Impostor

Dream 10.24.2018

My friend Tim is having a sleepover at his home. Ten to fifteen other guys are staying the night. Once everyone has gone to sleep, I sneak outside and shoot hoops. While playing basketball, I hear a growl not so far away. It isn't an animal but a human. Someone is lurking in the dark. I run inside and fall asleep.

Sometime later, I hear a doorknob jiggling. One of the guys wakes up and asks, "did anyone hear that?" The boys get up and investigate. When they walk outside, they find an impostor. All the boys, except for me, chase the impostor around a field. They never catch the stranger, but they aren't trying to. They run around as if they're in a marching band. Dream ends.

I wake up

Thunder and Lightning

Dream 5/31/2018

A party is being held at my pastor's house. My cousin DJ and I attend, along with the rest of my family and hundreds of fellow classmates from my high school.

When we arrive, we greet and hug the pastors family in the front yard. I walk around the pastor's house. He has a beautifully landscaped yard. His home resides near a river. On the river is a twenty-foot waterfall. The image is so serene, I find myself in an almost trance-like state, admiring nature.

I walk around the front yard to look for my cousin. I see him playing soccer with several other kids. Suddenly I feel out of place. I'm no athlete. The ball gets kicked my direction. I softly kick it forward, setting up for a wows-er of a punt. Unfortunately, the first kick was a little too hard, and I have trouble catching up to the ball. By the time I do, it's already back where the boys are playing.

I walk inside the pastors home and lie down on the couch. I am alone in this room, which makes it peaceful.

DJ finally finishes up with his game of kick the ball, and we walk over to the basketball hoops. He asks if I want to play a game of pig. Suddenly, we are no longer outside, but rather in a gymnasium. Around thirty kids are lined up to play knockout (or as some people know it, thunder and lightning). DJ and I join the line. I look around and recognize students that I haven't seen for a decade, maybe even longer. It comes to my turn. I grab the basketball and try my best not to get eliminated. Swoosh! Nothing but net, well, maybe some rim, but it went in, and that's all that counts. I toss the ball to the next person in line.

Throughout this game, I lose contact with my cousin again. After sinking an almost half-court shot and receiving loud cheers from the line, I step out and look for DJ. I run into a friend, Derek. We catch up for a moment. Another friend, Sam, is standing in line. He is wearing a cheerleading outfit and screaming for us to notice. He dances embarrassingly. I point him out, but Derek doesn't see him. Dream ends.

I wake up

Bleachers

Dream 1.17.2018

It's game night at Liberty. The varsity basketball team is gearing up to take on the opponents. I'm on the court messing around. One of the team members, Josh, says something insulting to me. I leave the court. I search the bleachers for my friends. I find them at the upper left portion of the stands. I decide to go down to the concessions.

There is an endless amount of food options. Anywhere from hot dogs to hot jambalaya. I think I get a hot dog but by the time I pay for it, it is torn apart on my plate.

Back in the bleachers, I am looking around to see if my friend, Derek, is here. I spot him at the very top bleacher. I am horsing around with a couple buddies of mine, Aaron and Matt. I ask, "is Kirk coming tonight?" I either don't get an answer or nobody knows.

The varsity basketball game has now turned into a volleyball match. During one of the serves, teenage bubblegum music starts to play over the loud speakers. The girls on each side of the court start to dance. It's enough to make a person cringe.

A man enters the gym through the doorway on the second floor. He is wearing a large coat. He sits down on the top bleacher and pulls something out of his jacket. I run out of the gym because I think he is a shooter but he isn't. He's just there to watch the game.

I head back down to the concession stand. This time I order the hot jambalaya. I ask, "how hot is it?" One of the workers says, "I can make it hotter." That sounds good to me. After all, some like it hot. Dream ends.

I wake up

Miscellaneous #2

Dream 8/9/2017

I'm on a football team. The team sits in a classroom. The TV is on. The coach asks me to push play on the remote control. I do. The projector starts a movie on the opposite side of the room. The coach asks, "what are you doing?" I am now confused.

