Supermarket Showdown

I haven't posted in a while, but I just had a very disturbing and vivid nightmare.  I wanted to write this one down because I actually remember a lot of details even hours after waking up from it.

I was doing some grocery shopping at a supermarket that I didn't recognize.  It felt like a mix of Target, Grocery Outlet, and Costco.  I picked out some veggies, milk, and eggs and head to the cashier.  The cashier made some small talk but I couldn't respond and I realized I was feeling hungover.  I paid for my stuff, but when I looked down I found out I just bought some rotten tomatoes and gooey molding corn.  I didn't feel like arguing and started heading out the door. 

A squad of about 6 police officers rush in from the automatic doors.  4 of them were in navy blues, and a couple of them were in civilian clothes.  They pushed us back towards the center of the supermarket.  There was no time or room to escape because this place only had one doorway.  It was a long 10 seconds until we heard a gang of 4-5 armed individuals storm in. 

There was so much commotion, I figured I couldn't trust anyone or assume anything.  So I hid among the shelves behind boxes and tried to avoid running into anyone.  I couldn't risk getting accidentally shot by the cops either.  It was a frantic scurrying from aisle to aisle trying to find the next hiding spot.  At one point I was cornered and boosted myself above the shelves in the middle of an aisle to hide on the top. 

From there I was able to get the lay of the land and see most of what was going on.  I saw cops in active shooter maneuvers and stances.  Very few shots from either side were hitting so the shooting went on for a long time.  Eventually the cops were able to subdue most of the shooters.  I saw injured and traumatized people hiding in corners of the store.  Then I looked toward the front row of the store where they sold camping gear. 

There was a guy in a hunting vest and a baseball cap casually drag a lawn chair onto the top of the shelving.  In his other hand was an automatic shotgun.  It was kind of a funny image because he was so calm among the chaos.  He slowly set up the chair and looked up.  I was a sitting duck.  He sat down and held his weapon in both hands.  Adrenaline shot through me and I rolled off the shelf and sprinted to the end of the aisle.  A rhythmic pulse of pellets started spraying in every direction.  Everyone: shoppers, cops, employees took cover and waited for the maniac to reload. 

A moment of silence and I looked up and saw the chair.  The place was a mess all around me.  Pellets, shells, shredded boxes and motionless bodies.  Where did the guy go??  I heard boots stepping just around the corner in the aisle next to me.  Another shopper is cowering and whimpering "oh god oh god".  I see the guy steadily walking toward me reloading the shells.  In my head I thought, "this is my only chance, I have to try to tackle him or something?" But like most of my dreams I can't get myself to move to fight him.  I hear a shotgun go off, but it was from the right side slightly behind me.  It was a cop and he was aiming straight for the maniac's head.  I was expecting to see his head blown straight off, but I woke up in my bed.  Chest was POUNDING. 

Phewff it was just a dream.  I looked at my phone. crap it's only 3am.  2 more hours till I have to wake up. I wake up at 4am, 5am, and finally 5:34.  10 minutes to brush my teeth, kiss T, drench my bedhead, get dressed, make coffee, and hit the road.

The Intermittent Zombie Apocalypse

Last night, I slept like a rock.  On the outside, I must have looked peaceful as hell.  Hell indeed!  In my mind I experienced the Intermittent Zombie Apocalypse.  Intermittent you ask?

I was in the backyard of my parent's house probably enjoying some yardwork with my dad.  It was a sunny summer afternoon and I felt very relaxed.  Suddenly I see my usually calm neighbor burst out.  I stop to wave hi, but he barely notices me.  He's frantically nailing planks of scrapwood on all his windows.  It looked hilarious and reminded me of a cartoon character rapidly building a house.  My dad puts a hand to his head, "I shoot! it's almost 6 o clock!" I see him nail two boards onto our back door before he drops the hammer and runs into the house.  What the hell is going on?

As the sun dips behind the adjacent house, I begin to see slow-moving people climbing over our backyard fence.  Zombies! Using all my Walking Dead and World War Z knowledge, I nail one more board onto a window and run into the house.  I grab the nearest thing I can find, a chair.  By then one of Them have already broken into the house.  "Broken" is hardly the right word to use here.  Nothing was in their way.  I take the chair and start swinging and stabbing at Them1.  As with all physical fights in my dreams I do Zero damage.  I might as well be brushing Them1 with a feather.

