The Gathering

Faces in a Crowd

Over the past few days, I’ve resisted posting about my recent dreams, to see if I could forget them completely just by going about my day. Turns out each of the dreams carried enough weird energy and “nightmare-fuel” to stay with me, at least in context.

March 31

This morning I was in the midst of a dream that started off leisurely enough, there wasn’t any indication that by the end I would wake up from this nightmare in a cold sweat.

We arrived at the hotel - something about it was very off - my gut feeling was that whomever the proprietors were didn’t have the decency to make an attempt to provide even a facsimile of place where even a roadside motel would classify at least two stars above this dump. Even in earlier dreams the accommodations were comparable to a “nice” hotel - this place had “The Cecil” written all over it. My companion during this trip was my “wife”, I couldn’t understand why she would  decide we should stay except to mask the embarrassment of making a big mistake, fooled by advertising. She was trying to make the best of the situation - diverting my attention with the fact there was a pool and “hot spring” pond in the brochure. She hurries me to go check out this pond by my “wife” and we rode the elevator down from our floor to the ground level. 

The room with the pond was smarmy, humidity from the water fogged the mirrors and glass - the marbled enclosure was filthy - my wife goes in and I’m still hesitant. The water itself was an algae green either for effect or because there were enough water plants clogging it like a Koi pond . Before I could take one step in the water, a crab exited the water, alive but turning red from the heated water. That was enough for me, feeling disgusted I excused myself from the room, my wife stayed to enjoy herself. I was in such a hurry to leave that I took a wrong exit that led down a short flight of steps into a narrow, dimly lit corridor that had no exit - just a slender man seated near a sink and stove. This must be a kitchen I though to myself after walking past the man. Sensing there was nothing beyond the dark corner of the hallway, I turn back but the man blocks my way with his leg and asks “Where you going” in a Jamaican lilt to his voice. “You’re not going to leave without trying some food?” I wasn’t sure about having any food in this place - the smell was pleasant though and he brought out a tray of something that was baking in the oven. I take a sample of the pastry/patty and was surprised by the taste and texture - this had to be the only thing done right so far at the hotel. I thanked the man for the delicious morsel - he lets me pass by up to the stairs I had come down. Leaving through another door the dream decides to change on me. 

We’re outside the hotel now, walking the street at night. The sidewalk is busy with people, a group of at least six people walking just ahead of us decide to make a mad dash across the busy roadway at the last second, just as the light changed. Most of them made it but I was watching in horror as a young slim teenaged girl gets run over by a speeding 1980’s Ford Explorer. The rest of her friends are in shock as her body rolls under the vehicle - her legs taking the brunt hit. I cringe from the sound of the body being rolled over - time seems to stop and I can feel my wife ready to jump into action. I warn her “Don’t you even think about it…Leave it up to the ambulance…” Too late, she was already running across to help the girl, I hesitantly joined her, helping to scoop the injured girl across the street to the front steps of a brownstone. My wife’s friend appears (She actually became a NYC ambulance driver for a time) and begins trying to set the bones in the girls legs while my wife held her. The girl was screaming in terrible pain and for good reason - try as  she might, my wife’s friend couldn’t get the broken legs in the proper alignment. I was becoming sick watching the legs moving back and forth while a tourniquet was being tied around the leg to push the bones together.

I woke up slowly from the dream in a cold sweat - these nightmares take a lot out of me but I was able to hang in there longer than usual.

April 1, 2024

Another nightmare. This dream evolved quickly from being a mundane urban camping trip into an explosive, horror-filled end. The location reminded me of the abandoned lots you could find anywhere in the NYC area in the 1980’s. A group of large beige canvas tents are arranged almost like a military configuration (come to think of it, this reminds me now of the game Fallout 3 - I’ve been playing a lot during downtime at home) but more sophisticated that having a table and bed inside - these had machinery, generators, and home appliances. I recognize several people with me, one being a longtime friend who recently passed away, and her partner. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary and whatever activity was being played out, I was just playing along with the dream. Looking up at the surrounding buildings made me think about the situation… How did we get here? A commotion behind me, everyone was panicked, the machinery was glowing red hot! Knowing that an explosion was imminent, we all began running away as fast as our legs could move us. Turing around because of the sound being made by the buildup of pressure, I felt time slow down when the explosion erupted from the glowing generator. The last thing I saw before waking up were the faces of the people I was with, trapped in the horror of the moment before the force of the explosion hit.

Another dream has me in a hotel again - this time everyone is going to the pool, several family members are already there, I’m usually last to get ready. Obstacles real and imagined keep me from leaving, whether it’s because I can’t find anything or I’m forgetting to do something before getting to the task at hand. By the time I’m finally ready, grabbing my towel from the hook - everyone returns - I ask “You’re back already?” Someone tells me that the pool is full of people all of a sudden, they are using the area for exercise classes. The dream gave the exercise a specific name but I forgot upon waking up.

I remembered before I was able to get inside the building, there was a puzzle or an obstacle that I had to maneuver. I was trying to enter the building via the stairway made of bricks, but there were just enough missing that made the trek perilous, as if there was a gaping valley below. I was on hands and knees crawling across the bricks and became distracted because I was holding a book in my hand that I picked up along the way. I tried to read the cover (It reminded me of “The Handbook For The Recently Deceased” from the movie “Beetlejuice” and decided that in belonged somewhere close by. Reaching the door of the building, I notice a small book cubby by the foyer where I had to return the book back to its proper space, all while still maintaining my balance on the bricks. The whole situation was weird but I completed passing this barrier and entered the building to join my family. 

April 2 2024

Another gathering of people I know, family - we’re on a trip in a different city. My friend Alex is with me, we’ve broken off with the group and traveled to another part of town. We’re in a parking lot inside a building - a Hotel heading for the shopping mall. It’s nighttime and has been raining a bit. As we’re exiting the parking deck to the street outside, we notice there is a veritable river of water coming down the street. The rushing water is at least a foot high, the force of gravity due to the slope of the hill was bringing with it massive amounts of mud from somewhere, probably a park. A decides that we could make the crossing to the other side of the street into the mall. He makes it halfway across before the pressure of the water and flowing mud takes him down, pinning him to a car. I jump into action after my lifelong friend, somehow I reach him and we retreat to the parking deck, waterlogged and dripping with mud.

Realizing we had no way to get back across town to the hotel where we originally stayed, I suggested to A that we could get a room at this hotel for the night so that we could clean up and ride out the rest of the storm. I get a call on my phone and have to tell my wife the plan, she’s annoyed but agrees that it would be better for us instead of trying to drive the car in this weather. The dream continues having been resolved. Alex and I each take turns using the shower after assessing our muddy predicament. I wake up relaxed and out of harms way.