My sister and a friend named Matt are trying to decide between two water slides. My sister is afraid of the big water slide but I convince her to try it. Matt goes before me. As soon as I see him at the end of the slide, I move into position. There is a stoplight to let riders know when it is safe to slide. The green light is lit. I slide. At the middle of the slide, I run into about fifty people who are sitting in place. I ask what they are doing. They are protesting something. Geez, everyone is protesting something today. I tell them that they are nuts and that the slide is going to collapse. I force my way through causes many riders to lose traction and slide the rest of the way. The staff forces the rest of them to come down. At one point, I shout, "you guys owe me three bucks for wasting my ride."

My friend, Kirk, is apart of a Jeopardy tournament being held at my school. He wins. Everyone is leaving the school. Kirk gets angry with my sister. He tells her, "I don't like how you tell people that you've won the tournament before, it was really hard for me." My sister needs a ride home. Something is wrong with her car. Kirk says it is alright, he can give her a lift. My friends Kirk, Tim and my sister and I ride with Kirk through downtown Anderson, Indiana.

At one point, we are out of the car standing on a street corner. On the other side of the street is a large, abandoned building. Kirk mentions how the main door has fallen off. Some of the building as crumbled but much of it is still standing. Many of the windows are broken. All of us try throwing a small basketball into the broken windows from this side of the street. When it comes to be my turn, I look both ways to make sure no cops are coming. When it is clear, I hurl the ball as hard as I can. It doesn't even reach the other side of the road. I feel like "Smalls" from The Sandlot. I say that there is no way to get the ball into the window.

We walk to the other side and check out the building. Kirk gets inside. I look inside the window and see that the lights are on. Then they turn off. I wonder is Kirk is turning the lights on and off. He walks out. While walking down some stairs, I notice an opening at the bottom of the building. I move around the opening to see. One could definitely get into the building through here.

All of us walk down the sidewalk. I see three kids that look like they attend Hogwarts. They all wear black robes. Suddenly, Kirk, Tim and my sister start running. They are racing each other. My sister falls down. I run and stand next to her as we are not in a good part of the town. Dream ends.

I wake up.

The Starters 3

A Dream From The Past

I'm on the varsity basketball team. My friend Tim's dad is the coach. We're at an away game. The game is about to start. I think I am one of the starters but I count five guys on the court not including me. I look at the coach in confusion. He says that all those who are on the low fat diet are going to start the second half. I sit down in the bleachers and take out one of my college textbooks to do some reading. The book is on Information Technology. I take off my suit and get into my game uniform.

I walk outside where I find my childhood friend Ryan. We are working in the maintenance dept. We need to feed the animals. First we feed the cats then we walk into a shed and feed the dogs a white charcoal-like food. Dwight from QRS Recycling is here. He questions what we are doing. We tell him that we are in maintenance and that we need to feed the animals. Dwight has a tuna sandwich with olive oil on it. Ryan takes the sandwich and squeezes it above his face and drains the oil into his mouth. Dwight is disgusted. Quite frankly, so am I. Dream ends.

I wake up

The Starters 2

Dream 6/13/2017

I decide to try out for the varsity basketball team. I am confident that I will make it. When I arrive at tryouts, all of the boys are lined up. I see everyone that I am competing against for a spot on the team and my confidence shrinks to nothing. There are so many good players here, how will I make the team now? I tell another boy that I think I will go tryout for Jr. varsity. He encourages me to stay and go for varsity. I walk away and leave. Dream ends.

I wake up.

The Starters

A Dream From The Past

I am on the varsity basketball team. Tonight is the championship game. My family is here. I want them to see me. I can't wait to play. My friend Tim's dad is the coach. He never plays me. Not once.

After the game, when the gymnasium is near empty, I sit on the bleachers sulking. The coach comes and sits next to me. He can tell that I am upset. He asks, "are you mad at me for not playing you?" I respond with a lie, "I'm not mad but..." I never finish my sentence. He never gives a reason for not playing me. Dream ends.

I wake up.

State-of-the-art

Dream 3/10/2017

     Our high school has remodeled its gymnasium into a beautiful, state-of-the-art gym that rivals even NBA arenas. A person is giving each class a tour of the gym one at a time. Our class sits about half way up the stands as the gentleman speaks about the improvements that were done. I look down at the far end of the basketball court, under the stage are seats for where the choir and band sit during the game. The orchestra members are practicing now. They are wearing blue tuxedos. Dream ends.

I wake up.

