Innocence Lost

     Amidst the ominous silhouette of an elementary school, a place once resonant with the laughter of youth, I found myself enveloped in an eerie foreboding. This institution, a supposed haven for childhood whimsy, had now seemingly devoured a young soul within its grim facade. The little girl was a ghost, her absence a haunting melody that strummed fear through the heartstrings of every adult present, each one a restless moth spiraling in the harsh glare of concern.

     I ambled through a corridor that resonated with the eerie echoes of lost innocence. From the depths of her classroom emerged a teacher, her complexion a stark pallor. As she spoke, her words, tinged with an odd worry, fluttered about the presence of any fingerprints the lawmen might have unearthed within her realm.

     Clinging to my father, I voiced my thoughts in a soft murmur by his ear. A strange worry, I noted, a peculiar fret amidst the storm of a child gone missing. We, a disparate crew of truth-seekers, crossed the threshold into her realm, a space tinged with the ghostly aroma of chalk dust and fear.

     Standing guard at the entrance were rows of lockers, their cold metal forms serving as silent sentinels. A sound echoed from within one, a noise that seemed like a secret yearning to breathe the air of revelation. As I pried it open, the sight before me was a gut-wrenching reality. The missing blossom lay there, but life had mercilessly fled from her form.

     The bitter truth wound its way through my veins. The teacher, the one fretting over fingerprints, was the dark mastermind behind this horror. The realization hung in the air like a chilling phantom, a grotesque truth that bore the metallic taste of fear and dread. It was a haunting enigma, encased within a mystery, nestled within a tale of terror. Life, it appeared, was laden with such grim spectacles, echoed through the endless corridors and mirrored in the eerie hush of a forsaken locker.

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.

Unschooled

Dream 2-3-14

I'm on a field trip. I don't see a teacher, only students. We stop at a mysterious building. The building doesn't have walls. Weaving in and out of the building is a small rollercoaster. The students and I climb on to the ride. The ride starts. We go around and around and have lots of fun. A friend of mine says, "look, it's Elvis." When the ride comes to a stop, we climb off and walk through the building. We find a wax figure of Elvis staring through a window to the outside.

-

I'm running late to school today. I walk into the building and go to my locker. I grab my history book for class. I walk to Mr. Chaplins room. When I walk in, the teacher reminds me that I am missing two pieces of candy and a book that shows the comparisons of two countries. I can't remember the countries. I walk back out to the hallway. Back to my locker to get the right material. I find the book and the candy. On my way back to class I realize that I'm not wearing any pants. I grow stricken with anxiety. I grab the bag that I am holding and I look in it. At the bottom of the bag is a pair of jeans. I walk to the end of the hallway, sneaking past rooms where students can see me. I put on my pants. Although the pants are too big, I walk back to the classroom. Dream ends.

I wake up.

Field Trip

Dream 6-17-13

Today my class is taking a field trip to a museum. We make it to the front desk. Everybody gets registered. My friend Anthony and I are the last in line. We have some trouble with our paperwork. The class leaves without us. We hurry. When our registration is finally completed, we start towards the grand lobby. There are people everywhere. We are having trouble finding out classmates. The hall is set up like a palace, with one set of stairs leading down onto the main floor and the one set on the opposite side of the room leading into the main door of the museum. We stand on one set of stairs and think we see some of our friends on the opposite stairs. We rush down the stairs, through the lobby floor, pushing our way through gobs of people on the path. We run up the stairs and through the main door. Several hallways lay before us. We are lost. We start to run down various halls until we finally stumble upon our class.

-

The museum tour comes to an end. We all make it to the main floor of the lobby. It's lunchtime. On one side of the hall are an enormous buffet of delicious food and even more yummy desserts. The teacher tells us to take all the food we want, but whatever we do, do not take any of the desserts. I wait until the class takes a nap on the lobby floor then I make my way over to the dessert buffet. It's full of caramel brownies and chocolate peanut clusters and cookies. I grab one of each. I pour chocolate syrup over everything. Cover it in saran wrap and stuff it into my backpack. I will eat these when the time is right. The class starts to wake up. The teacher tells us that the field trip is over and we need to make our way to the bus. We all run to the bus as if it were a race. I try to find a seat in the back but instead settle for the third row from the back. I sit by myself. Somebody says they smell chocolate. Dream ends.

I wake up.