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

Respect the Wind

A Dream From The Past

My mom and I talk about a paradise that we have visited. A perfect place, except for the many days of rain. I can't recall the name, but it sounds like Hawaii.

We move to Las Vegas. This is the paradise that we believed in, although, the place we described was quite different.

I stand outside in the front yard when off in the distance, I see a black tornado. It isn't clear yet whether the twister is coming our way. I run inside and tell my mom of the storm. My mom, a kid, named Joseph, and I run down into the basement. My sister Kristen is asleep in her bedroom, which is at the entry to the basement. My mom tries to convince her to wake up to avoid the danger. She stays in bed.

While hiding in the corner of the basement, I can hear the tornado getting louder. It is very close to our house. I run to my sister's room and yell at her to get up. To seek shelter. Once again, she declines until she hears the sound of the storm tearing her room apart. She sees how important the situation has become and decides to seek shelter, but it is too late. The black tornado sucks her out of her bedroom window. The rest of us hide.

When the storm is over, we turn into an Italian family. My name is probably Vinny Santoro or something like that. A family friend comes over to ask a favor. He wants to rebuild my sisters demolished bedroom. For how much? He says, $25,000.00. My little Italian brother, standing next to me, assumes that mom will never go for that. I tell him to let me talk to mom and see what I can do. The family friend is pleased.

I walk into my deceased sister's room. Everything is painted white. Glass cupboards and shelves are everywhere. One of our cleaning ladies, an older woman, is in one of the cabinets working. A young cleaning lady walks in. I go to her, and we embrace. I begin to cry. Dream ends.

I wake up

From Ashes To Ashes

Dream 10/22/2017

I am in downtown Indianapolis near a swimming pool. Without warning, the Salesforce tower, the tallest building in the city, collapses and falls to rubble. Many people are dead. As I look around, I see hundreds of piles of rubble that used to be buildings.

I catch a ride with some friends. We drive through the city. As we go, a giant wave of water chases us. We almost get stuck but eventually make it out.

When we leave the city, I notice that buildings have fallen everywhere. Even in small towns. What is happening? My mom texts me, Keith, are you ok?. I text her back. We head for home. I hope it's still standing. 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

The Twin Towers

Dream 4/8/2016

     September 11, 2001. I'm visiting the World Trade Center, conducting business on the fifth floor. All of a sudden, I hear a loud noise and the building starts to shake. I immediately think to escape. I see a line for the elevators, I skip it and run toward the stairs. The stairwell is packed too but eventually I make it outside. When I get out, I look up. I don't see smoke at the top of the building. Did the plane go in? I ask people standing around me if they saw a plane. I try to watch for the second tower, to see if a plane causes the destruction, at the same time I am running toward a parking lot adjacent to the WTC property.

     There is a small building at the corner of the parking lot. I run to it. In it, I find many stray people and my dialysis nurse, Laura. She says that it's time for treatment. I sit down and she pokes me with two needles the size of roofing nails. I whisper to her, "you and I both know what happens, the tower is going to fall. What do I do when that happens?" She tells me that she will get me a mask..

     Once again, everything begins to shake. I know what is happening. I hear screams all around me. Laura walks over to me and places a hospital mask on my face. I throw on my hood, close my eyes, and cover my face. I know when the smoke and dust enters the building because the screams escalate. I feel the soot when it hits me. I feel myself move. I hit the wall. Later when I would open my eyes, I would find that the soot moved me about five feet across the room.

     The room is taken over by dust and soot. Everywhere. Part of the building was destroyed when the tower collapsed. Much of the roof is missing. I look out the window to see if I can see the remaining tower. A man tells me, "it's over there." I look to where he's pointing. I see it. It looks further away.

     After my dialysis treatment is finished. I get in a car and try to leave the city. The people that I'm with comment on how different the city looks without the towers. As I'm driving, building #7 collapses behind me. I see the whole thing. Dream ends.

I wake up

The Time Traveler

Dream 2/22/2016

I am in love with a girl named Beth.

The only issue is that she's eighteen years older than me. So I time travel back to where we would be about the same age. She is both a judge and a contestant on American Idol. I go and watch a taping of the show. When you're up on the stage it's so unbelievable, so unforgettable how they adore you. I watch her and fall more in love with each passing minute.

The show is then interrupted by a voice coming over the intercom. "Attention, ladies and gentlemen, we have just received information that a plane has hit the world trade center." Some ARMY guys are sitting in the row behind me. I can hear them saying, "no, no, it can't be true." Oh it is, I've been here before, I know it all too well. In a few more minutes, they're gonna come back on the intercom and tell you that the other tower has been struck by yet another airplane. Then, when you think it's all over, the voice would come on again telling you to pray for our country because the pentagon has been hit. We're under attack. The towers would fall, taking several other buildings with them, thousands would be dead, the country would be in a panic. You would question whether it was going to stop. Oh God, dear God, how did I time travel back to September 11, 2001. Why did I come back to this awful day.

I follow Beth outside. Her husband is there with her. I flirt with her. She doesn't seem to notice. Dream ends.

I wake up