Sunday, Another Time, Another Place

Dream 12.13.2017

We're passing through a drab amusement park. Nothing special. Except for a green, steel roller coaster. We step up to the coaster with excitement and fear, both rolling around our stomachs like clothes in a dryer. I look at the riders before us. One girl is screaming and writhing. I don't think it's because of the thrill ride. It seems to me that she has a demon inside of her. We bypass this coaster and leave the park.

Now, at my childhood church in Anderson, Indiana, I watch the worship team play their set. Some of the people on the team are young and inexperienced. One of the singers, a boy in his early teens, is clearly tone-deaf. For some odd reason, they have two drummers. I walk outside the church building, which looks curiously like a barn. For some reason, I jump into my dad's white Ford F-150 and drive it around the small church parking lot. If my dad finds out what I am doing, I will be in a load of trouble. I go to park the vehicle but have an enormous amount of trouble. Eventually, I give up and leave the vehicle where it is.

While the service continues, I walk around to the back of the church where I find woods. A radio blasts music. I can't find the source. I think I hear someone working back here.

I walk into a nearby garage where one of the church goers is working. I don't talk to him. My friend, Ryan, is here. He criticizes the church goer, saying that he never keeps this garage clean. Funny enough, after Ryan's criticism, the church goer and another man clean the garage until it is spotless. I then find my dad's truck parked inside the garage. Dream ends.

I wake up

The Well

Nightmare 10/29/2017

My family and I have returned to an amusement park in which we've visited many times. It's quaint. Not the best park in the land but my family seems to like it. I walk up to the main door and see a new ride called "The Haunted Mine." I excitedly tell my family that the park has a new ride.

We try out the new attraction. It's a slow roller coaster with few thrills. I'm disappointed. We exit the ride and see an indoor lake with a grassy bar leading around to a well. My family and I walk onto the bar to the well. We look down into it. The bottom is about twenty to thirty feet down. No water at the bottom. My dad stands up onto the well and falls to his death. The rest of my family falls in line. I look down at their still bodies. Deceased. An ache rolls through my chest. Dream ends.

I wake up

Backyard Roller Coaster

Dream 8/27/2017

I am building a roller coaster in my backyard. I have seen people with backyard roller coasters and I have not been impressed. My roller coaster is going to be like the thrill rides you find in an actual amusement park.

My dad and I go to a store to buy parts. In this store, I have apparently already started building my roller coaster. I show my dad the first hill of the ride. I've put it together with clay blocks. I'm trying to find out which clay blocks I need. I start doing some research on my phone. Some girls near me think I am cute. They start messing with me. One girl puts her hand in between my face and my phone. I push her hand away. I give these girls the cold shoulder bigly.

My dad is getting a bit frustrated because my shopping trip is taking longer than we anticipated. I tell him, "you know what I will do? I will just get three clay blocks today and then come back when I need more." My dad claps his hands in approval. "Good idea," he says. We walk to the front. I see a few blue-green blocks that will do nicely. Since there are a few people in line, I tell him to get the blue-green blocks while I go back to get a white one. I run back but it is much farther back than I thought.

Those girls are here. I can't find the block that I need. I walk all the way back to the end of the drop on the coaster that I started building. The girls giggle. I look at the coaster. I notice it is too small. I make plans in my mind to double it's size. The girls have some kind of firework. They set it ablaze and aim it my direction. I just walk away. Dream ends.

I wake up

In The Land of Lincoln

Dream 7/16/2017

I'm road tripping to my cousin D.J's house in Illinois. In my car is my friends Derek, Kelson and Ned, the fat, Asian kid from SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING. On the way there, we drive past an amusement park full of roller coasters. We also see a restaurant that serves good burgers and has fun arcade games. I tell Ned that we will stop there on the way back.

When at my cousins, we don't really do much. We mostly sit around and roam around aimlessly. At one point, I make my way up my cousins spiral staircase to the second story. When I make it to the top, I feel scared. I don't like being upstairs by myself.

Derek comes inside the house after being gone for a while. He tells us that he has been exploring the sewer drains across the street. Dream ends.

I wake up.

