And Then I Stepped in Gum . . .

Dreams

Note: It's been 6 days -- again -- since I've posted. I admire all the bloggers I read who post every day. I aspire to be like them. Sometimes life has other plans. I just haven't been feeling witty enough lately. I'll try to distill my wit more often in the future.

For now, though, I have to post about this absolutely horrible, terrifying dream I had last night (and it was the one that I woke up this morning remembering). We watched The Village last night, which we enjoyed for the most part. I was looking for the "twist" and thought I'd discovered it -- but then there were two more twists after that! Joaquin Phoenix, of whom I'm not normally a big fan, had the most intense, fantastic scene -- I actually replayed it after the movie was over to cement it in my memory. (Dave thinks he sounded like Mel Gibson during it, but I didn't care -- I'm a sucker for repressed guys who are completely overcome by passion.)

Anyway, you'd think that after watching a movie where a town is terrorized by creatures in the woods I'd have some sort of run-of-the-mill monster dream. Nope, not me. The one I had was even scarier.

I dreamed I was on a business trip and driving down from New York to D.C. I was on the highway, and almost there, when suddenly all the exits were closed, blocked off by police cars with flashing red lights. All traffic was being funneled to two lanes and forced to get off the highway into a big parking lot. The northbound side of the highway was empty.

Once the two lines of cars were stopped, everyone was ordered out of the cars by military personnel in uniform with rifles. We were allowed to take a few personal items, but not everything. It felt very concentration camp-ish. We stood on the tarmac (the parking lot became an airport landing field, and everyone was very frightened, not knowing what was going to happen. All I could think was that I'd left my children, and I didn't think I was going to be able to get back to them.

Finally (in that fuzzy way that events progress in dreams) we came to the understanding that we were going to loaded onto small airplanes, about 100 civilians in each plane, and the planes were going to be used to drop bombs on people below. The government would supposedly not be involved in this. We were lined up in single file and marshalled into the planes. I can still see the haunted look in everyone's eyes. Just in front of the stairs up to the plane, President Bush was standing and congratulating each person as they climbed up -- shaking hands and patting backs and laughing jovially. I was really disturbed by this and tried to avoid his touch.

Once on the plane, I found a seat two rows back and on the left. The guy next to me was reading a book titled How to Fly a DC-10 and muttering to himself. Laura Bush was seated in the very front row on the right, dressed in a hot pink, tailored, boucle jacket. Suddenly, we heard a rifle shot, and we all knew that someone had resisted getting on the plane and had been shot by the military. Laura started saying, "You see, that's what happens when you don't do what you're supposed to." Then she described in detail what was probably happening to the person's body -- the lymph fluid was hardening, the brain was being deprived of oxygen (I know, not real technical -- my brain doesn't know the details of death so I think it was trying to make stuff up) -- and throughout it all had a smile and a cheery voice.

And then I woke up. And the ominous feeling has lasted for quite a while. No, I have no idea what it means or why I dreamt it. I'd be worried that it was some sort of premonition, except for the fact that in my family we tend to be very bad dream psychics -- my mom and I have frequently been known to call people because we dreamed that they were dead, and nothing has ever happened. Still, I feel not a little disturbed. Perhaps typing it out will exorcise the demon.

And with that, I'm off to plan my first Daisy meeting. Wish me luck!

posted by Jennifer Morgan, at 1:01 PM