I am a woman currently living in Minneapolis - but 7 months ago was living in the mountains of Colorado. I have recently gotten seriously involved with a man - I think I’m in love for the first time in years. I had a frightening dream last night.

I was in the back seat of a car - the 4 others were murderers. I don’t know why I know that, but I knew I was in danger. We were driving up a mountain pass - one which looked like a Colorado road I’ve driven frequently.

The guy beside me suddenly turned to me and shot me in the chest. I felt no pain. I then heard him say he wanted to push me out of the car and see me get run over. He then pushed me out. I remember seeing the cars behind us, but as I fell out of the car, I felt no pain.

The next thing I know I was on the grounds of a hotel (FYI - I work in the hotel industry). It was not a hotel I recognized. My body was badly mangled, but I think I was alive. I was trying to hide from the killers, while insuring that no one saw me - I knew I looked so disgusting. I then tried to sneak around the property - then I woke up.

Help! The dream was so morbid and awful! What could it mean?

—Andrea, Age 28, Female, Single, Minneapolis, MN, USA

Hi Andrea -

I am delighted to learn that you are in love. As we know, though, affairs of the heart are full of risk. (Actually, they’re a bit like cars on windy, mountain roads...)

Your dream appears to be a metaphor for the perils of traveling on “love’s highway.” After one of these murderers shoots you in the chest (the heart?), you are “dumped” unceremoniously from the car - literally for sport. As the dream ends, you are hiding from view, even from people who could help you, because you are concerned about your appearance.

Is it possible this dream represents your fear of being hurt, and of being “dumped,” (so to speak) from your new romance? The dream is set in Colorado, which appears to be a reference to a previous experience. (Did you leave a heartbreak behind, when you moved to Minneapolis?) If so, the four murderers may represent past relationships in your life - where you wound up being hurt before. The fact that you hide from view after the shooting (rather than seeking help) suggests a fear of social embarrassment, rather than a literal fear of violence.

Cars in dreams typically represent the self - the “direction we are headed” in our lives. The fact that you are a passenger in this car (and not the driver) suggests a passive role in your current relationship. Do you think you are allowing your new lover to “control the direction” of your relationship too much?

If you are working through fears of being hurt (again) in a relationship, you have the empathy of everyone who has ever driven love’s highway. Having passed this way before, may we impart some tips to a younger traveler? The “mountain pass” you are struggling to cross in your dream most likely has twin peaks. Not only must you and your lover learn to give each other the gift of trust again—which is earned through the consistency of one’s actions, and not just words—you also need to encourage each other to take equal turns behind the steering wheel.

If you can cross this “mountain pass” together—with each of you sharing the driver’s seat—the view will be everything you ever dreamed of, and more!