I am a 26-year-old woman, unmarried and with no current boyfriend, with a decent career and social life. Last night I dreamt that I was out on a golf course playing a strange version of golf, using whiffle balls instead of golf balls, with my soon-to-be roommate (we've been friends since we were college roommates). The balls were moving erratically around the course and I realized that they had fishing line attached to them and somebody was making them move that way.

I followed the line and saw it went up a tree. In the tree were two babies, one boy and one girl. I was alarmed to see them and wondered who would put babies in a tree. Without thinking, I pulled the string, which the boy baby was holding. He came falling out of the tree fast. I knelt down to brace myself and cradled my arms. I caught him and he didn't even cry. When I looked at his face, I felt like I loved the baby like a mother does. I don't usually remember my dreams with such clarity, which is why I'm curious as to the meaning of this dream. I hope it's not my "biological clock" ticking.

—Anonymous, age 26, U.S.A

Dear Anonymous—

I think your last sentence holds a kernel of insight into your dream.

Golf is a game of precision and control. We want to get a very small ball to behave with almost impossible response: to reach a target that is far off in the distance with the greatest economy of attempts. A few poorly executed swings, a momentary or sustained lapse of concentration, and chances are we have blown our efforts to shoot a great game. One reason why golf (and other sports) appeals to so many high achievers is because it's a great metaphor for high achievement in the rest of our lives. You have to be consistently "on your game" to shoot a really good round, be it on the back nine or in the board room.

Your instincts regarding the meaning of the dream -- "I hope it's not my 'biological clock' ticking" -- are sound. Something's tugging at your desire to control your current game (career) plan, and when you go to investigate, lo and behold, you find a baby attached to that fishing line!

Your dream also contains an interesting phallic allusion. The whiffle balls are larger than regular golf balls, which makes them anatomically correct (or at least better proportioned) when placed alongside a golf club. But of course, it is the baby attached to the whiffle ball that reveals the ball's symbolic association.

I think the inclusion of your friend from college in the dream also is significant. You two shared a highly defined "stage" of your life together -- college -- and now you are preparing to live together again, at a time when many of your contemporaries are moving in with their lovers or husbands -- and beginning families. It would be normal to feel the "tugs" of peer and family pressure to settle down and start a family as you embark upon your current path.

You are not alone among your female peers in having mixed feelings about the next stage of life. On the other hand, I think your dream also is giving you a vivid foreshadowing of the great joy and profound bond that you will share with your future children (perhaps a boy and a girl?). Having children may wreak havoc with your golf game, but it also may give you a whole new perspective on the sport.