Shootout

Dream 3/5/2017

     Back at Liberty, I have a basketball shootout with a fellow classmate. We have to shoot from the three point line. The other student makes three out of four shots. I am really feeling the pressure. I have to make all four shots to beat him. While trying to concentrate, a group of boys have a scrimmage at the same goal that I'm shooting on. I get upset with them and tell them to move, but they don't. I walk over to the coach and tell him that I can't do it. I can't concentrate with those kids playing around.

     I give up and walk back to class. Suddenly, I am completely naked. I find a couple t-shirts at my desk. I put one of them on. My biology teacher is teaching while a guest lecturer sits at his desk. The guest lecturer keeps interrupting my teacher with remarks trying to get a laugh out of the class. Eventually, my teacher becomes upset at the guest and tells him to quit talking. Dream ends.

I wake up.

Basketball Tryouts

Dream 2/6/2017

     I walk into Liberty's high school gymnasium ready to tryout for the basketball team.

     So many more people are here than just the ones trying out. The bleachers are full. The coach hands out practice jerseys to the first group for the scrimmage. I'm not in this scrimmage so I find a place in the bleachers to sit, next to some friends. The players start to scrimmage.

     Our team is the terminators. Several people in the stands hold terminator memorabilia from the movies to cheer for the players. A couple of girls walk up the bleachers wearing terminator cyborg masks. The students around them cheer while the girls find their seats. I'm sure they just bought those at Target or Walmart. I look down and see a girl watching a video on her phone. I can hear it as well. The video she is watching is of a dream that I had earlier this night.

     During the scrimmage, the gymnasium lights start flickering on and off until finally the gym goes pitch black. The hallway lights on the second floor of the school are still on, so I don't know if a fuse blew or if a couple of students are in the hallway where the light switch resides, and they are just messing around. The players continue their game in the dark. I don't know how they can see at all, but I guess the tryouts must go on. Dream ends.

I wake up

Pillow Fight

Dream 2/4/17

     After a high school basketball game, I decide to follow the team to a fast food restaurant. When we finish eating, the coaches stand up and announce that it's time to load up the buses. "Only the sports team members stand up and head toward the bus," they say. 97% of the restaurant stands up. Only two others and I am left alone. Once again I am left out of the action of the moment. Story of my life. Anyway, eventually I walk out to the parking lot. On the way to my Jeep, I see a pillow that I own lying on the ground. I walk over and pick it up. Right then, my neighbor Joe walks over to me and confronts me about taking his pillow. "uh.. no, this is my pillow," I say back to him. "no man, I had that pillow like ten years ago," Joe responds. I tell him that I had it most recently, I use it for dialysis every other day. Eventually we go our separate ways, me taking my pillow with me. Dream ends.

I wake up

Stranger

Dream 1/28/17

I'm headed to a lake that is hidden in the middle of some woods. The lake is on my old church property.

On the way there, I come to a four way stop. Two other cars also stop, both Jeeps. Then, I discover that the Jeeps aren't even on the road, but each are off the road quite a bit. So, I drive on. Down the road, just a bit, I see a bouncy house that is turned over. I park my Jeep and walk toward it. The bouncy house is on someone's private property. I don't see anybody around, so I climb on top of it. I lye on top of the bouncy house, while a bouncy slide lays on top of me, partially, my head is still out, I can still see. Then, two girls-probably in their late teens-come barreling down the slide and crash into the bouncy castle that I am lying on. The slide tips over, as well as the bouncy castle and we all sort of hit the ground, not hard. The girls start laughing. I am afraid of what they will do now that they discovered a stranger on their property. They continue laughing, even after they see me. They don't seem to  mind. I tell them, "I saw your bouncy castle was tipped over so I decided to come lye down on it. They continue laughing, just like teenage girls. I tell them that I'll leave now.

I start looking for a way out of their property, but an electric fence has appeared. I wonder how I got onto the property in the first place. I find a gate but it is closed. I look back at the girls, now walking inside their house, and signal to them to open the gate. The gate slowly starts to open. I walk out and start running toward my Jeep. It seems so much further away than it was before.

A little girl, probably the teenage girls' sister, is dribbling a basketball down the street. She seems to be following me. I'm not terribly fond of children. I get to my Jeep, she gets there as well. I get in my vehicle and she gets in too. I drive on. As I pass her house, I see her father out front looking around, probably for her. I immediately am taken with fear. Have I kidnapped this girl? Her father will be so angry. I tell her to get out and run back home. She does. I speed away. I am afraid she is going to tell her dad that a stranger let her ride in his car. She will be able to describe my red Jeep to him. He'll call the police and they will start searching the area. I have to get away. I forgo the lake at this point. I can go another time. I speed fast down the road, trying to get back home. My house is far away in the country, the police won't find me, as long as I lay low for a while. I stop at an intersection. A car comes charging through at such a high speed, I wonder what is wrong with people nowadays? Dream ends.

