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 Great Escape

Dream 9.19.2018

          A nearby forest is on fire and spreading fast. Our community comes together and escapes the coming blaze. Some of us are riding in a van. Others, including myself, are in an open trailer. We pass by my dad's house, which is a tent. We tell the driver to stop. The leaders tell us that we must keep moving. We stop anyway. I run into the tent to gather some personal items, and soon we are back on the road. We drive through unique areas and walk through different buildings.

          All of us stay in a shelter. My sister Amy is here. Without warning, ballistic missiles fall from the sky. Many hide under their beds for a last-ditch effort at survival. I do the same. I survive the first batch of air attacks, but more are coming. Once again, those of us who are still alive are back on the move. We crowd into a bus and drive away from the war zone.

          I become separated from the group. I go one way, thinking it's the right way, but then I watch as the bus speeds the other direction. It goes too fast, and I cannot catch up. I stand in the middle of a highway writing a story about an old woman who has a stalker. The man comes to her house often, and he is hostile. She locks the doors and readies her shotgun, in case it comes to that. One day the man arrives. I have yet to write the ending. Dream ends.

I wake up

Water Water Everywhere

Dream 2.23.2018

My youth group is traveling to the city. When we get there, we head for our intended spot. It has been raining, and flooding is possible. Before we get to where we are going, a member of our group foresees massive flooding come our way. We start running in the other direction, back from where we came. Nobody around us knows what is about to happen. Giant waves begin to crash all around us. Water starts pouring in from above. We run as fast as we can. I have the same feeling in the pit of my stomach as when I saw the twin towers fall.

We narrowly escape the flood and make it back to our suburban home. Somehow, we know that we are some of the only people who made it out alive. We enter the garage and see that the bottom half of the garage door is missing. Someone, or something, has broken into our house. I search the house and find a band of raccoons scavenging throughout the place. We shoo them out. Matthew McConaughey is here with us. All of us stand in the garage looking out the large, glass door toward the neighborhood. We see the silhouette of a man walking toward us. He is going to break in. I tell my dad to watch the side door. I ask if I should go watch over the opposite side of the house. The man tries to enter the house, but we stop him.

We are near where the flood tried to do us in. We stand under an overpass. We are about to be bombarded by evildoers. Many weapons lay on the ground. I grab a revolver. I pick up to types of ammo and ask the man next to me, which would be best. I load the gun with the bullets that he suggests. Then they come. The rats of society. The scum of the earth. A wall of people who mean to hurt us walk our direction. I try my best to shoot, but my revolver isn't good at long range. I wait until another member of my group mows someone down and then I walk over to the body and plant a bullet in their head to make sure they are dead. I run up a nearby concrete flood control channel and shoot a man at the top. The rest of my group reaches the top as well and makes a run for it. Dream ends.

I wake up

City In Ruins

Dream 12.19.2017

The city in which I live has been decimated by a bomb. Soldiers have taken rule over the area. I don't know whether they are good or bad. My family and I hide in a mansion apartment. We turn off all the lights in the house except for the room in which we stay, so as not to arouse suspicion. This room has no windows so we are safe. Occasionally, I sneak through the remains of the city to hunt for supplies.

We are running low on food and other items. Somehow, I am able to see that Glenn Beck is living in a thriving community across the city near the sea. I feel that if we can make it to him, we will survive. We make the trek. When we arrive, everybody is eating grilled chicken. My mouth waters at the sight. Dream ends.

I wake up

The Birth Of A Pastime

Dream 12.3.2017

I've made it. The big leagues. I'm on the baseball team. My friends dad is the coach. Many of my high school friends have made it as well.

I'm up to bat. I hit the ball so hard, it must be a home run. It isn't. But I do make it to first. The bases are arranged in a weird manner. On first, second and third, there are two bases; a square base and a home plate. While standing on first. One of my teammates stands on the first base home plate and bats. I have to watch out that I don't get beamed.  When he hits, I run to second. When it looks as if I have a chance, I steal for third. Right before I arrive, the ball gets thrown to the third baseman and he tags the base. I'm out. I throw a fit. I punch the tin siding on the dugout. I sit back on the bench. My teammates don't say a word to me.

