𝐑𝐄𝐃 𝐒𝐄𝐀| in progress/editing

𝐈.𝐕.

Oh.

Interesting.

Haven't had a dream like this before.

I'm sitting in an old Jeep, floating in an empty abyss. It's like I'm in a black hole, but it's full of color, shades of blues, and purples and pinks mixing, filling the strange place.

My dreams usually go like this: My dream starts nice and tranquil and peaceful, but then, in some way shape, or form, the peace is broken by some horrible catastrophe, like a car crash or some kind of fatal illness or a raptor eating my guts. This has been happening to me pretty much every night, and I always get my hopes up at the beginning of my dream, thinking it will be something normal, but I've always proven otherwise.

That's another thing, it's kinda weird, but, for some reason, I can think in my dreams. It feels like real life to me, like I wasn't even in a dream in the first place. It's eerie to think about.

I enjoy my moment of peace in the Jeep. One part of me is starting to get ecstatic in the hopes that for once I might just have a normal dream, but the other me is just happy that I get a moment of solitude before my night of terror begins.

I'm still sitting in my seat completely intact and free of disturbance. It's probably been at least 5 minutes of nothing but serenity and peace.

Maybe I'll just have a normal dream tonight. Maybe my nightmares have ended-

Snap!

I hear the snapping of wires behind me, and a thundering BOOM! Echoes across the empty abyss. I look through the Jeep's rearview mirror, and my heart skips a beat.

BOOM!

No, no, no, no, no, NO! This can't be! This happened over thirty years ago! It can't-

ROAR!

...be real.

Behind me, the reverberating roar of the T-Rex brings me into action. Drive, DRIVE! Ever since what happened at Jurassic Park, I figured it was a good idea actually to learn how to drive and it's finally coming in handy. I push the stick forward and step on the gas pedal, and I start to speed away. I look down, just to see if I'm driving on a road or something like that.

Nothing. There's no road, no track, no trail, nothing. It's as if I'm driving on air.

The swirls of blue and purple around me start to blur as I speed up. The T-Rex noticed my efforts to get away and decided to pursue me. It is also running on seemingly nothing, starting to get dangerously close.

Must go faster. MUST GO FASTER!

I pick up a smell, and I recognize it almost immediately. The oddly good-smelling smell of smoke, the product of burned gas.

Deep breaths, Ian. Deep breaths.

In...out...in...out.

Ok, think logically about this. A T-Rex can only run up to 15 miles per hour, any more and its bones will shatter. As long as I don't run out of gas anytime soon, I should be fine. A T-Rex can only run so much before it needs to take a break.

I keep driving, the T-Rex still chasing after me, when...

Wait.

Suddenly, a square ahead of me, a brownish-black color if my vision is serving me right.

Maybe it will be safer there! Maybe I can call for help there!

I take a look at the distance between me and the square, and then my thumb, and, in my head, I figure that the distance is roughly 2 miles away. I can make it! And probably with gas to spare! I look down at my gas meter, and...oh.

I'm almost out.

I gawk at the meter, just one line away from the letter E.

Now half.

It's at a quarter.

An eighth.

SCREECH!

The Jeep halts, so close to the square, which, now that I get a closer look at it, looks like some sort of gateway to a camp. It looks like a wormhole, but square.

The T-Rex realizes that I have stopped, but isn't able to stop before it hits my Jeep.

CRASH!

Its head rams straight into the back of the Jeep, and it sends it flying straight through the square.

The T-Rex seems disoriented for a moment, but it shakes its head and snaps out of it. It tries to walk through, but some sort of invisible barrier stops it from crossing. It lets out one more roar before walking away, accepting defeat.

Huh. Well, that worked pretty well.

I look around, sinking into my new surroundings. It looks like some sort of abandoned camp, with no inhabitants and a big mess everywhere.

Wonder what happened here. I feel like I've been here before, but I can't put my finger on what

Suddenly, a raptor pounces on the window opposite of me, creating a crack in it. The raptor not only delivered a crack in the window, but it also delivered a flood of memories back to me.

How could I forget?! This is the camp where my wife-my ex-wife now-my daughter and I were ambushed by the raptors! And then what happened at San Diego, ugh. The world we created.

CRASH!

Ok, no time to think about mass extinction or impending doom, I've gotta focus on escaping. I notice some sort of storage unit nearby me, and I think of something. Maybe, just maybe, I can get out of the Jeep on the opposite side that the Raptor is on, make a dash for the unit like it was Black Friday, and continue my plan from there. It's a little crazy, but I think I can make it.

Alright. On the count of five. 5...4...3...2-

CRASH!

Another raptor crashes into my window. Seriously? How am I supposed to get out no-

CRUNCH!

The T-Rex chasing me earlier clamped its jaws on the raptor at my window, swallowing it whole. Well, that did solve one of my problems, but it then got replaced by another one. Really? How unlucky can you get? Wonder how it got in.

I take a deep breath and decide to look behind, just for kicks. I never really thought about what was behind-

Oh no.

A juvenile Dilophosaurus was crouched in the seat, staring at me as I stared at it.

Oh no.

SCREECH!

><><><><><><><><><><><><

GASP!

Just a nightmare Ian. Just a nightmare.

I look at the bright red alarm clock next to me.

6:57 A.M.

Still shivering from my nightmare, I pick up my phone. I go to my G-Mail and scroll through my contacts until I find them.

Alan Grant.

Ellie Satler.

I start rattling an email to each when-

RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRING!

"AAH!..oh. Just my alarm clock. It's 7:00."

I finish my email, and I click the send button.

Hey, Alan! It's been a while! See, a friend of mine is sorta doing a Mission Impossible-themed dino rescue mission...