Dreaming in Digital

I was with Honeycrisp, and it was the end of the world. In the night sky, there was a ring of gold, and inside it were the colours of violet, green, then another ring of gold. Soon the gold ring in the middle elongated and a tube of grey clouds pulled down towards Earth. We were running, looking for somewhere safe as we saw this.

Meteorites began appearing in the sky and fell towards us. One nearly hit us, so we braced for impact. We came across a parking lot, where the pavement had been pulled up, and the debris of crushed buildings were scattered about. Other people were crouching down behind these for shelter.

The sky began to speak. A man's voice said Persimmon was on the line of whether he belonged in heaven or hell.

Honeycrisp waited for me after work, when I finished at 22:30. It was dark and raining. I had gathered my things from the locker room and was on my way up from the elevator, when I ran into my manager and one of the cashiers. They were asking if I wanted an Airmiles promotion because it was currently running. I declined and ran out of the store, into the mall, looking for Honeycrisp. I caught a glimpse of him before I lost him in a crowd of people. I rushed in, but couldn't find him. I gave up, and just before I took another step, he found me.

I was at work, at a grocery store. One of my best mates at work, Honeycrisp, came to me and gave me a warm hug in greeting. I hugged him back and in the silence, I realized screamo was playing through my headphones. Embarrassed at my taste in music, I pulled away, saying I'd see him later.

I got to my station at the front, but found everyone at the registers were gone. I looked in another area and found everyone seated on the floor and listening intently to the person standing alone at the front. Everyone from the store were gathered and I didn't want to interrupt so I stayed in the back. I felt regret not following Honeycrisp earlier and I imagined he was near his department. When I found a spot to sit, a tall woman in a black, midi-length dress, and long, black wavy hair strutted in as if she had authority. Eyeing me, she walked past, stopping short of the end of the row before coming back. I looked up at her and she put her hands around my head. Her long, bony fingers were polished in black as they covered my ears.

"You'll do," she said. Her blood-red lips curved sinisterly upright.

I felt something pulled away from me, but I don't know what - it could be my soul, or an essence of something... I felt it pulled out like a slow breeze being pulled from my body, starting from my heart. It was warm at first, but it cooled, and I was left depleted and confused.

Three dreams.

1. Cookie and I were in the living room of my old apartment at 9L. With us were three mothers with their children ages 3-5, running wildly and loudly about. Out of the hallway, Mango was sleep deprived and drunk. He held a box cutter in alert, ready to swipe at anyone. The children began screaming. Cookie cautiously approached, but Mango knew he would try to take the blade and slashed at his hands. I looked at our golden-haired friend and noticed how dark his skin was under his eyes. I jumped from my seat, and being coy and cute, I tried to coax him into giving it to me, but he slashed my hands and I stumbled back as my blood pooled in my hands.

2. Cookie and I were going on a vacation with my family. In a spacious version of the 9L living room, we were packing our suitcases, and my mother was trying to pick out which suitcases Cookie and I should use. We were given huge, red ones, but I wanted to pack light.

Sometime later, Cookie and I were strolling around a mall. A few mini faeries caught my attention, and we stopped to have a look. Among other little trinkets, they were placed on a table. The store owner, an old, sweet lady, talked to us about our interest. Cookie held the conversation, and I my mind quickly drifted away, finding myself in a room with endless sky and no ground beneath. I held on to many coloured chains made of words and letters that formed the shape of a balloon. I held on, climbing down until I was beneath it and seeing where all the chains ended. I pulled and twisted them so they wouldn't be uneven, and I was brought back to the mall. The old lady had gathered a few 'volunteers', Cookie and I among them. The lady told us we were going to visit somewhere no one knows about, and I found myself back in the sky. The lady noticed something different about the chain balloon - someone had tampered with it, and I came clean. I don't remember what happens, but when we came back, I told the shop owner we'd have a look around before we purchase the faeries.

3. I was in some kind of danger, but I didn't know from what. I wasn't afraid. John Reese (from the television show, Person of Interest) escorted me to a grimy, rundown corner house that became a store in a dirty part of the city. There were few windows, and the lighting was dim. He patted my shoulder and said he'd be back. In the little window by the door, I watched him exit and lean against a lamp post across the street. A shady man with a small package approached him. They exchanged a few words before a fight and many more men joined. When the fight was over, he pried the box from the first man's hands, and came back to the shop. Watching all that happen, I wanted to be a policeman.

Next, I was in university again. On a tropical island, I stood on one of the floating docks. I'd chosen an elective which was taken by those studying law enforcement - some kind of police drills. Unfortunately, the class' time collided with another - a dance class of some kind. I looked at my classmates. Of everyone, I only recognized Flan. Someone was whispering my name. At first, I ignored it, thinking I'd misheard, but when it was clear, I turned to see my best university friend, Cupcake, waving at me. Having a closer look at her classmates, they were everyone else I took my art courses with. I figured us art students we divided either into law enforcement drills or dance classes.

After the sun had set, we were still in the water. I lost my balance and fell into the deep, dark teal water. I quickly got the hang of floating and swimming, and soon I was floating and watching the star-filled sky on my back.