The Gymnasium Fire

Dream 6-29-14

     Walking through the upstairs hallway of Liberty Christian School, making my way around many of the middle school preteens that occupy that part of the school, I notice something out of place. Smoke. The  smell of smoke begins to fill my senses as if it were trying to drown me. I turn down the hallway on the south end of the school. Black smoke is billowing out of the gymnasium doors. The fire alarm begins to scream above my head. The middle school kids were now stampeding to make it out of the building, much like a Darwinian survival of the fittest. Pushing and shoving. There was no apologies, only a fear inspired action toward the five exit's of the building. 

     Standing there, watching the black smoke fill the hallway, I have a choice to make. I can follow the lead of the students, making their way outside to safety or I can check the three classrooms in front of me in which I saw no one exit. What if someone were trapped. Fear was telling me to get out while I still can, but courage had another message. 

     I started making my way down the south end hallway. It was now full of smoke. The only way to get through it was to hunch over and try to get under it. It's a struggle to breathe still. I make it to the first classroom. Empty. I struggle down the hall a bit to the second, open the door and find it empty. I began to wonder if this was the right choice, if it was just a waste of time. It wasn't a good time in my life to be wasting time, I didn't have time. I only had a matter of minutes until the fire from the gymnasium, poked it's ugly head into the place which I was standing. This time it could be fatal. I finally make it to the last classroom. It's empty, just like the first two. 

     I have to get out. The way I came is out the question but the stairs in front of me which lead to the first floor have been demolished. All that remains there is the once landing of the stairs. I have to make a jump for the landing, it may be a cruel choice, but it's the only one. I jump. Crashing into the tiled landing, I forget about the pain and now focus on the jump to the first floor which is even higher. Strangely, there are doors on the landing now. Opening them up to reveal the first floor, I notice many people standing around nonchalant as if the fire and the stampeding children was all in my imagination. But it wasn't. I can still see the puffy black smoke taking over the upstairs hallway. Suddenly an idea comes to me. I take off my long sleeved shirt. I carefully make my way around the open door to the first floor. Now standing about twelve or thirteen feet above it. I bend down. I take one sleeve of my shirt and jam it into the door as it closes. 

     Full of high anxiety, I cautiously shimmy down the shirt. I know that it won't get me all the way to the floor but it will get me close enough so I don't break my leg on the jump. The people notice me now but they don't try to help (Typical dream people and probably typical real life people as well, if you think about it.) Funny enough, before I get to the end of my shirt, I touch the ground with my feet (As if my shirt were thirteen feet long from one sleeve to the other.) Now to safety, I decide not to leave the building. From what I hear the fire has largely calmed down and it's not unsafe to roam the halls, looking at the damage it caused. So I do. 

     Now near the front door of the school, surveying the fire's art work, my mom rushes in. She is frantic. She tells me how the teachers didn't know where I was and how scared she was about it. She didn't know if I had met the grim reaper or not. I assure her that her eyes are not playing tricks on her and I am fine. 

     We make our way to the car and drive off, out of sight. Dream ends.

I wake up.