I spoke with a man who purchased an eBay item from me. Somehow, this involved a webcam video chat as well. It was his step-son's birthday, and he needed me to hand deliver the item for it to arrive in time. I reluctantly agreed, and was further convinced by the pleading of his wife to deliver the gift to their apartment.

In the couple's apartment, which now becomes a business or office setting - I'm introduced to the son. He appears about 10 years old, and is being fussed over by his mother. The man comments to me that since he wasn't there for his step-son's 'birth', he will be there for the boy's "re birthing". Both he and the wife seem very proud of this notion. I feel alarmed.

Trying to make a fast exit, the man forcibly guides me to a room, and insists I "share this moment" with his family. The boy has a blank expression on his face, and together we're guided into a room containing from left to right, a 6 foot tall representation of a woman's face, and two domed glass units installed in the floor.

The large woman's face stretches grotesquely as it opens it's mouth, and the tongue extends straight out, which is used as a gurney of sorts. The boy, now dressed in pajamas, climbs on, lays down, and is retracted into the wall-mouth. I'm horrified by what's happening, but the step father and the boys mother proudly look on, gesturing to the 1st dome. The boy ascends from a trap door in the floor, covered in a viscous mucus or gel. His eyes are closed, and his parents take pictures. He then decends, and some time later, emerges in the second dome in a boys school uniform, all traces of 'rebirthing' gel gone. His hair is combed, and his eyes are now open. The father insists I take pictures.

Awkwardly, I raise my camera up and press the shutter button, but realize it's set to 'video', and record a few seconds accidentally. I quickly switch to a photo setting, and capture one blurry image before the boy's platform descends back into the floor. The parents walk me into the next room, and wait for their son to return from the process. When he does, he's dressed again in his casual clothing, and seems older.

The boy insists I show him the photos I took, and when I decline, he becomes impatient. I promise that I'll email them to his father as I edge my way out of their apartment/office through the kitchen.

The father insists I stay and hang out with their son - I decline, telling him that it's already late and I have other commitments. The son (who now appears to be a friend I had in high school, and is much older) escorts me out of the apartment, and though a set of security doors with his key. The apartment building seems decrepit, full of peeling wall paper leaking water and mold. The boy seems oblivious to this.
Again, he asks for me to stay. I look out one window and see the sun is shining and it's day light, and out the front doors where it's now night. Without saying another word, I leave the building and it's weirdness behind.

_____

When I woke up, I actually checked my camera to see if there was evidence of this, thinking some version of it actually happened. Luckily not. The whole process reminded me of a situation I experienced years earlier while working at Blacks Photography: a woman came in with a dog photo, and wanted it printed. I did so while she waited, and looked for a frame to pick out. She used that opportunity to try and convert me to being a Jehovah's Witnesses, and left a stack of their 'Watchtower' magazines on the counter when she picked up her picture. 

People using a financial/customer service transaction as a preface to sell their strange personal or religious values is an innately uncomfortable experience for me. It's strange that it'd manifest in my dreams in such a vivid way.