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

Car Trouble

I'm at Liberty Christian High School. I have a feeling that I need to chop down a telephone pole in the parking lot. I take my ax and chop away. When I get halfway there, I look up and notice the electric wires. I worry that I've made a mistake. I run inside the building and pretend that I didn't do anything. I hope that the pole falls over during the weekend when no one is here.

I walk out to my vehicle. I control the car behind me with remote control. I try to drive both automobiles at the same time to the backlot. I accidentally crash the back vehicle into a fence. It's severely damaged. I become angry and start tearing up the soft top on my Jeep. After the rage ends, I become overwhelmed with the knowledge that the damage will cost $1500. My mom picks me up. I tell her everything. She consoles me.

I wake up

Wigwam

Dream 4/25/2018

I am trying to get home to Anderson, Indiana. I am a few towns away, but I am lost and can't find my way. I drive through a city in which I don't know the name. I drive aimlessly.

Somehow, I find the old Anderson high school gymnasium, the Wigwam. I park the Jeep and walk inside. There is a sports tournament being held. I get excited for a moment and hope to cheer on my school, Liberty when I realize that I've been out of school for ten years. I wouldn't even know any of the players. A bit saddened, I leave. 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

Restaurant Slaughter

Dream 1.2.2018

My school has changed. Liberty has changed. They, being the ones who hold the scepter in their hand, have demolished the old and rebuilt it into a shiny, new campus. I walk through the same space of where my high school locker used to be. Same space. Different view. Different everything. I complain to those with me. They probably just took down the brick of the old Washington building and chucked them carelessly into the dumpster out back. I'm angry.

Across the street from the school, where the Madewell's ice cream parlor used to stand is now an oriental restaurant. I meet a few friends there for lunch or dinner. One friend is a girl named Samantha. We sit at a table with a white cloth. The restaurant is empty but quickly fills up. Eventually, we move to another table because several more friends have shown up unexpectedly. Two of the new arrivals are brothers. I say to the one whose name is Russel, "Rusty! Hey! What's up, man!" If my memory serves me right, he never responded. (Fourth Wall Break: This is a common occurrence in dreams, people not responding when spoken to. I have yet to figure out why this is).

A man walks into the restaurant and I know that he is meaning to hurt the diners. I see him pulling something from his jacket. Before his plan unfolds, I run toward him, grab him, throw him to the floor and yell for someone to give me a pair of handcuffs. After I cuff him, I leave the restaurant to look for a police officer. With no luck in finding a cop, I return to the restaurant to find everyone in the building dead. I have no idea what happened while I was gone. I theorize that a second gunman came inside and did his dirty work. Dream ends.

I wake up

Strange Days At Liberty High

Dream 12.27.2017

I enter my high school, early in the morning. Students are gathering in the gymnasium awaiting the first bell. I'm standing in the hallway near the water fountains. I feel dizzy. I forgot to take my medicine this morning. I rip out my medicine bottles and take a pill from each. I don't end up taking my medicine. I go to the bathroom. I stand at a urinal. While pissing, I notice I am alone. This brings a feeling of fear to me. I try to hurry my business so I can leave.

I walk back to the water fountains and just stare at the brick wall. I don't know how much time is passing. I look into the gym and see a phys. ed. class taking place. All of the students have gone on to their first period class. I didn't hear a bell ring. I didn't see a herd of students moving around the halls. I didn't hear the metal clanging of locker doors. Something is wrong with me.

I see the principal walking my direction. I stop her and tell her of my situation. She tells me to go to the bathroom and see if that helps. I don't go to the bathroom, but instead, I mosey on upstairs where my first period class takes place. I see a girl from my class walking down the hallway. Dark paint adorns her face. She gives me a look as if trying to be funny. I fall to the ground as if dying but it is fake. When the girl is out of sight, I get up and walk toward class.

When I arrive, I am terrified of going inside. My mind starts screaming. Anxiety bubbles up inside and I am frozen. I decide against entering the class but instead, I leave the school.

I am now inside my camper where my mother and I live. She is understanding of my leaving the school. She makes a call to someone, I do not know who. She starts listing names of doctors to the voice on the other side. While she talks, I play a racing video game where the cars represent famous movie monsters. I am play the Freddy Krueger car. You can win races and upgrade your monster car to make it more vicious. Dream ends.

