Dreams Remembered

Chapter One: Halls

Chapter One: Halls

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Specific Dream Characteristics:

Full kinesthetic control.

Slow motion effects (time freeze).

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        Dusk. As I walked down the musty and stale halls of the hospital, I knew something was wrong. It was an eerie feeling that I could not explain nor interpret. It resonated throughout me with an undeniable sense of realism. I had no idea where I was so I decided to try and find the front desk. As I walked through the halls I noticed that the walls were all a drab, pale yellow. The floor was constructed withover-scrubbed false granite tiles. I kept walking.  On and on. The front desk didn’t seem to be anywhere.

           I kept walking and walking for what seemed like an eternity. Each corner I came to took me left or right, but there was no apparent end to my travel. I kept walking and walking down the halls, searching for a way out. Still nothing. As I turned the next corner my heart lifted somewhat. Closed doors lined the hall. Many doors leading to many rooms. I tried every doorknob. None opened. My heart sank.

             I started yelling. I called out for someone, anyone, to help me. My voice echoed down into the endless hallways. I knew that in the entire cursed place, I was the only one there. My soul sank in despair.

Darkness began to creep over the building as the skylights grew dim. The fluorescent lights in the ceiling flickered and buzzed on, emitting a dull, yellow glow to match the walls. I began to run, afraid of what might happen if the sun were to disappear and night take over. I was running, yelling every once in a while, and searching for a way to escape. There were no exits and no hallway door would budge.

            I then entered a new section of halls. One side of the hallway had doors. The other side had cloudy glasswindows to the outside world that were impossible to see through. I decided to break through the windows to freedom. I kicked and punched until my knuckles were bloody, but the windows would not budge, flex, or break. They were impenetrable. I was trapped. I turned away from the windows that seemed to mock my efforts. I turned and ran on down the hall, searching once again for an escape.

            Turning the next corner I came to I saw yet another hallway. I slowed to a jog. All the drive I had to escape wascrushed. Depression and anxiety set in. I felt there was no hope for me to get out of the hospital. No hope of escape. As thelast bits of optimism drained out of my weary body I had almost completely given up. Exhaustion felt like it was washing over me in waves. “One more hallway,” I said to myself, “one more.” As I turned the corner I saw what appeared to be help. Halfway down the hall, about 30 yards away, there was a lone nurse walking my way.

            She was wearing the typical attire of a WWII military nurse: completely in white. She was roughly in her mid-twenties and had long brown hair with large curls spilling down and resting on the back of her shoulders. She walked at a slow half pace, seemingly with no destination in mind. She appeared to be patrolling the halls, endlessly.

            I cried out to her with hope, exhilarated at my good fortune to find her. I might have some way to escape. I rushed toward her even though my body was drained of energy. She slowly paused and looked toward me. Her gaze brought me to a halt instantly. Her eyes wandered over me, looking through me. She smiled as though faintly remembering a lost memory of a happier time. She opened her mouth to speak. However, her expression clouded over and her face turned to a blank stare. She started to quickly walk directly towards me.

            She was no more than ten feet away when the entire world around me seemed to freeze over. She looked deep into my eyes. I was paralyzed. Her body came to an abrupt halt. Then, before me as I watched in a horrified and petrified state, the unimaginable happened.

             The skin on her makeup-covered face began to peel back from her mouth, over her head, and down her throat. It appeared as if some invisible force was pulling her inside out to reveal not a head, but a gaping hole where a face should have been. It was black and ringed with countless, needle-like teeth. The flesh around her mouthwas black and oozing a tar like substance. Then her hands and feet began to slough off large flakes of skin, exposing the rest of her flesh until she had completely transformed into a dripping, black creature with long metallic claws. She crouched to pounce at me, as though I was a meal.

Panic washed over and through me and I began to shake uncontrollably. All of the potential hope I had was instantly smothered. I yelled in horror, terror. Breaking free from my petrified state I tried to run back down the tile-floored hallway, slipping around the corner. The creature roared with ear-splitting power and began to chase me, slipping somewhat on the tile. My body burned agonizingly as I tried to scramble away, terrified. 

            The creature was lumbering but quick, certain to catch me. It tore at the walls as it came after me, roaring with the sound of a beast about to gorge itself. I was sprinting with all the strength I could, but managed only a slow running speed from exhaustion. I knew there was no escape, no way out, no hope of survival. Tears began to stream down my face and splash on the floor as I accepted my fate. I was going to die.

            I was no longer afraid, but filled with the hollow feeling of dread. I was not yelling, or trying to escape anymore. The only reason left for my running was to try and prolong my short life span that I had left. With the last I my strength gone I staggered and fell on the floor. Gasping for air I turned to see the creature slowly creeping toward me, knowing it had won. I looked defiantly into its eyes. I silently prayed it would be swift. It raised its brutish claws and I knew it was over. It swung at my face

Awake.