Background information: My mother is a bit possessive, and she wants to make all my decisions for me.

In my dream, my parents were having a big party with a lot of guests. In our living room there was a big frozen lake, and I could see something lying at the bottom of it. Nobody else could see the thing in the lake. They did not believe me.

Then they broke the ice to prove that there wasn't anything in the lake. I tried to stop them because I could feel it was something bad. Then a horrible big monster came out of the lake. Everybody ran for their lives, but the monster succeeded in catching my mother and it skinned her. It was awful. I saw her in the claws of the monster, still alive. Her skin was lying on the floor, and I could see her bare flesh and bones.

Then the monster went after my sister and me. We tried to climb out of the window but I woke up just before the monster reached us. Then I cried, because I love my mother and the dream had seemed so real.

-- Susan, Age 18, Single, USA

Hi Susan --

This is not a nice way to wake up! The good news is that it was all just a dream. There really is no monster that wants to eat your mother!

Because water in dreams symbolizes emotions, we know the frozen lake in your living room represents feelings about your family (the dream is set in your house) that are "frozen" -- that you are not allowing yourself to express. Given the background information that you provide (you describe your mother as controlling), is it possible the monster that lies frozen at the bottom of the lake represents your anger at your mother that you are afraid of expressing?

Violence in dreams is a symbol of frustration. Accordingly, the monster that is unleashed should not be interpreted as a literal desire to hurt or injure your mother. On the other hand, your dream does show that sometimes your anger reaches a boiling point. Have you thought about ways that you might be able to speak to your mother -- to let her know that her "little girl" is already grown up and ready to make her own decisions?

In the meantime, you may need to sit down with a good friend and begin working on melting some of your "frozen emotions." It will feel good to let your feelings out, and then you can begin working on new ways to communicate better with your mom!