I wake up

Hard Knocks

Dream 3/14/2016

Somebody asks me to steal a basketball from QRS Recycling.

I no longer work at QRS, but I still have my uniform. So, I don my grey button up shirt with reflectors all over and with the orange hardhat on my head, I trespass on private property. My brother-in-law is working there at this time, but not too many others as everyone has pretty much left for the day. I explore the place because I haven't been to this plant before, the one I used to work at is the next city over. I come across the maintenance shop, where they keep the basketballs. I walk in and immediately see the vertical holder for the various sports balls, but there is a lock on the bottom to prevent anyone from taking them. Disappointed, I leave the recycling plant.

I end up at my old high school, where they are having an assembly. I walk outside to the playground and reminisce about when I was a kid playing here. Most of the playground equipment has been taken away, but a few items from my childhood still remain. I walk over to the metal rainbow and try to hang upside down like I did when I was a kid. I fell and hit my head when I was little, but I didn't cry.

I head to the assembly. The speaker is talking about the WWE. The wrestling organization is making movies on various subjects. One movie is about Planned Parenthood. The speaker wants the school to endorse the movies. One of the teachers stands up, takes the microphone and speaks of her dislike for the WWE, its violence and sexualization of women. At that time, I walk out.

I end up in a junk yard, where my friends work. My long haired buddy shows me some of the cars he's been working on. One car looks like an old version of a Volkswagen bug that was never released. He also shows me a guitar that he built. A custom Gibson SG. He says it's not but it is. I tell him of a custom guitar that another friend of mine made. He hardly listens. I have to repeat myself. We go inside and sit at a table. Suddenly, out of nowhere, I have a seizure. My breathing completely stops for a moment. The ones crowded there erupt in tears. Finally, I take in a large breath. Everyone is elated.

My mom and dad pick me up to take me home. I ask my dad if he can buy me a basketball. Dream ends.

I wake up

The Gates of Hell

Dream 2/10/2016

Tim, Josh and I walk down a dark hallway. There is a light at the end.

At the end of the hallway are four doors and four switches. It is a puzzle. We must hit the switches in the right order to get through. We figure it out. Suddenly, we are in an arcade. Video games everywhere. I play a basketball game. The game is curved instead of straight. I miss every shot. Tim and Josh move on to the next level. I don't want to miss anything so I stay. The next group of people enter the arcade. I miss Tim and Josh so I move on to the next level.

Suddenly I am in a house where every room has a table with junk food on it. In this house, there is no discernible path from A to B, it's several paths all leading to rooms with a table with junk food on top (Think of the food scene from the movie "Hook").

Eventually, I find a stairway leading down. I enter I giant room with white walls. Inside this room are several small rooms with no ceiling. Inside these small rooms are portals. I know of a girl that went missing by jumping through a giant red portal in the back. It is said that the red portal only leads to one place, Hell. I am not supposed to be in this place, as there are guards patrolling the area. All of a sudden, the girl that went missing grabs my hand and starts leading me to the back of the room without being caught by the guards. We make it to the room. In front of us lies a giant portal with what looks like red electricity and fire. We enter. Dream ends.

I wake up 

The Practice

Dream 2/8/2016

Girls from my class are playing a pickup game of basketball. I decide to join in on the fun.

     As I'm playing, I look over to the bleachers and see my baseball coach, Mr. Allen. I walk over to him. He tells me that he has a special baseball glove for me and he wants me to be his relief pitcher in the 9th inning. The glove is quite small and is covered in Velcro. My friend, Tim, tells me that we should go practice.

     We board a school bus and take off looking for a nice patch of land to throw the ball around. We drive through some poverty stricken neighborhoods and then drive out to the country. All we see are corn fields and the occasional 100 year old barn with the roof caved in. We find a place to practice next to an abandoned house. The house looks like it was burned up in a fire. We explore. We encounter ghosts of the people who used to live here. The ghosts are hostile. Dream ends.

I wake up