(07/16/98)["War and Uncle Gus the Vulture"]  I  am in a  house, maybe Aunt Esther's. It is a resort I am visiting. War broke out and it is time to pack up and leave. I think at first that I will only take essential things but as I look around I see many things I had brought that I don't want to leave behind. Knick knacks, pretty boxes and so on. I begin to gather them up and pack them. I wish I hadn't brought so much stuff. I remember that a young man who is now at war left his quartz crystal in my keeping. I go to the hutch to get it. I see several small ones. I'm not sure which one is his. I take several just in case, also aware that they aren't mine, but I kind of like them. I feel a bit guilty. I put them in a small pink pouch with a drawstring top. I work hard at keeping that pouch close by and not getting packed  under lots of things. It is important to deliver it to the man. I realize I don't know where my clothes are an call out for help. I am agitated. A woman, a younger version of my mother comes over and says calm down. She will help me. We walk to the cabin we'd been staying in. By now most people have packed and fled. There are rows of black purses left behind in the rush. I look at them and say none are mine. My mother likes one of them with a lacy pattern and suggests we take it. I say no. It's not ours. I see Boomer and pick him up to take him with us. He struggles and tries to get away. I hold tight. My mother sees a pair of pajamas for a toddler. She takes it because she likes it and puts Fluffy in it to carry her like a baby. We walk back to the house. I go in and see photos laying on a table. I wonder if they were left out for me to take. They are photos of Abner, Darcy and me in a coastal town that I know. I look around and see a cousin, perhaps Dora. I ask her if I am supposed to take these. She hesitates and then says no. I don't think so. I look at each one. I see a series of picture of Darcy posing as a young girl in pretty clothes, black and lacy, which show off her budding womanly figure. I see a photo of Uncle Gus as a young man. He is handsome. Then I see a photo of him older and walking. It is a side view and I notice that his neck is crooked and shaped like a Vulture's neck. I wonder if he is alive. I should talk to him. Now I leave the house. I get into a jeep and drive up a steep mud road. It is hard going and I think that soon it will be flat and paved and I will have an easier time. I look forward to that. But I turn a corner and am in the hall with the wall blocking the road. I am stuck. Then I am in a field. Shooting is going on and I crouch, my back protected by a fallen log. I am scared and hope I don't get hit with bullets. The battle is pretty intense. I get into a deep pond with a moose and the two of us stand there, covered by the water, hiding from the war.