The following is an account of a gathering of the VIV writing collective. All names have been changed to protect the privacy of those involved.
Night 3
We brought plenty of food home with us after the day trip to the lighthouse. We got take-out from a Chinese restaurant and we stopped by a grocery store so I could cook lunch and dinner the next day. I wanted to cook for everyone one more time before we left and I didn’t want to spend the last day cooking.
Dinner was great and both Noah and Sabrina were eager to tell everyone about their dreams, but we ate in silence for about twenty minutes stuffing our faces, and the conversation that emerged when we were done was about our day.
“I think it’s cool that pirates are part of the history of the Carolinas,” Noah said. He hadn’t had much wine on the first night of our trip, but he was on his second by that point. It seemed to make him happy and he smiled around the table at everyone as we talked.
“Pirates are worse than gangsters,” Gabby said. “They steal and kill people, they’re the worst.”
“I know, I know,” Noah nodded in agreement. “But the stories are so exciting.”
“I think so too,” Hallie said. “Criminals shape history, it’s a sad reality. I couldn’t imagine living on a boat though, that seems like a nasty life.”
“Oh it had to be,” Noah said.
“I’d live in a lighthouse,” Angie said. “It’s a nice view and I love the water.”
“And you get to help ship captains find the coast,” Sabrina said.
We had ice cream for dessert and I asked Noah about his dream.
“I’ve been waiting to tell y’all about it,” he said, “but I didn’t want to be too eager. I think I went to bed before anybody else last night because I was eager about our trip today, and I think as soon as I nodded off, I was in this dream. It’s funny, I woke up in the middle of night and when I went back to sleep, I don’t remember dreaming again. But Sabrina said she was up, ate the Rarebit, and had a dream after that. It’s like the dream spreads.”
“Like the black thing is a real thing that’s moving through our dreams,” Sabrina said. “More of us ate the rabbit, but we didn’t all have dreams. It’s weird.”
It was strange and I was very curious to hear the nature of the dreams that the two of them had. Angie’s dream had been strange and creepy, but she’d seemed to enjoy it. The black thing seemed menacing and I wondered how it manifested to Noah and Sabrina.
Noah’s Dream
“I’ve had this dream before. I was building a sandcastle and the day was beautiful. I was working on something small, but the castle was huge and I lived there.
“The first time I had the dream, the girlfriend I had at the time lived there with me and we had children. It was this idyllic fantasy, just a beautiful, pleasant memory. The sandcastle had all these rooms and I played with my kids on these elaborate structures that were built into the castle.
“But when I was there last night, I was doing repairs or something, I was working really hard, sweating under the sun next to the ocean. Then the sky darkens and the water starts to churn. And I see this black thing, the black thing, like a dark cloud over the water and approaching me. When it’s closer, I see these dark forms in the water underneath it and I assumed it was ships, but when it’s even closer, I see this army of sea animals, whales and sharks and octopuses. When they get to the shore, something screams orders to attack and legions of these sea creatures charge me.
“I don’t know where it came from, but I had a pirate sword in my hands and I go crazy defending my castle.
“I fight and fight, it could be hours, I don’t know, it felt like so long, and I hear thunder but it sounds like the black cloud is laughing.
“Then I get overrun and some of the sea creatures reach the castle. Then I see my old girlfriend and our dream kids in one of the windows screaming for help. I try to run to them, but then I feel tentacles wrap me up and hold me. I struggled until I woke up.”
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