I wake up 

Wonderful Wonderful

Dream 11/13/2017

I'm looking at a field from a birds eye view. This is a video game. Maybe League Of Legends. Maybe World of Warcraft. 

I am apart of it now. But it isn't the same. The game has changed. I walk into a house. I sit down in a chair. A large, black man walks in and sits down next to me. He starts talking to me about the positive aspects of socialism. He points to the TV in the room, "this guy explains it well," he says. The man on the TV is the same man from the show "Adam Ruins Everything." I point at the man and respond mockingly, "you mean, this pompous asshole?" The large, black man doesn't seem amused. I notice a tattoo on his arm. It either says "BUST" or "DUST." I leave.

I walk outside the house where a church service is taking place. Many people in the congregation are students who I graduated with from Liberty Christian High School. I see an old pal of mine, Kelson, pacing back and forth at the back of the room. I give him a nod as I walk past him. While standing at the side of the room, I notice Kelson walk into the same house that I recently exited.

I return to the house but instead of walking inside, I wander to the side of it. In the grass I find a long, winding rope. At the end of the rope, in the grass is written the word "BUST" or "DUST." I instantly know that that large, black man is very important. I walk to the back of the house where many people are playing a game similar to hacky sack. I interrupt the game and mess up the flow. One person in particular is angry at me for doing this. When I leave the area, he follows.

I find myself on a country road surrounded by woods. The angry man and his girlfriend are behind me. At one point, the man tells his girlfriend that he signed her up for a fight. She is furious because he didn't consult her first. While they argue in the road, I get away. Dream ends.

I wake up

Natural Born Killer

Nightmare 9/22/2017

Somebody I used to know, a boy named Kirk, has told me of his evil intentions. He is going to come to school with a shotgun and party hardy. He wants a massacre.

The day comes.

My class is standing by the entrance of the school when Kirk pulls out his weapon. He starts shooting. Students run in every direction. I run outside. In the parking lot, there are several other students with guns shooting the running ones. I find out later that all of the guns are fake including Kirk's.

The day comes. For real.

Students from my class are standing in the senior hallway when Kirk pulls out his shotgun. He starts shooting. It's hard to explain the dread that comes with the thought that you are about to die. I slip by Kirk and run outside. He doesn't notice. I run across the street and the student parking lot to a field where I have a couple of tents set up. I hide until the madness is done. I can still hear the gunshots. Dream ends.

I wake up

Jewelry

Dream 9/12/2017

My mom, sister and I am travelling to California to visit a jewelry shop. The shop is owned by Madonna and Chris Jericho, the wrestler, works there as well. We make it to the shop. Madonna helps me pick out a few rings. Chris Jericho throws his arm around my shoulder like we are pals. Another famous person works here but I don't recognize him. We leave Madonna's jewelry shop and return home.

I am driving through a small town. I get lost but it is okay because I feel adventurous.

My sister's high school class is having a reunion. I come along. I see several people from my class here. I try to lay low because if they find out it is not my class reunion, they will kick me out. I sit at a table with a girl named Emily. I tell her about the jewelry shop and how I met Madonna and Chris Jericho. She is astounded. I sneak some food from a nearby buffet.

Still at the reunion, I am walking around a lake. The grass hasn't been mowed. I think I see a snake slithering. I walk back to the reunion. Dream ends.

I wake up

A Day In The Life

Dream 6/30/2017

My parents own a grocery store along with a famous actress. I don't know her name. I show up at the store one night. My parents remind me that I have two papers due tomorrow at school. I have yet to start on either of them. I leave the store.

The next day at school, I am sitting on the bleachers for chapel, when I accidentally injure myself. Right then, a journalist woman, sitting just a few rows above me, comes down to administer first aid. She fixes me up but leaves her ink pen. After chapel, I walk up to where she was sitting. She isn't there but below her seat is a bulletin with her face on it. I take it with me.

At my locker, I am having trouble remembering which class I am supposed to be in right now. I ask the person next to me, "what period is it?" They respond, "Interpretations." That leaves me more confused. I look in my locker and find many school books for classes that I am not taking. I assume they are books for next semester. I head to Bible class. When I get there, I see my friend Josh coloring on a paper. He asks me, "did you get yours done?" No, I didn't. I also forgot to do those two papers that were due today.

