Tuesday, July 03, 2007

A New Dream Story



For whatever reasons my dreams the last few nights have been rich with storyline scenes. In the first dream I’m alone in a house. I’m standing at the edge of a dark corridor, looking toward the room at the other end. The door is closed but there’s a large window in the door and I can see that it too is dark. Somebody, I think it was my mom, had told me to turn on the light in that room before I leave the house.

I try the light switch in the corridor where I am but nothing happens. With a muffled curse I move down the hall to the other room. There’s no light switch on the outside there and I’m reluctant to go in the room. I have a feeling that there’s something wrong in there but I don’t know what.

I open the door and reach into the blackness, which is much darker than in the corridor where I stand, and feel around for the light switch. I can’t find it and must open the door wider and push my upper body into the room. I’m afraid to do this. The sense of hovering danger in the blackness grows.

I find the switch plate, quickly flick the switches on with relief. But nothing happens. The lights don’t work here either. I flick them desperately several times but still nothing. Abruptly, I feel something, a caress of breeze where there should be no breeze, as if something in the room has moved and stirred the air. I jerk my hand out of the dark and shut the door, and begin to back away down the corridor.

Something is coming toward that door from the other side. I feel it. I back away faster, but can’t take my eyes off the window in the door. Then something hits the door from the other side. The window bulges slightly. I jump, give a little scream. Behind the window I can see something, the head of a person, with long tangled hair and their face pressed to the glass. I know it is a woman though I can’t say how I know. I scream louder then, as I realize the woman’s mouth is open against the glass, that it’s working against the glass as if she sees me and wants to bite me. Or kiss me.

I wake up. I’m grateful.

10 comments:

Shauna Roberts said...

Do you put dreams into your memory notebook as well?

Charles Gramlich said...

Shauna, I actually have a dream notebook that I keep separately from the memory one. I don't always record my dreams, though, only if they are particularly salient or good storylines.

Steve Malley said...

Cool dream!

My last nightmare involved minigolf... Booooring!

JR's Thumbprints said...

I get some of my best energy for writing after a really vivid dream. Scenes are easier to right and much richer in detail.

Bernita said...

Dear me. Lamia or not?
What bugs me about my omnious presence dreams is that the damned floor plan keeps changing.

Charles Gramlich said...

Steve, that is far more terrifying than my dream.

JR., I occassionally get a whole plot from a dream. More often it's good solid scenes.

Bernita, perhaps because I was taking care of my mom and she was ailing at the time of this dream, I somehow think the "creature" represented death.

Danny Tagalog said...

Hi Charles,

Long time no see! Been very busy and unable to blog.

I envy you your vivid dreams; they seem to have disppeared of late...

Hope it was a kiss...

Anonymous said...

That photo of the house goes well with your dream. It's an intriguing dream. I'm glad I'm not the one who had it, but still intriguing.

Rachel V. Olivier said...

Cool dream!

the walking man said...

Charles unfortunately I take a drug that stops me from entering into REM sleep so I do not dream when I enter the darkness of no consciousness. I just blank out until a pain wakes me.

But this I have to say on your dream...now you know why I have been smoking for 47 years: at present i have no less than 4 cheap lighters in my pocket and one of those is going to give me light before that ghoul gives me a kiss.

But a great short. even though a dream it stands alone as a story.

peace

TWM