I abandon my chair tactic and look for something that can deal more damage.  I'm running aimlessly around the house.  To buy myself more time I find myself in the farthest corner of the house: my brother's room.  I grab the metal music stand, and imagine a trident on one end and a rectangular blade on the other.  Hiyah! Swing! Swipe! Smash! I wait for blood to spray....but alas, nothing.  All of a sudden They all disappear, but the house is trashed.  It's 9 o clock and I can't believe I spent 3 hours gently nudging Them one by one.  Relieved, I go back to sleep.

Suddenly it's the next day probably 5:30pm.  This time we're prepared.  I'm back in the yard again.  I turn around to look at the house, and there are 500 planks of wood completely covering the backside of the house.  The sun dips behind our adjacent neighbor's two-storyhouse.  I see a hand clasp over the top of our backyard fence.  *Auuhghoouhggggg* *oowoeeuugheae* *ding-ding-diiiing* *brinngading dingg*

I slowly open my eyes and wake up to another nightmare. It's 5am in the morning and I have to wake up to drive to work.

Disturbing Dreams pt 2.

Here's the dream that I had before the car crash dream.

I'm back at home in my garage when I hear some scratching from the door that leads to my backyard.  I go to check out what the noise is, and I see this 8 year old boy.  He was the one scratching, and he's making inaudible noises with an emotionless expression on his face.  Behind him hovers an old creepy man laughing, like he's done something evil.  It immediately clicks in my mind that there was some kind of abuse going on and the boy was no longer normal.  I was enraged.  I was about to punch the old man in the face but they both just vanished. 

Flash to the beach where I'm with some friends and some people I knew in high school .  I'm telling them about this weird creepy man that they should be watching out for when one guy  starts saying how he's a pedophile too.  I was like WTF and I start beating the crap out of his face.  I felt kind of restrained because I didn't want to hurt him because we were friends and maybe he was just joking.  Then the old creepy man comes up behind us smiling his horrible grin and I just snap.  I'm pummeling the guy into the ground kicking and thrashing, tearing him apart.  Usually in dreams, when I get in a fight, I can't move my limbs.  But this one was different.  All my rage was expressed into an actual physical beat down.  (It's funny how I'm feeling angry as I type this). 

Flash to my front door, my mom was suggesting she should go talk to the guy to try to talk some sense into him.  I'm pissed off yelling that he should die and people like that shouldn't be shown remorse.  But she was pretty hard set on reasoning with the old man. 

phewf! it feels good to get that all out.  These dreams came out of no where, I can not see any direct connection from these dreams to real life. 

Disturbing Dreams pt 1

I haven't been able to recall dreams I've had when I wake up, until recently.  And I'm pretty sure the only reason is it was disturbing and involved heightened emotions that I was able to remember them when I woke up.  I'll start with the most recent.

I was back in the Bay Area yay! but in this part of the dream, I was about to make the trip back to Oregon.  My family and friends were all driving out to some restaurant for lunch in the East Bay before I left and it was a sunny day.  I was in my MINI with my brother next to me, because he's coming up with me for the summer (true in real life!)  My dad was in front driving a Toyota RAV4, when all of a sudden we come up to this corner and his car completely flips over in the turn and his body just ejects lifelessly out of the car.  (I know its just a dream.. it pains me still as I type it right now).  At first I feel shocked like omg what the hell happeend.  I run out of my car and I spot one of his arms hanging on a tree.  I run to it and pick it up.  I turn around and see my dad lying there motionless and it hits me.  I start bawling out of control like I had just lost my dad.

The crazy part was when I walked over to his body with his arm in my hands.  He stands up slowly and he still has both of his arms!! WHAT?! I'm all looking at his severed arm, and back at his still attached injured arms trying to make sense of it.  I remember thinking it must be some physical metaphor of the 'phantom arm' effect.  He starts to come to his senses and slowly grabs his severed arm and places it within his 'phantom arm' and it sticks.  I'm relieved that hes alive and am about to take him to the hospital but then he refuses!  He decides to call his brother for some chinese healing methods.  I was like wtf! you can't risk your life to do that!  and we start this argument about how he should go about seeking treatment.

Crazy Nightmare.  It was pretty emotionally draining, and I'm glad it was only a dream.

Yesterday I had another disturbing dream too.