I Don't Feel Amused

Dream 6/19/2017

I'm at an amusement park. I decide to ride a giant roller coaster that takes its riders over a giant loop repeatedly. I sit in the seat and those riding with me tell me that I am too big for that seat, so I change seats. The ride begins. It is intense. Several times we are taken over the loop hundreds of feet above the earth.

When the ride is finished, my seat and my friend Jordan's seat starts to beep as if we've won. We did. I don't know how we won but we did. The ride starts shooting out tickets. Jordan walks away without grabbing his so I grab his instead.

When I exit the ride, I drop all of my tickets and tokens to the ground. People gather like vultures, trying to grab my tickets and tokens. I also dropped a bunch of candy bars that isn't mine. Jordan comes back over and picks up the candy bars. We walk over to the candy shop and return them to the right places.

I walk back out to the pile of tickets and tokens that I dropped. Still people are walking around pondering whether or not they will take the free stuff that was left on the ground. I walk over and start picking it up. I put it all in my pockets and get on my merry way. Dream ends.

I wake up.

Accident

Dream 3/23/2017

   
     My class decides to put on a Thanksgiving dinner. All of the classmates and their parents gather to eat. After finishing up, we go to an amusement park. I get in a ride I think called the Cobra. As the ride twists and turns, the bolts in my seat come loose and I am throwing fifty feet away into a lake. Many of my classmates jump in to save me. I am unharmed. When they pull me back to land, I am speaking another language. Dream ends.

I wake up.

Convergence

Dream 3/17/2017

     My school takes a day to visit an amusement park that is located in a valley. Standing up on a hill, you can look down and see the rides, booths and lights of the park. At the top of the hill is a giant buffet. One buffet has been overlooked and forgotten about and the food has become old and rotten. Some guys that I am with smell the food and laugh about how bad it is.

     I study sharks. I have a partner. Her and I study sharks together, or we are supposed to. One day she gets into a boat and takes off without me. I run and jump off the end of the dock to make it into the boat but miss wildly. I fall into the water. Behind me is hundreds of people watching me fail. We rediscover a bull shark which has been thought to be extinct. We film him swim around underwater. He can't seem to close his mouth.

     I am helping with the concession stand. My job is to fill the drinks. The way that I know what drink to pour is the manager will put a colored dot on the cup. Depending on what color the dot is shows me what drink to pour. It takes me a few tries to get it down, but I eventually get the hang of things. Dream ends.

I wake up.

Castlevania

Dream 7-26-2016

Today is special. We've all, friends and family, gathered at my friends ranch for the day
to have a good time. It's time to take this party up a notch. My friends dad orders a large house-like water slide structure. It looks like a castle. To get to the top, one can either attempt the two yellow ladders reaching five or six stories up. Or you can walk the ever long ramp to the top.
Around fifty teenagers and young adults start up the ramps to the top. There are several pathways. I take one in which I am by myself for the most part.

The structure doesn't seem at all like a water slide. The hallways are long, wide and tall. And everything is made of stainless steel. We get to the top and try to slide down but the water isn't working. Water is supposed to fall from the ceiling all through-out the steel caste, but it doesn't causing everyone who tries to come to a screeching hault.

So instead of sliding, we make the water slide into a house, calling dibs on the rooms we like and taking ownership of it. I get a small room in the corner away from all the noise. It's comfy and cozy with a nice view of the gas station outside. I walk down the hallway and find a row of beds full of jocksters holding their trophies, as if that isn't cliche. I tell them that this is beginning to look like a frat house.

I walk outside and find lines of people playing catch. My dad is at the end of the row tossing a ball with one of the more troubled individuals here. My dad throws the ball a little too hard and it falls into a large bush. This kid goes to find it. Dream ends.

I wake up

Amish Paradise

Dream 11/18/2015

My family has moved to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

We live in a trailer park. Everyone in the park is friendly and community oriented. My mom joins a group of friends. They want to take her to their clubhouse. I have a bad feeling. As they walk through a field to their club, I run up to my mom and tell her that they are an evil cult. My mom and I run away. Afraid that the cult is chasing us, we hide under a neighbors porch.

Someone is coming. We hear them approaching. A girl lowers her head to see us under the porch. It isn't a cult member, it's a friend of mine that I knew once upon a time in Texas. She brings us to her trailer and lets us clean up. She gives us fresh clothes to wear.

