Dream Diary #130: Time Bomb

(The date of this dream may not be accurate as I retrieved this post as a draft without checking the original date I wrote it)

I am transported back to my retail days of working in a supermarket, when suddenly the store is under attack from a mass shooter.

Terrified, I cower in the corner of one of the aisles and though I am shot at several times, somehow I manage to escape from being gravely injured.

I see the culprit walk back and forth past the end of the aisle many times and when I can't see him I can hear the bullets as they ricochet off the walls of the building.

It seems as though I am there for hours, frozen to the spot in fear, conscious of the fact that many of my colleagues were either dead or had managed to escape, but I had no idea which ones.

Just when things start to go quiet and it seems as though the threat has subsided, another man enters the room. I can see him over my shoulder at the opposite end of the aisle that I had seen the shooter; he is carrying a large sports bag and he sets it down on a table and turns towards me, grinning sinisterly.

My heart sinks when he pulls a bomb out of the bag and I know that I hadn't just survived a mass shooting only to be killed by a suicide bomber!

I stand and just as I am about to run, I hear a noise from behind. It is one of my colleagues who had managed to hide in the next aisle along from me.

The man doesn't do very much to stop us, and I put this down to the fact that the bomb would go off imminently. Everything seems to turn to slow motion as I roughly grab my colleague and pull her along with me.

We run towards a lift and get inside. It seems to take forever to get to the top and I feel wave after wave of anxiety in anticipation for the bomb going off.

When we reached the top, we are in a shopping mall and we run through it screaming at everyone to evacuate as fast as they can. I awake before the bomb has a chance to go off.

Dream Diary #122 + #123: Bleeding Love + Ghost Town

(I actually had this dream more than a week ago but didn't write it down as I found it quite upsetting)

It seemed that my dream had come true and my Love and I were in each other's lives again and what's more, he appeared to be making an effort with my family, interacting with and getting to know them.

But before I could get too happy and content I glanced down at myself and realised that I was bleeding heavily from between my legs! Instinctively, I knew that I was experiencing a miscarriage, despite not being aware I was even pregnant.

In total shock and horror, I immediately went to my Love, expecting him to show concern and worry but instead, he just took one look at me and turned away - his face completely expressionless and unemotional.

I stood there covered in blood and sobbing with devastation and confusion.

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(I actually had this dream before the attack in Manchester)

Due to the various terrorist events occurring worldwide as well as the increasingly volatile state of the political world, I began to notice that fewer and fewer people were showing up to work each day.

My job isn't without it's risks, even at the best of times, but now people simply didn't feel safe, not only to come to work but to be out in general. As a result the whole town where I lived started to resemble a ghost town.

This sent my employer into crisis mode and they called an emergency meeting for those of us who still dared show up to the office. They concluded that it was simply too risky to be at work and announced that the office would be closed down with immediate effect and dismissed everyone from the building.

At first, this was welcome news; I loved leaving the office early and having the rest of the day to do as I pleased. Even though I hated being unemployed due to the lack of money and therefore, opportunities, there was and is a small part of me that misses the lifestyle I had when I was unemployed and having the freedom to come and go as I choose without being tied to a schedule.

Then the reality of what had happened started to sink in - how was I going to support myself now? How was I going to afford to live and eat? And would I still be able to live in in the property where I live? In fact, how would anyone be able do any of these things if the town had just come grinding to a halt?

Dream Diary #118: Riding The Waves

I was strolling along the seafront with a friend that I didn't recognise as anyone I know in real-life, when with an almighty roar and crash, a tidal wave descended down upon us, without warning.

Miraculously, we somehow survived, but knew we were on borrowed time as the tide started to retreat out to sea again and we knew another wave was on it's way. We didn't know if we could survive a second time around.

Of course, the logical thing to do was to find our way to higher ground, so we found a nearby hill to climb up, that frankly would've done absolutely nothing to protect us if it were a real-life tsunami situation. 

Thankfully, as it was a dream, we could sit from our spot and observe the natural phenomenon in safety.

To my surprise, The Obnoxious Girl showed up; and although I was surprised, I was sort of expecting her as well, as though my unnamed friend had been discussing her coming along with us, prior to the tidal wave.

Normally the presence of The Obnoxious Girl annoyed me, but due to the common 'enemy' of the tidal wave and our shared amazement at the phenomenon, we actually started to get along and she joined us on the little hillside as we watched another wave form in the distance.

Dream Diary #109: Desperate Times

Far away from home and with limited opportunities available to me, I found myself, along with two other women, recruited by a local pimp into a prostitution ring, telling myself I would only do it for as long as I needed to until I had enough money saved to make a brand new start. 

It started out simple enough - the pimp expected the other two girls and I to work together to seduce our clients and to give them a good time. While group sex doesn't appeal to me in real-life, in the dream it helped to make me feel less alone and scared.

