. She later spoke to her boyfriend and asked him to make time for him later in the week and try to persuade him to see a doctor.

The "Guesswork" stage of interpreting a dream involves spotting issues likely to cause dreams. For help with this click here

ASSOCIATIONS AND SYMBOLIC MEANINGS
1. POINT GUN AT FRIEND. The first dream features one major symbol. The dreamer is trying to force her friend to do something by pointing a gun at him. Shooting a best friend seems totally nonsensical but that's how dreams work. In real life she was trying to force him to do something. If you have a gun you can make people do things. If she had a gun she could have forced him to see a doctor. It seems illogical but its about key emotions. The dream merely replays that key emotion from the day before.
2. BLAMED. The dreamers other key emotion appears in the second dream. The dreamer feels guilt. Again the storyline seems illogical but that's the way dreams work. The dream simply replays that key emotion. If her friend went on to have a heart attack then she would never have forgiven herself. She would have blamed herself one hundred percent. She knew the signs of heart disease and did not do enough. It was not her fault as her friend was very stubborn. But she did not do what she knew she had to do.

DREAM ANALYSIS In guesswork the dream was linked to the dreamers friends suspected heart attack. The dream deals with the following themes
- forcing him to do something
- intense blame

If you weave together the different themes you find that they could capture these thoughts -"I tried to explain to him but he just wouldn't listen. The only way I could have got him to see the doctors was if I pointed a gun at him and forced him to go. I knew the risks of heart disease and I would have blamed myself if something had happened."