Today's dream

[felicula]

The dream started out in a relatively rural setting. It reminded me somewhat of the trailer park my Aunt J. lives on the edge of. There was a wooded area further down the gravel road off the main road. The house itself was next to the main road. It was like a large garage apartment. One side had a big garage door, an SUV parked inside, right in the same room that served as kitchen and living room, complete with computer desk and one bed where a sofa might have been. The other room was a touch smaller, with a double bed and a long dresser. Both rooms were lit with fluorescent lights set into the ceiling akin to an office building.

It was a sunny day, seemingly late summer by feel and sun. I went outside for the weather, but was surprised by the sense of panic exhibited by all the neighbors. A radio at another house was broadcasting that the United States was scheduling a nuclear attack at 7pm. Commentary on what to expect predicted nationwide destruction and chaos. People everywhere were packing up their belongings and fleeing.

Caught up in the panic, I remembered a treasure I'd buried in the woods. I went to retrieve it, thinking it would be safer with me. I was watched by a wiry man with small, dark eyes and ragged facial hair. He rubbed his hands down his red plaid flannel shirt and eyed me with suspicion. I don't recall how I evaded his intense scrutiny, but finally I returned home with the box.

The "treasure" turned out to be a hoard of what looked like ancient and rare coinage, but were actually foil-wrapped chocolates. At home, I split them evenly between mechanchaos, kolys, and dawnstar. Apparently, the dream had the four of us sharing the one small apartment. There was no Aidan.

The radio at home was spouting the same news from a different voice on a different channel. This one went on to say that all electrical equipment would likely fail as well. The four of us were tying to decide whether we would stay and face whatever would happen or flee to... somewhere. Finally, we decided to pack up and go.

I started packing. And packing... It seemed that each time I thought I was finished, there was more that I'd forgotten. Night fell and I gave up on packing, saying it was getting close to time. If we were going we should leave sooner than later.

We set out, and had only driven for a few miles into a wealthy-looking suburb before realizing it was already almost 8. We noticed that every clock we looked at said a different thing, and the vehicle's instruments were acting funky. It was eerily quiet: all the streetlights out, all the houses empty. There didn't seem to be the kind of chaos that had been predicted, though.

I don't remember whose idea it was, but we decided to stop at one of the nice, spacious homes and take a look around. Exploring the place, I found lots of cats. They'd also left much of their belongings there. While we were looking around, the owners returned home. I'd been separated from mechanchaos, kolys, and dawnstar. I think they'd seen people coming and left. I think I must've found a good hiding place, since I watched the people and their young children interact a bit before sneaking back outside.

The four of us got back in the vehicle and headed back home. We'd left the doors open for some reason. Upon returning, I set out to unpack what I'd previously packed. Several strangers wandered in, wondering if we were looting. They left when asked to leave, and we decided to lock up.

Somehow, locking up was a big deal. I remember going out of my way to make sure everyone had a key. It was important to me that each of them knew that I thought of them like family. The significance of distributing keys was solidified when they decided to head out again. Their intent was to assess what was going on outside.

I stayed in. Like all the other electronic devices, our computer wasn't working at all. I opened up the side of it, thinking that I'd try to fix it. While I was fishing under the living room bed for some parts, I heard commotion in the room. A soldier had entered, and was looking to seize all working computers. Luckily, ours wasn't. Still, several more came through, inspecting the house and its contents.

At this point the dream ended. I don't remember if I woke up right then, or if I didn't really come to for a time.