I leave the class and walk down to an English classroom. My sister is in there along with her class. Lo and behold, I also see the journalist lady sitting in one of the desks. I walk up to her and return her pen. I tell her that she accidentally left it behind. She tells me that it was Jake's pen. I come to find out that this woman rides a motorcycle but her bike is broken. She has asked me to fix it.

My mom and I drive around the parking lot of the school and notice that those running the school have built on to it. There are many more parts to the building, including one brand new building where the soccer field used to be. I tell my mom that a journalist wants me to fix her motorcycle. Dream ends.

I wake up.

Senioritis

Dream 6/2/2017

It's my senior year of high school and I don't care anymore.

A teacher has asked me to write an essay. The topic of the essay is my choice. I decide to write about my love of writing and particularly my blog called Sleep Talk. I begin the essay. At the top left of the page I write my name "Keith Laverty," although the middle name I use is strange. At the top right of the page I write the teachers name "Mr. Keith Smith." The teacher walks into the room and tells me that I am using the wrong lined sheet paper. I ask a friend if I can borrow the correct type of paper. He gives me a sheet of the exact type that I was using before. I use it anyway.

In my essay I write about how I have many of the same dreams and then how my dreams have evolved. For example, when I use to dream about high school, the dream was almost always about me forgetting to do some important math homework. Now when I dream about high school, the dreams have evolved into a plot in which I don't know what class I am supposed to attend.

I never hand in the essay. 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.

The Varsity

Dream 3/30/2017

     I've come to watch a high school soccer game. First the varsity girls are up and then the varsity guys. I run around on the court a bit before the game starts. When I look at the girls on the team I become self-conscious and tell myself to get in shape. I start planning in my head to run more and go to the batting cages to practice my baseball skills so that maybe I could go out for the team. The game starts. I sit in the bleachers. Turns out it isn't a soccer game but rather a hockey game. There isn't any ice on the court, instead, it is just a normal, wooden gym floor.

     During the game, a girl from the stands stands up and makes an announcement. She raises a book in the air and says it was written by her friend and she needs our support. I think her friend is sick. I watch the game some more. It is three vs three. I always thought hockey games had more people on the court than that. A little girl on the bottom bleacher raises up a sign to the rest of the fans. Her sign has about a hundred words on it and they are small. Most people wouldn't be able to read it. I hear her talk to one of the older girls saying, "I brought my sign but they won't let me show it because there are too many words."

     I decide to leave before the game is done. I walk down a hallway and get into an elevator. I hear a family walking close behind. I try to shut the elevator door before they get in but in a panic I push a bunch of random buttons and nothing happens. The family walks into the elevator. 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.

Prom Nightmare

Nightmare 2/25/2017

     A large gathering of students is taking place at the local high school. I believe it's prom although nobody is dressed up. A group of guys from my class (some of which are friends) pull guns from their coats and start firing at the students. I run to a stairwell and hide myself while I call 911. After I get off the phone I make a run for the entrance of the school but for some reason make my way down into the basement instead. I walk through a maze of hallways in the dank, dusty under-structure of the school. Behind me I can hear the shooters, they're all walking down the stairs. I hide in a dark alcove and hope they don't find me.

     They do. But they don't seem to mind me being there. Perhaps it's because I am friends with many of them. Screech Powers, from "Saved By The Bell," is the leader of their group.

     I pull out a guitar and start to play. I listen to their plans. They have rigged bombs in the basement to blow. The whole school will collapse on itself. They're going for the Eric and Dylan bombs in the Columbine cafeteria strategy, however, this time it may work. They plan on dying, all of them. I don't. After playing the guitar for a while, I make up an excuse to leave. I say, "I'll be right back, I need to go get a pick, my thumb is starting to hurt from strumming." They don't seem to mind at first, but as I make my way through the maze of tunnels and hallways of the basement, I suddenly hear them behind me. I run back up the stairs to the entrance of the school.

     The police are here, but before I can tell them what the killers plan to do, the bombs start to blow. I run as fast as my body will allow, as far as I can away from the school. When I look back I see the whole building in a blaze of fire. I don't see anybody outside of the building. I must be the only one who made it.

     I run to a nearby neighbors house to call the police again. He takes me into his cellar where I meet a friend who I haven't seen for years. Eventually, we leave the cellar and go about our business. 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

Creature Feature

Dream 5/17/2016

I'm in my high school again.

I'm in a downstairs classroom, the high school math room, when I realize that I've forgotten my book bag in the classroom above us. I go to retrieve it. As I walk up the stairs, I notice everyone from the class following me. We switch to the upstairs classroom.

