Another woman and I were leading a tour group and planned to ask them trivia questions. They did not answer the first question correctly, and the other guide gave me her PDA to find the answer and the next question. I knew the answer and didn’t want to use the PDA. With the stylus, I somehow deleted the trivia questions and answers and replaced them with mysterious numbers and characters. At this point, I think we may have stopped somewhere for lunch.

Then we came upon an old, haunted-looking house or castle, Gothic or ornate in design, blackened with age. I don’t remember anything from my own consciousness after this.

The group wanted to look for me, but they were reluctant to go inside. Eventually, they did and couldn’t find me. They became more and more frightened.

I found myself on a chaise lounge, facing a grouping of small leaded windows that formed a large arch, like in a church. I knew the group was frightened but I did not want to be found. Then, unbeknownst to me, one member found me but thought I was dead as I lay there.

At that moment, I opened my eyes. By then, the entire group was there, staring back at my reflection in the window in terror, since they had presumed I was dead. I got up and tried to climb an oddly configured glass spiral staircase that changed shape or direction or size with my every step. As I did, I explained the correct answer to the trivia question, which was that it is dogs that fall asleep while eating. [Perhaps this is a subconscious reference to the current pet food recall.] I told them that this was the American home of Vlad the Impaler, and described some of his more gruesome crimes while telling them that they had nothing to fear.

Suddenly, they were gone, and I was lying on the chaise lounge again, looking at my broken reflection in the church-like windows. I wondered if I were dead or alive, and what kind of spirit I had become. And if I were alone . . .