Another day, we are playing the Ku Klux Klan. They are even dressed in their ghostly sheets. It seems that the KKK doesn't want to play baseball but rather pick a fight. The ghosts walk into our dugout and start swinging. We fight back. People are dying left and right. I find a hole in the back of the dugout and make a run for it. Triple H from the WWE starts chasing me.

We then drop into, what I can only guess is, a wormhole. It does remind me of Interstellar. Also Tron. I run through grids, times and spaces. Triple H and another guy are behind me. I get away when Triple H and the other guy fall through loose grids. (I then take on their perspective). Somehow they escape the wormhole.

Triple H and the other guy drive through American desert, an abandoned wasteland. Something bad happened while we were stuck in the wormhole. Possibly a nuclear war. A creature gets into the car with them. It's merely the size of a grown mans fist. It kills the one guy but lets Triple H live. The wrestler and the creature fall in love. They drive back to Texas where, I think, the baseball game occurred. Dream ends.

I wake up

The Art of War

Dream 2/7/2016

I've joined America's ARMY. They've shipped me off to a foreign land. I'm not sure what country I'm in. All I know is I am near Germany.

I'm heading up a team of undercover agents. They fill several seats apart from each other in a European diner. The mission is undisclosed. I walk down the aisle of the diner eyeing every agent. Speaking with a look. They know what to do.  Bullets shred through the diner walls leaving dust and debris everywhere. We've been compromised. The agents get up and try to escape. I help everyone that I can.

I walk through the barracks and find my bed. I lie down. The Soldiers are called to attention. I stay in bed. I peek through my covers and see the soldiers standing like statues at the end of their beds. The leader walks in. He questions why I am in bed. The others vouch for me being sick.

My kidneys don't work so I have to dialyze my blood. My nurse, Laurie, is here, she too is a soldier. A nurse I have never seen comes to my bedside and shoves a needle the size of a roofing nail into my arm. It's clear she doesn't know my access as she is pushing the needle in the wrong direction. She gives up and tells me to do it myself. I ask Laurie to do it. She comes over and fixes what the other nurse royally screwed up. Blood starts pumping through the line.

We are all awakened by the sound of gunfire. I undo my dialysis lines. The needle is still in my arm. I grab a handgun and move toward the window where Laurie has a sniper rifle. We start taking out men who encroach on our position. I find that my handgun is not effective for long range. I grab a rifle and one man at a time, I shoot. I kill many of them. We fight until the job is done. Dream ends

"It makes no difference what men think of war, said the judge. War endures. As well ask men what they think of stone. War was always here. Before man was, war waited for him. The ultimate trade awaiting the ultimate practitioner." -Cormac McCarthy

I wake up

Apocalypse Now

Dream 11/9/2015

I overhear someone say that the apocalypse is upon us. A wave of panic washes over me. After the initial fright wears off, I critically think about what to do. I run to a store and buy as many packages of seeds as I can find. After that I decide to buy some rabbits. Dream ends.

I wake up

The Rooftop

Dream 7/14/2015

I am given a job at my school to walk the rooftop and watch for pirates in the distance.

     I walk on one side of the roof and follow the edge all the way around. The roof is shaped like a horseshoe. Some of my friends join me in the walk. It becomes clear to me that the roof has become a storage area for the school. There is stuff everywhere.

     We wander over to one of the more lonely parts of the roof and find an elevator. We don't remember an elevator in our school. Just past the elevator is a door, kind of hidden, kind of not. You could find it if you were looking. We open it. We walk through. We come to a section of the roof that hasn't been touched for years but just like the other side, it is full of stuff. Stuff from years ago. We find a beautiful leather sectional pushed up against the wall, a pole with endless Halloween costumes strung across, strange machines that make lemonade in odd ways. We even find a canopy with gold and diamonds and rare jewels hidden away. I think that this section of the roof belonged to the senior class years ago and its been forgotten.

     On the other side of the roof, the normal not-so secret side, we find hidden in the corner many molotov cocktails. My friends and I get a sneaking suspician that the pirates have been here before and they have stashed weapons for the war. A noise catches our attention. A pirate ship is docking next to the roof. The ship is full of battle-thirsty men ready to kill. I tell my friends to grab the cocktails and light them. Before the ship is completely docked, we launch the molotovs into the boat. The men have nowhere to run. If they jump they will die. If they stay they will die. I guess you can figure out the outcome.

