Beneath The Surface

    In the last light of day, I'm at my father's house. It's old and dark. I have a simple job: carry a bag of garbage to the kitchen. The shadows grow long and I feel scared, like a kid alone in the night. I see a ghost - a lady wearing an old-fashioned bonnet, drifting by the kitchen.

    I rush outside, spilling my fears to my dad. He steps inside and climbs the creaky staircase. I follow, my eyes adjusting to the dim interior, and there she is again, the ghostly lady, halfway up the stairs. My dad is at the top. I'm stuck at the bottom.

    Then, something strange. The ghost comes down the stairs and plants a deep, hard kiss on my lips. It leaves me shaken.

    Later, we swim in the nearby lake. The house ghosts, supposedly wiped out by my dad, are nowhere to be seen. But as we swim, something pulls him under. The ghosts are back, angry and looking for revenge. He's struggling, crying out for help.

    "I didn't mean for you to kill him!" I shout at the ghosts, but they don't listen. His last scream echoes as he's dragged under for the last time. The lake, still and silent, becomes his grave. Revenge, it seems, is served cold and deep.

I wake up.

The Balloon Has Gone Up

    Yearning to serve my country, I make the decision to enlist in the military. The journey begins with a grueling two-week boot camp, a crucible of endurance and discipline. Alongside my comrade Chad, we find ourselves thrust into the company of seasoned soldiers, their eyes reflecting the weight of experience and the scars of conflict.

    Together, we march to the battlegrounds, braving the horrors of war. The air was thick with tension, the deafening sound of gunfire, and the acrid stench of fear. Our hearts pound in unison as we face the unknown, driven by duty and the unyielding camaraderie that binds us.

    Yet amidst the chaos, tragedy strikes with a cruel and unforgiving hand. My mother, a beacon of unwavering support, ventures to visit me in the midst of the turmoil. But fate, ever the cruel mistress, unleashes its merciless blow. An enemy soldier, lurking in the shadows, springs forth and in a split second, snuffs out the light of her existence. Grief clings to my soul like a suffocating shroud, engulfing me in an abyss of despair.

    Despite the weight of sorrow that threatens to consume me, Chad and I press on, our footsteps heavy with determination. We continue to navigate the treacherous path of battles, our minds scarred by loss but our resolve unwavering. Each engagement, a reminder of the fragility of life and the sacrifices we make in the name of duty.

    In the midst of the turmoil, a small helicopter emerges, its blades slicing through the air like whispers of hope. The pilot, a figure of unknown origin, turns to me and beseeches for assistance. His request is simple—to wipe away the encroaching dust that threatens the delicate machinery while we soar through the heavens.

    In that moment, doubt gnaws at the edges of my conscience. I confess my lack of experience, my inability to fulfill the role bestowed upon me. The pilot, understanding the weight of my admission, nods with somber understanding. "I appreciate your honesty," he murmurs, the gravity of the situation etched upon his weathered face. And so, the opportunity slips through my grasp, the winds of destiny carrying me in a different direction.

    Regret lingers, mingling with the scent of gunpowder and the cries of fallen comrades. In this realm of uncertainty, choices are made and fates intertwine. I am left to wrestle with the ghosts of what could have been, the path not taken—a solitary soldier, burdened by the weight of an unchosen destiny.

I wake up. 

The Heat

I'm in Africa. Some family members and friends have traveled with me. I am told of a group of people who are desperate to come here.  They travel 100 miles on foot through lava canyons. I see the trail of magma and canyons that lead away. We start to move the path. A few miles on, the walls of the canyons block the sun, and Molton rock begins to appear more and more. We turn back. I wonder how these people travel through lava. How is it possible? We eventually make it through. The halfway point is a lovely building with chairs and vending machines. It's out of place. But it gives me hope.

We make it to the end. There is an indoor swimming pool full of lava. Lying across the pool are several inflatable logs. The people here play a game. One person sits at each end of the trunk. They try not to fall into the hot magma below.

We play the game.

I watch as my friend's dad sits at one side. He puts forth a valiant effort but eventually falls. He quickly pulls himself out, but it's too late. Lava covers his body, melting him alive. He reaches out for help. There is none. Later, we are all on the logs. I drop something into the fire and reach in to grab it. It isn't as hot as I thought. Many of us touch the firewater. We are not harmed.

I wake up

Sliding Away

I'm part of an internship called The Honor Academy. Today we have traveled to a large field with a 32 story slide. The interns slide down the massive structure. I take my turn. The ride is thrilling and fast.

