Visiting the House I Used to Live in (But Do Not Remember)

I don't want to bore people with too much dream recall (although you're free to skip it). What follows is what I dreamed last night. I'm going to try to make this a regular feature if I can, and I'll likewise try to keep the summaries succinct. Although I've learned (and found) in the past that if you write down your dreams your ability to recall them expands. Like I said...succinct.

I was walking down a street that looked to be somewhere in Northern California. The street was a little old and the houses of the suburban Berkeley/Oakland 1940s/50s ilk. I found a house with a community theater inside. I went in and looked around, bought a ticket for a performance. As I entered the theater I seemed already to know I wouldn't actually go to the performance. As it turned out, I used to live in the house, and in the dream I realized that, although the house itself is not familiar to me now. I went into what was "my old room," and sat down at the desk. I began to look at things on the internet -- something that looked like a Van Gough painting and a few other "artsy" things.

Later, I began to gather my things up. I had spent quite a bit of time there...I think I even took a shower. I packed my bag, then unpacked it because I had too many things. Just as I finished re-packing the person living in the room came home. She entered the room. She was an older woman, possibly in her 50s or even 60s. Since she lived alone a room inside a house-share I assumed she was not married. She asked me what I was doing there, and as a defense I told her that I used to live in the room. As the conversation went on I told her I was still on the lease, a fact that she disputed.

She began to change clothes in front of me, revealing out of date underwear, and an old and saggy body with rolls of fat. There was nothing to her undressing -- she was merely being casual. She ambled into the bathroom as we chatted, and when I sensed she was going to talk for a while, I slid out the door and out into the street. As I left I debated my move, worried that I could get caught and make the situation much worse than it already was. I also worried that I scared the woman. I imagined her talking to her roommate, telling her "that guy" that broke into her room, said he was still on the lease, but then left mid-conversation for no apparent reason.

The dream continued after I left the house, but it didn't seem to be connected in theme or scope, so I'm listing it on it's own. It's worth mentioning because animals die horrifically, which I can only assume is significant.

As I walked I tried to think of items I might have left in the room. Clues that would get me in trouble. I seemed to have everything in my backpack. As I approached my current house (or whatever the destination was) I saw two kittens, one that looked exactly like one that belonged to me. There was a lot of traffic on the street. The kittens were wild and as I crouched down to walk under a big rig, I tried to pet one. The truck began to move and I got out of the way. The kittens were still under the truck. As I turned around to see if the cats were ok, I saw that one had been run over and that the other was quickly devouring its dead body.