Dreams Remembered

Chapter Three: Medical Theatre

Chapter Three: Medical Theatre

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Specific Dream Characteristics:

No kinesthetic control.

Observation only (no personal interaction).

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            I walked into the auditorium with a heavy, overwhelming feeling of boredom. I scanned the room slowly with my eyes. It was a quarter-circle-shaped room with a steep slant from the back of the room to the stage at the front. The stage itself was fairly mysterious in the fact that no steps led up to it from the seating area. The stage was not very large and was backed by a thick, flowing, dark maroon curtain. The front of the stage was lined with bright lights to illuminate whatever would unfold before the audience on the smooth wooden floor.

            I continued to look around and the walls. Dim lights were regularly placed 15 feet up the 25-foot walls on both sides. The chairs were standard for a theatre, folded closed and waiting for the milling audience to occupy them. The seats appeared to be waiting. Waiting for the audience to sit and be captivated, to hold them in place. About 500 people could find a place to sit, to stay petrified for the show they would watch.

            The sound and projector room was situated on the back wall, high up toward the ceiling. The room itself had a cold and sterile feeling. There were a few people inside behind the glass, but none could be fully seen or recognized. They were separate, above everything and watching keenly.

            The audience appeared to be much like myself. Apart from the fact that it was a heterogeneous mix of races and also old and young, they all seemed to be just like me. Milling around, making small talk, and waiting for the show to begin. It felt as though none of us knew why we were here. Nor did any of us mind.

            A woman’s voice came over the loudspeaker asking for the audience to “Please take your seats.” We slowly drifted to our places without much hurry. I took a seat towards the back left in the middle of the three seating sections. The stage lights lit up as the wall lights dimmed the audience into darkness. A woman in her mid thirties with curly brown hair down to her shoulders calmly walked to center stage to address the audience. With a peppy and overly excited voice she said; “Good evening! Tonight you and I will be witnessing a one-of-a-kind experiment live. To liven things up we will perform this experiment with our special guest: Huge Jackman!” The audience applauded his suave saunter toward the woman. As he shook her hand the mood was lively and felt quite normal. We were enjoying this special experiment so far.

            A female doctor came on the stage and placed Huge at the center. Huge wore a white tank top, slim blue jeans, and nondescript black shoes. The doctor then unveiled a large needle gun from the briefcase he had been carrying. She proceeded to suddenly stick him in the neck, injecting a yellowish clear liquid. The doctor and the announcer calmly walked off stage leaving him behind. The voice, now known to be that of the announcement lardy, came over the loudspeaker again: “Subject one, test one. Commence.”

            Nothing seemed to happen at first. There was a quiet and awkward pause as Hugestood and smiled at us, waiting as much as we were for something to happen. Suddenly, he dropped to the floor on all fours and began to convulse. He was writhing more and more violently with each moment. His veins stood out with the strain and his eyes were rolling in every direction as foam began to drip from his mouth. He gasped for strangled breaths of air. His skin began to peal back in long, inch-wide strips. It started at his fingertips and toes. His skin was pealing as if someone were rolling up tape. The crown gasped and cried out in horror, awestruck at what was transpiring before their eyes. Some were panic stricken and tried to run for the doors. They were all locked. As the crowd reached a peak of confusion, terror, panic, and horror, I sat transfixed. I was staring, unable to move from what I was witnessing. His skin was hovering about two feet above his shoulders in a wriggling ball. But the exposed flesh was the true wonder. His bare body was covered in a layer of slipping, sliding, and writhing colors. Every color imaginable was moving in small, paint-splatter-like shapes all over his body.

            Huge made one last agonized look toward the crowd. Thenhis eyes turned black and his body coiled on all fours. He roared. A booming, screeching, monstrous roar. Louder, louder, and louder! The skin above him began to spin, spinning faster with each roar until it was a blur of lightning fast speed. Then it fell on his body and attached itself, constructing fleshy bat-like wings. He then grew. Taller, stronger, more ferocious, and even more terrible. His body was now a horrifying 9-foot frame with 3-inch razor sharp claws and a head resembling that of a leech-man.

            Silence. No more roaring. The crowd slowly calmed somewhat and came to a stop to stare at this new monster who silently stood, gazing at the crowd. He slowly crumpled his frame down to all fours and had no expression. Slower still, he looked up at the audience. A crooked smile formed on his face as he coiled like a cat. He then leapt from the stage and flew with his wings into the crowd.

            Chaos ensued as he began to maul, tear, mangle, bite, and rip apart any person within his reach in the first few rows. Everyone panicked, screaming desperately, searching again for an exit. A frantic voice came over the loudspeaker crying “Abort! Abort!” Four men with full white hazard lab suits and black boots rushed from backstage with silenced pistols. They aimed in unison and fired.

            Struck mid-pursuit over the walkway, Huge dropped to the ground on the stairs, four needles protruding from the back of his neck. He was unconscious, still wriggling. The four men towered over the fallen monster prepared to fire if needed, but the corpse only ceased movement, and began to shrink back to its original form. By the time Huge’s body had returned to normal the audience had all come to a halt, looking on with a mute and dumbfounded feeling. The four then lifted his body and proceeded to carry him to the back stage area, out of sight as we watched from the last place we stood, unable to move from the horror, awe, and shock.

            “This has been subject one, test one. Thank you for your participation.”

            Awake.