I’m in a small green truck driving slowly on a bumpy, rocky downgrade, headed toward a green, swinging vertical ‘gate’—which looks more like prison bars, suspended on a chain link fence. The wind is blowing this gate (not the fence) back and forth from center, allowing just enough space to pass thru.

I continue toward the gate but before I get there a large metal object falls from the sky. I look up and see that a cable line snapped, dropping this large metal object—rectangular in shape but composed of shards and jagged edges—directly in the path of my travels. When the object fell, it made a loud ‘boom’ sound and dust blew into the air. What does it all mean?

—Anonymous

Hi Anonymous—

Cars in dreams represent ourselves; the “direction we are headed” in our lives. The uneven road suggests a bumpy and rocky period in your life (emotionally turbulent), on your path to a destination. The swinging gate that reminds you of prison bars represents an opportunity for you to escape this difficult period the way out.

Your dream shows, however, that leaving this rocky period of your life behind will not be easy. The gate that lifts in the wind allows just enough space for your small truck to pass under it. (Driving a truck in a dream, especially if you do not own one in real life, indicates feelings that you are “carrying a heavy load” emotionally in your life.) As you drive toward the gate, another obstacle—a large metal object with sharp jagged edges drops from the sky. The metaphor is plain: On the path to escaping this turbulent emotional situation, you fear repercussions if you try to leave.

Are you involved in a relationship where you would like to leave, but feel that your partner would not agree to your “escape? ” The violence of the image of the falling object suggests that a temper and anger are involved. Are you “stuck in prison, ” and do you find it difficult to plot your path to freedom?

Dear Dream Doctor—

It is true that I need to make changes in both my life and career. I am in a relationship with a divorced man that I feel I must leave due to wasted time (4.5 years) and lack of a clear commitment. He claims he’s giving me the best he has to offer. I dont think he wants me to go.

I don’t think he’d be violent if I tried to leave, but maybe my subconscious remembers a conversation I had with an old friend, who knows the man I’m seeing and his ex-wife. He claims that there was physical violence present in their marriage and he warned me to be aware.

The night I had the dream, we had dinner (the last supper) and a discussion, which led to my frustration. I also discovered that he has an illness for which he hasn’t sought treatment. Possibly an ulcer, maybe more. That may be my prison; I can’t leave until I know he’s healthy.

Hi Anonymous—

The most compelling image of your dream is the fact that the gate reminds you of prison bars. Ending relationships always is painful, but given the constraints and unhappiness that your dream expresses, and the fear of violence, its time to escape! If you are like most people, once you get firmly on the other side of an unfulfilling relationship, you will wonder why it took you so long to move along. (His ulcer is not your problem!)