     We win the battle over the pirates. Perhaps they were coming for that secret stashed treasure over in the old senior wing. We celebrate. My friend, Tim, tries out one of the those strange lemonade machines. He follows the instructions. He takes a clear glass bowl, and puts it under the first spout and some ice falls into it. The second spout drops sugar, the third must be flavoring or something and finally the fourth is lemonade. I don't want to try it because it's been there for years, everything in it is old but Tim tries it and is pleased. Another friend, Kelso, comes over and tries it and likes it as well.

     My shift is over for the day. As we head for the exit, Tim finds a fridge full of drinks. I look at the expiration date for a Mountain Dew. It's only a few months old. Have at it, Tim. Dream ends.

I wake up.

The Saints Go Marching On

Dream 5-3-14

There's a storm coming.

War has erupted in Russia. Our troops flood the grounds to put out the fire. I find myself in an armored military vehicle. The soldiers and I exit the car. I stand with hundreds of American soldiers along a country road in Russia facing a field. On the other side of the area are hundreds of Russian troops. We can't see them, but we know they're there. 

The American troops start walking across the field in their battle stance. As they walk, a low manly murmur comes over the crowd. Hundreds of men singing, "The saints go marching one by one, hurrah, hurrah. The saints go marching one by one hurrah, hurrah. And they all go marching down to the ground to get out of the rain. Boom, boom, boom, boom. Boom, boom, boom, boom." 

A song that I haven't heard since the days of my youth. When I sang it, it was about ants, not saints. The men march on.

A few soldiers and I drive up the road a bit to manage the situation. The singing stops.

The soldiers on both sides begin to fire at each other. For several minutes there is nothing but the sound of gunfire and the smell of gunpowder. Smoke fills the air around the battleground. The shooting slowly drizzles down to a few pops here and a few bangs there until finally there is nothing.

Suddenly, as if it were the chorus of victory, a full metal choir, we hear it. Off in the distance, hundreds of voices singing, "The saints go marching one by one hurrah, hurrah. Dream ends.

I wake up.

Sleeping with the Enemy

Dream 3-13-14

Two sides war against each other every year.

My men are upstairs looking out the windows. We're patrolling. 

Suddenly we hear a knock at the door downstairs.

I grab my men. They grab their guns. We make our way to the front door where the knocking continues. We open the door. It's our enemy. The enemy is at the front door. We allow them to come in. 

The last girl inside has a cuteness to her. I tell her that she is the winner for being last inside and her prize is upstairs. Her and I walk up to one of the bedrooms. We look out the window. I point out a patch of land where the war originally began. She is intrigued. 

I take her to another bedroom. I close the door. I tell her, "for your prize we can either have sex or cuddle." The statement seems to have pushed her away. She walks to the door but stops. She turns around, looks into my eyes and says, "Lets do it." Dream ends.

I wake up.

The Middle

Dream 1-30-14

Some friends and me are being chased through the woods. I don't know whose chasing us, all I know is that they are our enemy. We come to an ocean. On the banks of the water is a dock. Attached to the dock is a small motorboat. We run to the boat, climb into it, start it up and jam out of there. 

Moving across the ocean, we see an island. We head toward it. When we land on the island we notice that this island is not deserted. People live here. In front of us, just a hundred feet off the beach, are buildings. They don't have the luxury of the houses I know. They look like they were built by natives..

We walk into the village. Were accepted. 

That night, we have a bonfire. In fact, from what I notice, There are several bonfires throughout the village. 

When the sun is up again, we get back into our boat. We start toward the mainland. We make it past the ocean waves to the sandy beach. We climb out. We start walking back through the patch of woodland. 

We come across our people. They are at war as we speak. They are standing parallel to the enemy. Each side is shooting arrows at each other. I run to the middle land of where the battle is occurring. I try to stop the war between the two sides. Suddenly, I am shot through the chest by an arrow. I fall to the ground dead. Dream ends.

I wake up.