Arson

by Ruth
(United Kingdom)

A couple of nights ago I had a dream that went like this: I'm going for an afternoon walk through the steets in my town. It's Autumn and there are leaves everywhere on the ground, vivid reds and deep browns. I walk past what looks like either a kids park or possibly a school playground, also covered in leaves. For some reason I stop and think, "Now's the time to do it!", not in words, but that's the sudden, excited feeling I get. I pull out a pack of matches from my coat pocket, light two, and put them deep in a pile of leaves. I walk off again, maintaining a normal pace. I have the urge to run but know that doing so would make me look guilty and I don't want to be conspicuous. As I walk past a nearby brick building I worry that a CCTV camera may have picked up what I'd done. As worried as I am that I'll be caught, I enjoyed doing it.

Later on that evening I want to see if what I'd done had any effect, so I say to my family that I'm popping out to the shops for fifteen minutes, as an excuse to go and take a look. The fire is enormous, bigger than I'd expected, being about the size of a small house. It's long across the ground and the smoke is thick and black. I feel a kind of amazement. I don't stand and stare but walk around it, looking, then go back home. The following day it is still going strong.

What is very odd is that at no point in my dream do I see another human being. The streets are empty. There are no firemen or police at all, the fire is left burning. I don't even remember seeing my family in my house, although I call out to them to say I'm going out (they don't reply).

I'm 26, female, living with parents, I don't know if that information is necessary but there it is. I have never had a dream like this before, although I've had many strange dreams before that I would like to relate here if that's ok?

It would be interesting to hear other peoples interpretations, ideas, suggestions, not just on the arson aspects but on the other details - why no people, why a school playground/kids park, why Autumn specifically, etc. Thank you!

N.B. I have no intentions of burning anything in real life and never have!