Past Echoes, Present Whispers

   

    I find myself back at Liberty Christian High, the halls echoing with ghostly remnants of adolescent chatter. I venture into the basement, bracing myself for the expected damp darkness, but it surprises me. It's not the musty cavern I'd imagined. A group of people even huddle at the far end of a corridor.

    Still, an unsettling shiver runs down my spine. The school has shifted its skin since my time. It's familiar, yet foreign - a puzzling paradox. "They've spruced the place up," I tell a friend, my voice bubbling with a tinge of nostalgia and admiration.

    My words tumble out, cloaking my deeper feelings - a mix of appreciation for the new and longing for the old, for times that will never come back, and for changes that came too fast, like a ride on a rickety rollercoaster. A bizarre blend of homecoming and alienation weaves through me. This place is both my past and an uncertain present, standing as a symbol of inevitable progress and relentless time.

I wake up

Miscellaneous #3

Dream 10/31/2017

My dad and me are going to a movie. We never end up at a theater. We find ourselves in a large banquet room. The room is circular and has a hallway that wraps completely around.

I'm impressing my friends by rollerblading down a flight of stairs. At the bottom of the stairs is a pile of junk. I fly over it. I overhear my sister talking to my transplant coordinator. Everyone else can hear the conversation as well. I run up the stairs to where they are talking. I pull out a large knife and drop it to the floor where they stand.

My sister tells me that my friend Joel just dropped his list of top friends and I was on it. That means a lot to me.

Everyone is leaving. I run through the building grabbing items that belong to me. A few blankets on the stairs, a pair of jean shorts etc. My family walked down into the basement and then outside. I come to the basement door but get scared to go down there. I wouldn't be scared if my family was still down there but they are outside so that means that when I go down the basement stairs, I will be alone in the basement and that thought scares me. Dream ends.

I wake up

The Storm Outside

Dream 8/18/2017

I am in high school. I hang out in a class that is not my own. I am friends with several guys a few grades below me and I am relaxing in their classroom. The teacher hands out a test. Now I feel like I am part of this class. I take the test near the back of the room. Some of the test is geography while other parts are a completely different subject matter. I guess on most of the questions. In my mind, I am hoping that the teacher takes mercy on me since I've just joined the class. I take my test to a bathroom at the back of the classroom and finish it in there. The bathroom is haunted. I definitely feel a presence here. When I leave the bathroom I hear a few of my friends tell the teacher about the ghost.

A tornado is in the area of the school. The alarms go blaring and classes walk in line formation to their pre-determined areas. The students then sit down with their backs against the walls and their heads between their knees. I've somehow lost my class. I walk around the school looking but cannot find them. A few other students are in the same situation. We decide to skip finding our correct places and sneak down to the basement of the school.

At the bottom of the basement stairs is the boys locker room. We hang out in this area until someone at the top of the stairs turns the lights off. We immediately freak out and run to the top of the stairs to turn the lights back on. We then reconvene in the basement locker room. I've always found the basement of the school frightening. Today is no exception. I wonder to the back of the locker room where there is usually three or four showers that don't work. When I get there, the showers are gone and replaced with a very large bathroom. It's a very nice bathroom with bold colors. Many stalls. Many showers. Well lit. It's like finding Narnia at the back of the wardrobe. The tornado never comes Dream ends.

I wake up

Swell Timing

A Dream from My Past

I'm walking through a large, empty mall with my mom. We sit down at the food court and talk. We decide to leave the mall. We walk and walk and walk and walk. When we get to the entrance, she remembers that we parked at the other entrance. I decide to wait while she gets the car.

I'm walking up a snowy trail in Middletown, Indiana. There is a house on my left but I don't know who lives there. I keep walking. I think about the movie Schindler's List.

I browse the shelves at a local, used bookstore hoping to find an interesting read. I pull one from the shelf. It's King Kong. I loved the movies but never knew there was a book. I buy it.