However, things took a sinister turn when the pimp revealed he not only expected us to have sex with our clients but to kill them afterwards, too!

He didn't care how we went about it, but implied that the more creativity we displayed the more favourable treatment and payment we would receive. He also implied that he was not above killing or severely punishing any of us if we didn't do as we were told.

Horrified, but determined to reach my financial goals in order to make a new start, I sold my soul to the devil and agreed.

To my shock and horror it was surprisingly easy to lure my client to their death as I straddled them and plunged a sharp object into their neck, 'Basic Instinct' style. I don't think I had even gotten to the stage of having sex - I had just jumped straight into murdering them!

The other women, who were still in the process of seducing their clients, looked around in disbelief that I had found it so easy.

Horrified at what I'd done, I fled, taking whatever money the pimp had paid me thus far. I didn't even stop to ask if the other women wanted to come with me, figuring that everyone has to be responsible for their own destiny and I had to look out for number one. If they wanted to escape so badly, then they will.

I knew instinctively that the pimp was furious with me and would stop at nothing until he had tracked me down and killed me. I knew he'd find me eventually, so I did everything I could to bide as much time as possible. I cut and dyed my hair, assumed a different name and went to a train station to catch the next train out of the country. 

The dream then switched completely and I found myself at home with two twin infants - a boy and girl - left in a bucket inside my room. They had been freshly changed and fed at the time of being left there so I went about my day as usual.

However, days passed and they were still there. I started to think, "Hang on a minute, where are the parents and why aren't they coming to collect their babies?" until it was pointed out to me that they were in fact, my babies!

I couldn't even recall being pregnant or giving birth but I immediately felt guilty for neglecting them.

I lifted them out of the bucket and while they were both hungry with messy nappies, physically the boy was fine, but the little girl had a dislocated leg - and by dislocated I mean it had popped off like a doll's leg. I remember feeling scared that social services would be on my case, which I thought was highly unfair since I didn't know how I was expected to be a good mother when until a few moments before I didn't even realise I was one!

Luckily, not only did the baby's leg pop off like a doll's leg, but it popped back in like one, too.

Dream Diary #105: Hotel Myers

In the dream, it seemed as though Michael Myers annually came after me (in the movies, that time is Halloween) and as that time was approaching I booked myself into a fancy, high rise hotel in an attempt to throw him off.

I figured that I wouldn't be in my usual surroundings so he'd have try harder to even locate me and I'd be in a building where there would be lots of people around, so it'd be safety in numbers (even though any fans of the movies would know that doesn't work.) 

I made sure I booked myself into a room on a high floor, that way if he did manage to find out where I was, it would take him some time to get to my floor, giving me a chance to formulate an escape plan. 

Everyone knew about my situation so I had eyes and ears everywhere, ready to alert me when necessary.

In my room, I didn't even want to watch any movies, TV, read, write or anything; I wanted to be on my guard at all times. I listened to every noise waiting for any clues or signs that he was approaching. 

When nothing happened for a while I thought that maybe I had successfully managed to foil him, so I opened my door and asked a security guard what the current situation was. He told me that Myers had in fact been spotted in the area, my heart sank. How could he possibly know where I was?

When he was reportedly closing in even closer, I knew I had to leave and throw him off even further.

I had an escort in the form of a girl, whose job was solely to lead me to a place of safety and she led me briskly down a darkly lit street. She told me she was taking me to the house of a family she knew, and they would take me in. 

However, something about her seemed 'off' to me and some of the things she was saying and doing didn't make any sense. It suddenly became apparent that I was in danger and had to somehow make my excuses and leave without alerting her to my fears.

The Ghost of Green Lane

Green Lane

I was heading towards the shops one evening, in December. It was only about 5 PM, but because of the time of year, it was already quite dark. Nevertheless, I decided to walk through the lane, which is quite creepy and enclosed by trees and shrubbery. I usually avoid this route at all costs when I have to walk home at night, but it was only early evening so I wasn't put off. 

I quickly changed my mind though, when I approached the lane, I saw a shadowy figure standing in the path under the street lamp. I didn't get a good look at them but it looked like they were waiting for someone. Feeling uneasy, I chose to go in the opposite direction of the one I was intending, and decided to head towards the main road. 

After briskly walking several paces, I glanced over my shoulder. To my horror, the figure was only standing a few feet away! It looked like they had followed me, then stopped.  

Of course after that, I started running. Eventually I made it to the main road and continued on my way, putting the panic I felt to to the back of my mind.  

Then, just the other night, after having a meal with some friends, I found out about an urban legend of a ghost that haunts the lane and how it had warded her friends away from danger once. This triggered my memory of that evening and how upon seeing the figure in the lane, my first instinct was to change the route I was intending on travelling in...

(Originally written in 2013)