I'm standing out in the field with a group of friends when I notice a sliding intern flying from the ride. Their body imitates a ragdoll as it falls through the air and crashes hard into the ground. Before our eyes, bodies of interns fly through the air and land in different parts of the field. I run to the nearby woods and hide behind trees avoiding the out of control bodies.

When the falling stops, we the living run to the opposite corner of the field where there is a door. The door lets us out.

I wake up

The Scent Of Horror

A group of my fellow high school students is spending a few days at a retreat in the hills. There is a mine track rollercoaster that tours guests through the woodland ridges. My brother-in-law built the coaster and tells me it's dangerous. A few of us pile in a cart and start up the giant hill. When we get to the top, there is another small hill before the significant drop. Joseph, the teenager, sitting next to me, leans back exaggeratedly far. He doesn't see the next hill coming. When the cart takes the mound, Joseph's head hits the track, and he begins to fall out. I try to pull him back inside, but it's too late. Joseph lies on the route with a severe head injury. The cart malfunctions and starts rolling backward. Joseph is run over. He is dead. While in shock, I try to call Chad to inform him of the situation. I tell him to stop the mine carts on the track. My frantic fingers cannot find his number in my phone. The next cart rolls along and runs over Joseph's body. I see Chad standing on a boulder. I inform him of our situation. The roller coaster comes to a standstill. We get off of the ride.

"This ride is dangerous!" I yell to Chad. Heated, he yells, "I told you it was dangerous!"

Standing on the ground, I can see paramedics carrying joseph's body down on a gurney. I can't look. I turn and walk away. As dusk approaches, most of the guests have left the retreat. I call my mom and ask her to pick me up. I'm standing next to a cabin where the female guests stayed. A car pulls up. I assume a guest is picking up their belongings, so I walk away. As the sky is dark and the retreat is still, my mom shows up. Chad tells her what happened. While the scent of horror is still in the air, we drive home.

I wake up

Death and Decay

Everyone is dying. My family. Friends. It has something to do with sex. The sickness is spread through sex. Similar to "IT FOLLOWS." My mom doesn't want me to see her die, so she hugs me and leaves. She dies alone in a hotel room. I watch as the people in my house slowly go the way of the reaper. The sickness hasn't found me. And it never will. I decide that it's time to leave. It's hard to choose what to bring with me. I have so many books. I can't bring them all. I look and see books written by J. R. R Tolkien sitting on my dresser. In the end, I travel light.

I know of a group of people living near Terre Haute, Indiana. I think I'll go there. The men there are builders. They use Minecraft blocks to build their structures and vehicles. I grab an antenna and a walkie talkie in case someone is alive out there and sending out a signal. I drive away from death and decay. Dream ends.

I wake up.

Electric Feel

A Dream From The Past

     I've returned to my old job at QRS Recycling. As I work, I fail at something, but I cannot remember. My supervisor, Justin, reprimands me in the break room. As he chews me out, I glance out the window. A garbage truck is driving through the parking lot with his back left up. He snags a power line and pulls it down. Since it is night, the workers cannot easily spot the wire. A worker accidentally touches it. The electric pulse soars through his body and throws him like a rag doll into the air. He falls lifeless to the ground.

     Several workers, unaware of the situation, walk from the factory toward the break room. Many of them touch the live wire. Each is thrown similar to the first. Those of us in the break room run to warn those left. I hear sirens. I am afraid that I will die. I cannot die tonight. I run and hide, but I feel as if the electric wire will find me no matter where I conceal myself. Dream ends.

I wake up

Weenie Roast

A Dream From The Past

My father's company is holding a barbecue at our house in Middletown, Indiana. Everyone is having a splendid time. I walk through the party looking for my dad and sister, Kristen. I am unable to locate them. I do some digging and find out that my dad and sister fell into the meat grinder and were killed. Sadness gives me a lovely punch square in the face. I look around. Those attending the party are still having fun. This is a paradox of emotion.

Four beautiful girls and I pack into a car and drive to the mall. We cruise through a parking garage. We drive through the central part of town.

Across the road from where I live is usually a cornfield. Today, it is an ocean. The party-goers gather at the beach. Many of us run up a nearby dock. There is a whale in the water. Some of those at the party wants to kill the whale. I want to save it. I get in the water to rescue the animal. I see my dad and sister on the shore. Dream ends.

I wake up

A Place of Retreat

Dream 11/3/2017

I meet with a tall, black man for lunch. He reminds me of Jackie Chiles from Seinfeld. When our meal is finished, we go our separate ways.

My family and I explore a museum. Each room in the building is different from the last. At some point, we get split up. Much of the time, I am on my own.

