The Dream I had Last Night

Do you ever have vivid dreams that are just so…odd?

As a writer, I try to find inspiration from almost anywhere. But sometimes, the stuff that comes to me while I’m sleeping is pure gold. I wish I was that randomly creative when awake! Except maybe with a bit more structure because let’s be honest, dreams generally make no sense.

Last night I dreamt that I was at one of my old workplaces. There were two other people there, and they were mutants. The girl had this pinkish red hair and shot lasers out of her fingertips. She was causing a lot of damage to the building. I pulled some wires out of the wall and tucked them in my pocket, knowing they were the only thing keeping the building safe. I then casually told the mutants, “We have to go. Now.” And as we were walking away, the building blew up.

I was then with another group of friends who wanted to show me this really cool gourmet choose-your-own ice cream sandwich place. You could choose your cookies, and then four layers for the interior. They had all kinds of ice cream like peanut butter, peach cobbler, berry, apple crisp, etc., plus all kinds of fruit choices. The best part, one sandwich only cost about $6!

We went walking though town and passed by my old workplace that had blown up. It was still standing, but the interior was all black. Across the street, the owners were sitting at this outdoor 50’s diner looking miserable. I thought about going to check on them, but I had partially been responsible, so I didn’t.

With yet more friends, I found myself standing in a field watching a storm brewing on the horizon. I explained to them that this was how it was where I lived. Because apparently, I wasn’t in my hometown in the Canadian prairies. They were amazed that you could even see patches of rain falling. But then, this bolt of lighting stuck in that distant cloud. It wasn’t a normal flash. It lingered. It looked like something that might be in a DC animated show. It pulsed stronger and stronger until it turned red. That’s when I told everyone to run. Where the lightning stuck, there was a huge explosion, from which a white cloud of electric mist arched across the sky and rolled along the field where we were. Thankfully, we had run far enough that no one got electrocuted. For some reason, we lay down in the grass to “hide” from this deadly phenomenon. I guess it worked.

Then I found myself in an outdoor store. There were shelves of books and knickknacks just randomly placed in the field. The same storm was still brewing, and I noted the clouds were swirling a bit too much. Then the windchimes started sounding. I once again urged everyone to run, and the tiniest tornado ever swept through to knock over the main bookshelf. We continued to run as the tornado became this giant mermaid/human who was rudely stepping on people. Not killing them. She would step on their backs, and they would just lie there moaning but more-or-less completely fine. But then we were suddenly in the water, and she was normal size. She had been taught by her mentor to be angry with people for whatever reason. I spent some time talking her down and telling her that stepping on people was rude, that there’s a better way to express herself.

And then I woke up.

There are some people who strongly believe that dreams have meaning in them. If anyone wants to take a crack at this gem, go for it. I don’t know if I could turn this into a readable book that anyone would enjoy, but perhaps I can find places to tuck certain aspects. Could be a fun challenge.

(Honestly, I kind of wish that choose-your-own ice cream sandwich place was a real thing.)