Yokubou

I was at some kind of carnival or big event with my brother, but somehow we had gotten separated.  In my arms I carried my big white cat named "Yokubou."  In my mind, he was a cat but he was very big and in some ways rather dog like.  Sometimes I let him down to walk around a bit but then would gather him up again.  If he got out of my sight, I would become nervous and look for him and call him, "Yokubou! Yokubou!"  This happened several times but I thought to myself at least he was well mannered and had not caused any trouble.  Whereas around me I could see dogs running free and tearing up the place, knocking things over and causing disruption, because their owners were not looking out for them properly.

Eventually, I began to look for my brother and eventually found him in one of the rooms.  We walked together for a while and then he met someone he knew.  The other person asked who I was and I told him jokingly that the one I was with was FORCED to play the role of my brother.  I could tell my brother thought this joke was quite funny on many levels.

Later I was by myself again with Yokubou late at night on the street where I saw a man threatening to punch another man in the face for some perceived little slight.  I told the threatening man if he was gong to do that, I was going to call 911, and I fumbled for my phone but became confused on where I had put it.

Then there was a brief break and I was in another street nearby and those 2 men and others were coming out of a bar.  They were all very friendly and at ease now and I greeted them with surprise because their attitude had become so different.

Between us on the street I saw a huge 5 foot wide ornate metal man hole cover.  The manhole cover was somehow attracting metal and other items towards it, as if it had some kind of magnetic power.  We would push items away from the cover and watch as the items moved back toward it again.  We thought this was very interesting and I wondered if it was some kind of secret government project.  We all decided to go down and investigate because it was so interesting.

Under the cover, there were complex surreal stairs and passages and crannies, as if done by a collaboration between Dr. Seuss and Escher.  We went down quite a ways and then the others decided to sit at a table and take a break.  At that time I realized I didn't know where Yokubou was and I became very nervous.  First I ran forward in the passages shouting, "Yokubou!  Yokubou!" I thought maybe he had gotten scared and ran ahead, but I did not find him.  Then I circled back past the guys at the table and then ran backwards shouting, "Yokubou!  Yokubou!!"  I thought maybe he had gotten scared and ran backwards.  I called his name over and over. 

Finally I found him and held him close to my chest with relief.  I returned to the guys and told them since I found him, all was OK.  But then I started worrying about Yokubou and wondered if we should go back for Yokubou's safety.  I was thinking I would let the others decide.  Then I woke up.

Online, I found that "Yokubou" is Japanese for "Desire/Lust."