Missing Children

[Mindy Schafer]

Had this dream 2 weeks ago. Will try to abbreviate the content: several women I knew (of course, these people, the house and myself were all dream-time entities, having nothing to do with my normal reality) asked if they could have their children kept by a babysitter at my house while they attended conferences, and I said surre. When I got home from work that afternoon, earlier than I expected parents to arrive, I found that apparently many more children than I had been told were being cared for in my home - except that they were all gone. Several very distressed parents were waiting, and more were arriving. We looked all around the house and propery frantically - finally 2 or 3 were found hiding fearfully, and one was found facedown on the grass. His father cradled him and found that he was not dead but was in shock. I woke up so disturbed that I made myself return to sleep and dream a happier ending - but the dream was a fake, and the emotional distress remained after I woke up the second time. Remembering this dream still makes me uneasy.