Later that day, I receive word that the man I had lunched with has died. I am reminded of my own mortality as I always am when this tragic part of life occurs. One moment we are here and the next we are just a memory.

I am told that I need to travel to Cholula hospital. The man that tells me this reminds me that it's an hours drive but he doesn't tell me which direction. I know it is either one way or the other so I chance it. I start driving, hoping that in an hour, I will notice a hospital. Twenty minutes after getting on the road, I notice some schoolmates in the car ahead of me. They start waving their hands frantically. I pull over. They tell me that I am going the wrong way, that Cholula hospital is the other direction.

I park my vehicle and walk home. When I see my mom, I tell her that we need to pick up my car. 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

Flatlined

Dream 9/18/2017

A group of boys from my school (a few grades below me) have all been killed. I am unsure if it was an accident or murder. One of the boys is the cousin of my friend, Derek. I come to school the next day. Derek is furious and upset. I've never seen him like this. The school calls all of the student body into the gymnasium. They discuss what happened and try to console us.

I walk out of the school. It is night and snow has covered the ground. I walk out to the student parking lot. Today, I have driven my large front-loader to school. I climb up into the loader and turn it on. I have trouble controlling it especially the bucket on the front. I accidentally drive forward and clip another persons vehicle. I get out to check the damage. The person has a small front-loader. No damage was done.

I drive down the road but have so much trouble controlling the machine. The bucket goes up and down and turns up and down. It is as if the machine is running itself. I drive down a road to a dead end. I turn around and go the other way. Dream ends.

I wake up

Spy Game

Dream 9/1/2017

My family and me are at a lake. Many families are here. Surrounding the lake are mountains and forests. In the forest are cabins for rent. My family swims in the lake. At one end is a blob. Many teenagers are having fun on the blob. I am afraid to try it because of an accident that happened to me years ago involving one where my back was injured. My brother-in-law tries it out. He has fun.

Up the mountain a bit, we can see many buildings. A person that I am with has suspicions about the people living in those buildings. We spy on them and find them heavily involved in illegal activity. My brother-in-law and I use a device where we can stand far away but hear the intimate conversations between the criminals. The only flaw to this device is that it shines a bright light. After using it several times, the criminals catch on to our scheme. My brother-in-law stops pursuing the criminals. I keep the pursuit going.

I walk around the nearby forests and mountains. There are many pretty views in the area. I find another lake with a bridge across it. I decide to return to my cabin. I walk down the trail and pass an older gentleman on the way. He seems like a nice fellow. When I reach the cabin door, the old man and two younger men are right there behind me. They grab me and have a sinister conversation. They tell me to stop spying on them. The older man hints that they did something to my mom.

When they leave, I try to get into the cabin but all the doors seem to be locked. I go around back and find an unlocked door to the bathroom. I get inside. On every bed, there seems to be a person lying motionless under the blanket. When I pull the blankets from the bed, it is only pillows, until I get to my moms room. I pull the blankets from my moms bed and there she lies dead. Her head is inside a large, glass jar with liquid inside. The liquid is some sort of chemical concoction. I tell my mom to breathe. She wakes up from her death. She starts gasping for air. Her breath returns to her. Dream ends.

I wake up

The Body

A Dream From The Past

A man similar to Jesse Pinkman - from Breaking Bad - walks into my work area. We are the only people here. For some unknown reason, we get into a fight and I kill him. I try to think quickly on how to hide the body. A man from the business next door comes over to talk or ask a question. I quickly throw a tarp over the body and try to hide it the best I can. Part of me thinks the man from next door saw the body. When the man leaves I dig a shallow grave and bury the body in the corner of a junkyard. The police are called. They come and search the premises. The body is found. I am handcuffed and dragged off to prison. Dream ends.

I wake up.

Monster 2

Nightmare 5/17/2017

There is a boy at my school who is the same age as me. Something is wrong with his brain. He is a little slower than most people. I come to find out that he once killed a person.

After school, I go over to the elementary building where my mom works. I have to wait for an hour for my mom to finish her work. While sitting in my mom's office, I see the boy with brain problems enter the office. At first, I am cautious and I talk with him, just a little, but then I realize that he is wildly dangerous. I run back to my mom's office and tell her that we have to go to the back room and call the police. We go to the back room. There is a window that separates the office from the back room. We can still see the boy.

I lock the door both on the doorknob, the deadbolt, and the chain lock, but the chain lock is flimsy, it probably won't do much good. The boy comes to the door and tries to get in. I remind my mom of how dangerous this situation is but she doesn't seem to understand. She keeps working. I think I see the boy holding a knife. We both try calling the police but neither of our phones has service. We move to the window in the room, trying to get just one or two bars. Eventually, the boy's mom comes in and calms the situation. Nightmare ends.