I'm in the basement of a youth pastors house. I'd say about forty teenagers are here listening to the pastor speak. Another kid insults me. I decide to leave. As I'm walking up the stairs, the whole group of teenagers erupt into a brawl. Swell timing. Dream ends.

I WAKE UP

Robot Village

Dream 9/8/2015

I'm working on an assembly line.

     The warehouse is a three story open room. A dangerous man sneaks in while we work. He wants to hurt whoever he can. He chases someone. Like a stampede, we all start running. He chases me. He shoots and kills with a sawed off shotgun.

     Outside the warehouse is The Honor Academy Internship. Dave Hasz gives a speech by the pool. Everyone shows up. The HA has built a village around the pool. Me and my friends go exploring. We find a little cottage with a basement, but the basement is huge, like you would find in a hospital, except its dirty and old. We're looking for clues as if we're on a treasure hunt, but the clues are scary and gross (unfortunately I can't remember any of them.)

     My cousin DJ and I continue exploring outside. There are a hundred little cottages in this village but over to the very back corner is a large building. We're told not to go into it. DJ and I walk to the front door and peek in. There are a lot of people, except they aren't people, they're ROBOTS!!! We run to the backside of the building and check that door. There isn't anybody to be seen so we sneak in. We roam the halls like mice, trying not to be caught. Eventually, we are spotted by a robot and chased through the halls. We try to take an awkward path to throw him off. We enter a room and turn off the lights. We never see him again.
   
     We stay quiet for a while until we hear an aerobics class happening outside in the hallway. We search for another exit and find two. A staircase leads from the dark room up to the second floor. I run up to the door and peek out, an aerobics class is taking place up there as well. The second option is another door down the stairs. We pop our heads out to see. A woman finds us. She tells us that she is on our side. She gives us ID cards and a fake history written up for us. She also tells us that we've been assigned spouses and that we need to go find them.
   
     DJ and I start walking down the hallway for everyone to see, but if anyone asks, we do have ID badges. We try to blend in. The robots walk funny, kicking their feet out real far whenever they take a step. DJ and I imitate them. I look forward and then back at DJ, but when I do, he is gone. Dream ends.

I wake up

Pasqually

Dream 7/31/2015

My friend Robby and I walk up the basement stairs to the first-floor landing.

On the right side of the stairs are shelves of stuffed animals. We observe them as we walk. Three of them are six feet tall and still in their box. I point out that these were won by our friend Tim. Behind them is a stuffed animal twice their size, about twelve or thirteen feet tall. I show Robby the one that I added to the collection. It sits on a shelf near the door upstairs. I call him Chuck E. Cheese but his real name is Pasqually, a little Italian chef with a full mustache. He is by far my favorite.

Before our eyes, the toys come to life. I have a gorilla at my feet that wants to be held. The six-foot animals are looking at me. I raise my hands, growl, and beat my chest. They become angry and try to escape their boxes but they only tumble over. Robby wants to stay but I don't. I've seen enough. I escape through the upstairs door. The gorilla tries to follow me. I can't get the door closed without squishing him. I nudge him with my foot through the door before trying to close it. I have to do this a few times before it finally works.

I am met by a grumpy, old man. He wants to go to the basement. I let him through. He probably won't enjoy his trip down. Dream ends.

I wake up

"The road to hell is paved with unbought stuffed animals." -Ernest Hemingway

Library

Dream 2-26-14

I'm in a basement. It's not dark or cold but rather looks like a small library. On the wall, near the ceiling are windows. I can see legs moving outside. They are employees from my work. I'm supposed to be back to work but I choose to relax between two bookshelves instead. 

My supervisor comes down to the library. He tells me that it's time to get back to work. I stand up. I start putting on my clothes. 

My high school math teacher walks in. I notice something on my chair. It looks like muddy paw prints. My former teacher tells me it's poop. Dream ends.

I wake up.