The Farewell Ritual on the Stone Tablet 石碑上的告別儀式

I dreamed that I was attending the funeral of my ex-boyfriend’s younger brother, Chase.

Before the funeral began, I arrived at a basement where I saw his girlfriend organizing his belongings. His family was also there, but they were his "dream family," not his real-life family, helping with the sorting. Some of the items seemed to belong to me, so everyone was separating what belonged to Chase and what belonged to me.

I offered my condolences to Chase’s parents. It seemed like his father was a schoolteacher, and someone had brought over some items, saying they belonged to Chase. I went over to check if any of my things were among them.

Among Chase’s belongings, I found a brand-new fireplace screen. Since Chase’s sister mentioned they would be getting rid of his things, I thought that maybe some of the new items could be sold to help cover the funeral costs.

The funeral ceremony was held in the basement, but I wasn’t sure what religion it followed. I saw the officiant explaining how the ceremony would proceed.

He instructed us to kneel in worship. I noticed a large stone tablet beside him, covered in text. Looking closer, I realized it outlined the twelve steps of the funeral process. I thought it was quite useful—if we just followed the steps, we wouldn’t make any mistakes. The altar in front was also built of stone, giving the whole setting an eerie atmosphere.

More people arrived at the funeral, including some familiar faces who greeted me. I told them, "Just follow the steps written on the stone tablet. If you’re unsure, it’s okay."

As the ceremony was about to begin, the officiant asked us to form two lines. I stood in the right line. The space in front of me was meant for Chase’s family, but no one was there. The officiant told me to move forward, which placed me in the second position on the right. Later, someone pointed out that it was inappropriate for me to stand there since I wasn’t a family member. Eventually, I moved to the third position.

I saw Chase’s parents and girlfriend standing in the family section. His girlfriend was wearing a white wedding dress, looking utterly heartbroken.

A photographer was present, documenting the entire funeral. When the ceremony started, everyone sang the national anthem. I sang loudly and seriously, thinking that since there was a camera recording, I needed to be respectful and not appear inattentive.

As I sang, I suddenly realized that I was wearing a light yellow cocktail dress. I thought it was a bit too fancy, but at least it was a solid color and not too flashy. Still, I wondered—why was I wearing a light yellow cocktail dress?

Since I was standing near the front, the photographer kept focusing on me. Determined not to appear careless, I sang the anthem loudly, knowing that this moment would be recorded forever in the video.

I don’t know why I dreamed of Chase’s funeral, but the whole experience left me feeling unsettled.

夢見我在前男友弟弟 Chase 的葬禮。

葬禮開始之前，我來到一個地下室，看到他的女友在整理遺物。現場還有他的家人，不過他們是夢裡的家人，不是他真的家人，一起在幫忙整理遺物。好像裡面有些是我的東西，所以大家就在分類，哪些是 Chase 的，哪些是我的東西。

我請 Chase 的父母要節哀順變。好像他爸爸是學校老師，有人送了一些東西過來，說那是 Chase 的東西。我就過去看看，是否有我的東西在裡面。

我看到 Chase 遺物裡，有一組全新的壁爐屏風。因為 Chase 的妹妹說要找人來處理掉他的遺物，我心想有些東西是全新的，也許可以賣一賣，來補貼葬禮的費用。

葬禮儀式是在地下室舉行，我不知道這是什麼宗教。我看到司儀，他正在解說葬禮進行的方式。

司儀要我們跪在地上膜拜。我注意到他旁邊有一大塊的石碑，刻了好多字。我仔細看，原來是葬禮進行的步驟。我覺得蠻好的，上面有 12 個步驟，我們照著做，就不會出錯。我注意到前方儀式台也是石頭砌成，不知道這是什麼宗教，有點詭異。

陸陸續續有一些朋友來到現場，有一些我也認識，他們跟我打招呼。我跟他們說「你們就照著那個石碑上面寫的步驟做，不懂沒關係。」

葬禮即將開始，司儀叫我們排成兩列，我站在右列。我前面本來應該是 Chase 家人的位置，可是怎麼都沒人。司儀叫我往前移，結果我變成右列第二位。後來有人覺得我站在那裡不妥，因為我不是家屬。總之後來我就站在右列第三位。

我看到 Chase 的父母和女友站在家屬區，他女友還穿著白色新娘禮服，看來就是很哀傷。

他們還有找攝影師現場攝影，記錄葬禮過程。儀式開始，大家唱國歌。我大聲認真唱，想說有攝影機在那裡，要讓人家有一個美好的紀念，不能讓人認為我打混摸魚。

我一邊唱，突然發現我怎麼穿著淺黃色的小禮服，心想這小禮服其實有點華麗，不過還好它是素色，不會太突兀。不過還是納悶：我怎麼會穿淺黃色的小禮服？

總之因為我站在很前面的位置，攝影師一直對著我拍。我很認真大聲唱國歌，想說一定不可以混水摸魚，這樣子會在影片裡留下永久的記錄。

不知為何會夢見 Chase 的葬禮，讓我覺得有點毛毛的。