I wake up.

Bigfoot Carnage

Dream 5/7/17

In Russia, my family is hunting Bigfoot.

We stay in a humble place, not nice but comfortable. An American man comes to my window. I let him in through the side door. He needs to speak to my dad. I think this man is the leader of a Bigfoot hunting team in which my family has joined.

We walk about town in silence. There is light snow covering the ground and streets. Nobody but our team is out in town. I assume it is late and most people are asleep.

We find a Bigfoot. It is unclear whether or not we catch or kill it. Walking down the street, I see that some members of the team have caught a baby Bigfoot. He is cute and tries hard to run away. His cries attract his angry mother. She crashes the party. I run but behind me I see and hear the members of our team being ripped apart. Dream ends.

I wake up.

Dialysis Massacre

Nightmare 4/1/2017

I'm inside a dialysis center. My treatment is going when my nurse practitioner asks the other nurses and techs if the police are dealing with the situation outside. He talks about it like he is trying to hide something from us. As time goes by, we come to realize that there are several men outside with guns shooting at people. The police have arrived and are trying to defuse the situation.

At one point, we are told to get down on the floor and not to move. I am lying in between two other men, one is Chinese. At one point, I lift my head up and look over at the window. I see one of the gunmen with his face up against the outside of the window looking in. I immediately freeze in fear. I try to stay down and not move a muscle. BOOM!!! He shoots inside the room. I hear the gun go off several times. He is shooting at the dialysis patients. BOOM!!! the man beside me gets shot. I am waiting for the bullet to hit me. BOOM!!! A bullet hits me in the lower left side of my back.

After several minutes of terror, the police finally take down the gunmen. When I walk outside I tell someone that I've been shot. I can feel it when I rub my fingers across my back. It feels like a bump but I can actually feel the bullet inside of me. The person asks me why I haven't told anyone until now that I was shot. Dream ends.

I wake up.

Terror Simulator

Dream 3/23/2017

     I am a part of a simulated event where half of the people are given guns and the other half are shot. I am on the side who gets shot. The event starts. I stand in one spot because I know there is no use in running. A young woman walks up to me and shoots the person I am standing next to then turns the gun to me. BOOM!!! I fall to the ground.

     I start to re-evaluate my life. I pray to God that He will forgive me for the life that I've led. As I lye on the ground, I feel a cold wash over my body. A blackness starts to take over my vision and my hearing starts to go.

     The event ends. The side with the guns announces that they shot us with red food coloring. All of the dead people stand up. I stand up as well. After inspecting myself I realize that I am fine. After a couple hours we start round two. Once again, I am on the side that dies. Dream ends.

I wake up.

Death of a Loved One

Dream 3/5/2017

     One of my high school teachers has died. We attend his funeral at Oberland Cemetery. Hundreds of gatherers sit off to the side while the students stand by the casket. I along with a few other students, help to lower the casket into the grave.

I wake up.

Junkyard Memories

Dream 2/24/2017

     I walk down a road. I come to a house with boarded up windows. I can see slightly through the slats of the boards. Nobody appears to be in the house but I feel something evil here, so I move on.

     Just past the evil home is a warehouse. Jesus is standing in the entrance of the warehouse where a large pile of shrimp, slugs and other creatures lay on the floor. He starts to eat a slug. The taste is salty.

     I walk beyond the warehouse into a junkyard and find a large creature. I believe he guards the area. I fight him to the death and win.

     My sister, our friend and me are at a play in an auditorium. A lady on stage asks for volunteers but walks out to the crowd and picks specific people. She walks to my row and points to my sister and friend. I feel left out. She calls up all of the chosen ones. They stand in a line on a catwalk that's suspended two stories above the stage. All those in the line start to sing. Dream ends.

I WAKE UP

Ghostly Desires

Dream 1/11/17

There exists a serum, that when you take it, you are allowed to see the ghosts of people who you have known when they were alive and ones who you've been connected to. I take the serum. I instantly see and befriend the ghosts living in my house.

One ghost in particular, I fall in love with. Her name is Florentine. She is skinny and always wears khakis. All of the ghosts still have the remaining damages from their deaths. Some have horrific scars. One girl has a gash in her face and bloody eyes from the car accident that killed her.

I tell my sister about the ghosts and she decides to take the serum for herself. She joins the club. We have competitions. My sister and I race while the ghosts throw honey at us. Dream ends.

I wake up