We get in her car and drive. We drive near an amusement park located on a cliff. It was once a great place but has recently started deteriorating. We return to the trailer park.

I go hang out with my Amish friend. His father tells me to grab the net in the shed and catch some fish for dinner. A pond is directly in front of their home. I take the net to the pond and drop it in the water. A grizzly bear sneaks up on me. I run to the Amish home. All of us stand on the porch watching the bear. A baby bear walks up to the porch. We play with it. The Amish father says that he'll catch the fish.

Neighbors from all over the park come to the pond to watch the Amish man fish while avoiding ferocious grizzlies. A man standing next to me says, "hey Keith, haven't seen you in a long time." It startles me because not many people know me. I turn to see who it is. It's a man that I knew back in Anderson, Indiana when I was young. Back then was was socially awkward and nerdy. He's changed a lot. He has gauges in his ears and wears a hoodie.

The Amish man catches the fish. Tables are set up outside the house. The Amish family cooks delicious food. The neighbors find a place to sit and we eat together. Dream ends.

I wake up.

Now and Then

Dream 10/4/2015

The school that I went to in my youth has changed.

     Today we go and see what is different. Instead of an emphasis on education and spiritual growth, we find the opposite. The small brick building has been opened up to fit the large 5 story water slide and roller coaster. I see a room filled with pinball machines and arcade games. When you walk up the stairs of the water slide, you get to another part of the school. There we find a bar that serves Mountain Dew and Pepsi. There is a button on the opposite side of the bar where you find a wall covered in flatscreen TV's. If you push the button, the bar will disappear and turn into a regular classroom. I am pissed at what I see. The school that once taught me how to live is nothing more than a day at a fun park. My mom and I decide to leave. We slide down the water slide which barely has any water. Dream ends.

I wake up

Ticket to Ride

Dream 9/17/2015

My family and I are going to an amusement park.

     My mom keeps telling us that she doesn't want to go to the park but rather to the sensation. We get to the park. We get on a roller coaster that is made of clear glass. I don't want to get on because we haven't paid for tickets yet. My sister assures me that it's fine because the entrance to the coaster is before the entrance to the park. When we exit the coaster, we will then pay for tickets. We ride the coaster. It is the most unreal thing I've experienced. I feel as if my body is flying instead of riding an amusement park ride.

     Meanwhile, my mom goes off to the sensation. When our coaster makes it's final stop, my sister thinks we should ride a little more and so she pushes our coaster forward. We get about twenty-five feet before a park attendant stops her.

     I leave the park in search of my mom. I come to a boggy swamp land and find her in a log cabin, which is known as the sensation. We enter and find my mom lying on the floor. The floor is sloped and moves back and forth. The purpose is to lie there and let the floor move you. Dream ends.

I wake up.

Top Thrills

Dream 1/11/2015

I'm at Cedar Point with my sister, Morgan, her friend, Lyndsay, and my friend, Jordan.

     We walk next to the roller coaster, Top Thrill Dragster. It's a massive roller coaster. A knot forms in my stomach. Morgan and Lyndsay have ridden the ride before and want to ride it again. Jordan is scared to ride it. I tell her that if she will go on it, I'll ride it with her. She agrees to it.

     We stand in line. Morgan and Lyndsay are in front of us. They get on the coaster. As Jordan and I wait in line, we notice that the girls are once again in front of us. I figure they are cutting.

     By the time we get to the actually coaster, the girls have ridden the ride three times. Anyhow, its our turn. But now, Jordan has two jocks who are gonna ride with her. I pout as I walk toward the exit. But I decide to go back. When I do, I see the jocks laying on the ground for whatever reason. Jordan tells me there is an extra seat next to her if I still want to ride the coaster. I agree to it. Dream ends

I wake up.

SkyCoaster

Dream 9/17/2014

     A brand new roller coaster  has opened up. The line seems endless. The ride is so tall that you have to take an elevator to the top. My family is at the front of the line. I'm at the back. Someone sees my tickets and tells me that I'm supposed to be at the front. I get moved to the front with my family. We step onto the elevator. We get to the top. We are so high in the air that a sick feeling overcomes me. Fear grips me. Dream ends.

I wake up.