We're outside in the school parking lot at night, like we used to be after returning from far away games. A non-human creature appears. It looks vaguely similar to the creature from "Jeepers Creepers." We chase him off the property. While everyone celebrates the victory, another student and I walk into the school. We think we're the only people in the building, but we're not. We see the creature from outside going down into the basement. In the basement, we keep a prisoner, a bad man, locked away. The creature picks a fight with the jailed man, but everyone from outside now knows whats going on and comes inside to catch the predator, but he gets away. Dream ends.

I wake up

Blind Wedding

Dream 10/27/2015

I'm getting married to a girl I knew in high school.

     I'm trying to make it to my wedding. My sister, two friends and I jump into a boat. We float on down a winter river. My sister says she knows the way.  As we go, we find that the river splits into several different paths. We go down one but find it's not right, so we turn around. We do this several times. One path leads us to the ocean. 

Below our boat is a giant squid. Me and the guys grab what we can and start wailing on it. We kill it.

     My sister starts yelling at me for being lost even though it was her that got us there. She tells me that I am supposed to conduct the choir. WHAT?!? I didn't know this. Who would make the groom conduct the choir? What kind of wedding is this? She tells me to call my fiancé. I feel a little weird calling her because I haven't seen her since high school. That's right, we haven't seen each other and we're getting married. I try calling her but when I dial the number, the only thing showing on my phone is 0V0. Dream ends.

I wake up

Bombshell

Dream 8/1/2015

I arrive at my high school one morning a few minutes before the first bell.

     If you get to school a little early, you can sit in the bleachers and talk with friends. A man that we don't recognize stands in front of the students. He says that for now on, we the students will have to remain completely silent when sitting in the bleachers before school. The students are not happy. We barely get any time to relax and talk throughout the school day and now they're going to take one of the only times that we can talk and say we can't. The students pull out their cell phones and call the office to complain. A few minutes later a voice comes over the intercom and tells us that do to much complaint, the "silence rule" will not be implemented. The students unanimously let out a roar of elation.

     The school day begins. I need to grab a book from my locker and head to first period, Bible class. My locker is a train wreck. I lack basic organization skills. Most of my books are jammed at the bottom of the locker. I can see many of them are torn up and abused. I grab what I need and walk to class.

     I know I am running late because the hallways are mostly empty. I can feel the final bell ringing at any moment. In a moment of desperation, my walk turns into a full sprint. I just might make it. When I get there I am met by an empty classroom, a handful of students, and no teacher. This is odd. The class is usually full to the brim. My first thought is that I am in the wrong place. Then the intercom comes on. A lady's voice is heard throughout the halls and classrooms of the school. The lady on the other end tells us that they have found a military machine outside the school that they believe to be a bomb, and that all students need to stay where they are. We can see the machine from the windows of our classroom.

     I still wonder where the students are. Did they know something that I didn't? Are they the smart ones? I would think so. If there is a possible bomb anywhere near you, the smart people disregard orders to stay. Why is nobody panicking. The rest becomes fuzzy. Perhaps the bomb went off. Perhaps it didn't. Maybe I am just a tiny bird ready to peek my head over the edge of the nest to get a fresh look at the world. Suppose I woke up and their was no sun and I spent my days wondering whether it was day or night. I've been here before, I know it. This place is too familiar to be strange. I can't seem to find where it fits in my past, but I know I've been here. Perhaps the bomb went off. Dream ends.

I wake up.

Performance Review

Dream 10/9/2014

     I'm in a classroom full of students. We're waiting to be called. Every now and then a teacher will come to the door and call out a name, that student will then be led to an office for a review of their performance. 

While I wait for my name to be called, I play Call Of Duty (COD) on the computer. Whenever a teacher passes by, I hide what I'm doing by minimizing the COD screen. A teacher comes to the door. My friend Tim is being called for his performance review. 

     I continue with COD.

     Tim comes back from the review with a little disappointment on his face. I ask him, "what's up?" He tells me that he's getting a "B" in flag making. Poor guy, he's so concerned about a "B" and I'm not even sure if I'm gonna graduate. Two different worlds.

     My math teacher comes to the door and calls my name. I follow her to an office. I keep a confident smile but really I'm nervous. I get the news that I expected. Summer school. Dream ends

I wake up.