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

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

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

Indiana Beach

Dream 8/22/2017

My family is vacationing at Indiana Beach. We rent a couple of cabins. I want to go ride "The Hurricane," a wooden roller coaster which was the first roller coaster I ever rode. I was five and my dad had me stand on his foot so that I would be tall enough. I hated it. On the first drop, I thought I was going to die.

My family and I walk over to the other side of the park where the more thrilling rides are located. We see a big water slide that looks like a big, gray turtle. A man comes flying down the slide. He is going way too fast. He shoots over the side and falls fifteen feet at least. After watching this, my mom says that she really wants to ride that. I finally get to ride The Hurricane. It is fun but much shorter than I remembered.

I meet a girl with short, blonde hair. She is an employee of the park. She takes me to the employees lounge where park guests are not allowed. There are many young adults in the lounge and I just blend in as another employee, even though I am not.

A creature is chasing me in the park. I can't tell what it is. I run back to my cabin, but I don't enter it. I just open the cabin door to throw the creature off of my trail. I run around the cabin and can see through the window. The creature runs into the cabin. I run 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.

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.

This River Is Wild

Dream 3/17/2015

Today is my birthday.

I decide to go to Chuck E. Cheese. Although it's a place for kids, I do enjoy the atmosphere. I talk to my friends about how somebody needs to create a place for adults that has the games and the tubes that you crawl through. Somebody says that there is such a place. It's called 'Dave and Busters.'

The next day, my mother takes me to her work. (I guess it's take your child to work day.) She works at a Brokerage firm where people buy stocks. She takes me upstairs, sits me down, hands me a piece of paper full of different companies to invest in, and tells me to buy some stocks. I pick the companies that I want to invest in but when I turn around, my mom is gone. I search all over the building but cannot find her. I know she is hiding from me.

I leave.

I walk into a neighborhood that I don't recognize. An SUV full of gangbangers pulls up. I hide in the bushes. They have a dog. It comes right to me. I push it away. They go into the house and then walk back out. They get into their car and drive away. 

I get out of the bush and walk behind the house. There is a river. I jump in and start to swim downstream but then I see the rapids up ahead. I swim back against the flow. On the banks of the river are a bunch of flotation devices. I grab an inner tube. I brace myself for a ride. I fly down the rapids. I'm surprised I didn't fall off. I come to a clearing. I jump off and make my way to land. I'm on a mountain. I can see an entire city in front of me. There are roller coasters all around me. One roller coaster has a gap in its track. The coaster jumps off one track and lands on the other. I think about my mother. 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.

Roller Coaster Tycoon

Dream 11/14/2014

     I am walking through the backyard of my high school, Liberty Christian. Recently they have started building an amusement park. There are a few roller coasters and other small rides. 

     I test out the coasters to see if they are legit, if they are any good. They look ferocious from the ground but the rides are quite tame. More for kids than anything else. 

     I walk down the property a little, where I am not supposed to go. I find a smaller carnival ride, much like the "zipper" that you would find at a small town carnival. A lady is letting her kids ride it. Nobody else is around.

     She tells me that I am not supposed to be over here and that I need to be getting back to where the rest of the school is. I ignore her. I start talking about how this school needs to get some decent roller coasters if they ever plan to make money. I point to a large empty patch of land. "They can build there," I say. You gotta spend money to make money. Dream ends

I wake up