Volcano Nightmare
By Mathew Hope
My first attempt at lucid dreaming was really surreal. I did fall asleep finding the symbol on the palm of my hand, like Dr. Mike suggested. I guess because he had just told us the story of Isis and Osiris, the first thing I saw was a huge Egyptian obelisk. But unlike any obelisk I’ve ever seen, this one had a small door at the base. I crawled inside and found a narrow winding staircase. I climbed slowly, and at the top it opened up and I found myself at the top of Volcán Barú. There were children singing gospel songs in a circle --
“… we will walk with each other, we will walk side by side…”
They were expecting the big floods to come. The clouds rolled in quickly. The children were chanting now, with growing excitement. When it began to rain they became ecstatic. God sends the great floods to wipe out evil and save the children who believe. God will save only them, the righteous.
They smiled when I walked over to them. A little girl took my hand, inviting me in.
“No,” I shouted. I tried to take control of my dream. It was a lucid dream, but I couldn’t seem to stop the children. I needed to stop them but I didn’t really know why.
They were soaking wet in the rain. They formed a connected circle of joyous singing and then FLASH, I was blinded and I heard a BOOM so loud it knocked me down. When I stood I saw their wet bodies with smoke rising from their heads. Their joined hands provided a circuit for the electricity. They were lying there with their hands still tightly clasped. They were not the chosen ones. That day God destroyed the righteous.
I walked over to the bodies. But I saw that they were no longer children. It was Dr. Mike with smoke rising from his head, with Estrella and Steve. And then I looked into another face and suddenly became breathless when I discovered that it was me.
I opened my mouth but no words came out. I looked at my hand to gain control, but I couldn’t find the lucid dream symbol I drew there. Something hit me on the back of the head. I swung around, but I couldn’t see anything. The fog rolled in and all I saw was a white screen. I was stricken again and fell to one knee. A third blow exploded against my head, and everything went black. Then I heard that I can only imagine were the children singing and a bus engine. Their blue school bus and I felt like there was a seat at the back for me.
I awoke in a cold sweat, gasping for air. I searched my hand for my lucid dream symbol and with a sigh of relief I saw that the crown I had drawn on my palm was still there.