Elizabeth's Journal

Entry Three

Oct. 8th, 2018

Today I will write about some of the strangest dreams I have had. Some of them are just strange, but I have had several that were very spooky, and many where I was exploring an abandoned building. Please share your strangest/ spookiest dreams in the comments. I will only share three, because they follow a plot. Most of my dreams are hard to follow, even for me.

1)

I am in an abandoned building. In some places you can see sky through the roof. The insulation is hanging from the rafters in moldy clumps. The windows are broken. It smells like mildew. It's like a long hallway, or the inside of a train car. Where am I? I walk through the hallway for a long time. At one point I am on the roof. I don't remember how I got there. The sky is sparkling and dark, but it is bright enough to see where the building is. It's on a hill. I can see a creek at the base of the hill through an opening in the trees. There is a back porch that I didn't notice before. Now I'm talking to a boy on the porch. "Who are you?" he asks, but I don't have an answer. I have a vague memory of being here with other children, but it wasn't in such a bad state then. It was like a preschool classroom or something. Bright and colorful. I couldn't remember anything else. He seems a little upset, but he asks if I want to play with him. Yes I do! I want to play with him! I've been so bored here. He wants to play in the creek at the base of the hill. I have a bad feeling about that, though. Something inside me says no. Something bad happened there, but what? He wants to know why we can't play there, but all I can say is that it is a bad idea. "Where am I?" I ask to change the subject. He tells me that this building used to be a school, but after a little girl drowned in the creek nearby, the school closed. Oh, I think. I tell him that I think I used to go to school here. He says that's impossible, but I know I'm right! I remember, from when I was really little. He says the school closed twenty years ago! At one point a thought occurs to me: I am a ghost, I am the little girl. So I tell him. He believes me, but he still wants to play in that awful creek. I try to explain why it is dangerous, but I can't remember. Why did I drown? I think there was something down there. He is running towards the creek. No! I have to stop him. He disappears into the shadows of the trees.

Then I woke, but I was not afraid, just sad.

2)

I am standing in a dry creek bed. It is like someone took the creek that cuts through my grandparent's property, and stretched it out of proportion. From where I am standing, I shouldn't be able to see the field on my right side, but I can. I can see the tall yellow prairie grass poking out of the short, green grass and moss. I can see the line of bare trees that mark the path of the creek. The way that the creek eroded the earth away should make it impossible to see anything but sky, but here I am, staring at the field. I think it must be November or early December. On my left side I can see the other bank. It's made up of large pebbles, but it's at such an angle that the pebbles should have rolled down into the middle of the creek bed already. Beyond that bank there are more trees, but I can't see them clearly, and although it's day, it's shadowy like night beyond the trees. I like how quiet the creek is. I walk enjoying the weather. I realize I am not alone. There is an animal following me. It slinks along the ground in an unnatural way. I think it's some kind of cat. No, it isn't following me, I'm following it. I want to know what it is. I'm like some little kid trying to get close to a frightened kitten. This creature always darts away as soon as I get close. I can't focus on it to see what it is, no matter how close I get. It's so frustrating. I don't want to keep following it, but I do. I can't control my body. I back the animal into a corner, I can see it tense. I know it is going to attack me, but I still get closer.

I woke up with my heart pounding.

3)

It's apple picking season, and there is a ladder next to the big apple tree in grandma's back yard. I am standing in the driveway looking at the apples. The apples are so heavy that the tree is drooping towards the ground. Grandma is somewhere in the garden, but I can't see her because she is behind the blockhouse. Her dog, Marla, is sniffing along the windbreak. Probably searching for rabbits. I look up at the sky, it is suddenly grey and cloudy. When I look back I see that Marla is gone, and a different dog is in the yard. It is a Lab, like Marla, but it is dirty and older looking. Some of it's hair hangs in odd clumps and mats. It wanders around the yard, it looks sick. I climb on top of the ladder because I am afraid. Grandma is standing at the base of the ladder. I try to tell her that she needs to climb on the ladder to stay safe, but she says the dog won't hurt her, only me. Then she walks inside the house. I keep thinking that I need to get inside, but I'm too afraid to climb down. Finally, the dog wanders around the other side of the house. I run towards the door, and bolt inside. Suddenly it's night. I walk to the big window that looks out at the front yard, the dog is on the porch. The dog is staring at me. I get away from the window fast, and walk into the kitchen. In the dining room, the dog stares at me from the window. In the kitchen, the dog is standing on a pile of bricks and staring in the window. Wherever I move to in the house, the dog is staring at me from the window. Even when I go upstairs, I can see the dog in the yard, staring up at me. I sit and cry in the hallway, where there are no windows, but from the bedroom down the hall, I can see the dog in the window. There is no escape from it. I open the door to the back porch, I should be safe here. The porch is another room, like a closet or pantry, and the windows are covered to keep it warmer here. I sit next to the door to the rest of the house, and try to rest. I fall to my side and see the back door swing open. I can't move my body. I watch helpless as the dog steps through and attacks me. I'm terrified, but it's already biting me, so that wont help. I'm mad, I bite the dog and don't let go. I bite as hard as I can.

I woke up, vaguely aware of the fact that I was biting my pillow. I wasn't scared, but I was tired. I went back to sleep.

The next time I was at my grandmother's house, my cousin Elaine was there too. I love seeing her, she lives in Texas so she doesn't visit often. One year younger than me, but I've always thought she was beautiful, with long, wavy black hair and bronze skin. Elaine and Dear Brother were out in the back yard. I told them about my dream, and although it was just a dream, the three of us looked off at the line of trees following the creek as if the dog were hiding down there somewhere. In the end, we all sat in the bed of my dad's truck until, in a great show of bravado, I led the way to the house, saying they were babies. My heart still pounded the whole way, I thought it would give me away. Please note this could be my origin story... The look on my cousin and brother's face left me feeling almost proud that I had twisted their faces into barely masked unease.