Dream LII

I was at work, and needed to go outside and make my way downtown. It was a nice sunny day, so I decided to walk, but I’d misjudged the distance and was soon pretty tired. The day was sunny and clear, but very quiet. In fact, the outside world was almost totally silent.

I was walking along the highway, hoping to get a ride, when I saw a black plume of smoke up in the sky. One young woman stopped her car and let out a middle-aged gentleman, and she let me in on the passenger side. We rode for a while and I asked her about the black smoke. She was clearly frightened but she said it was nothing. After a few blocks she had to turn onto an exit ramp, so she let me out and I continued walking.

I met another guy from work, and he pointed to the smoke as well. Just then, another black puff appeared in the sky in the distance, near the larger plume, and a small object dropped and raced toward us. It soon roared overhead and we could see it was a stealth jet. It was soon followed by a huge, rocket like vehicle with two exhausts. We both agreed that the military must be conducting exercises in the area.

I continued downtown, and saw a massive air-ship, the size of an aircraft carrier, slowly floating over the entire street. It was rectangular and gigantic, easily covering both sides of the street, putting everything below it in shadow.

I had my camera and started taking pictures and continued on; soon I was beneath the ship and the street was very dark. People seemed to be in a good mood, though, due to the holiday season. A lot of people were stopped on the sidewalk, staring up, and I had to thread my way through them to continue.

I passed by a small sign, like the kind set out in front of a café to advertise specials. It was enclosed in red glass, and could have sworn I saw a small, evil-looking figure in it. But when I looked closer, nothing was there. A man came over and insisted to his companion that there was an alien in the stand. I looked again from the side and could see the creature, so I reached behind the glass and grabbed it. I told the man I had it.

Together, we pried the creature out from behind, and the man and his companion went off holding the creature between them. The creature was unpleasant to the touch, like sticky candy worms. I thought no more about it.

By now, I’d noticed other aircraft silently ducking in and out of streets beneath the big ship. And the big ship was now joined by another identical ship, traveling back the way I had come. I decided I wanted to get a picture of the front of this second ship, so I started heading back as well. The people were getting thicker and the traffic lights (making me stop at crosswalks) were also putting me behind. I stayed within sight of the front of the ship, but I was slowly losing ground on it.

Someone walked across a small glass-enclosed area of the sidewalk, and the glass shattered beneath his feet (dropping him about four inches). Another person nearby said, “They’re starting to affect the glass, now.” I didn’t know what that meant, but I was careful if I had to walk on glass. It started to snow as well.

Aircraft continued to slip in and out of side streets, but now they resembled things out of Star Trek, very futuristic, with nacelles and detached cabins. All of them were absolutely silent as they floated between the buildings.

I was nearly back to where I’d started when the traffic light changed against me. The snow was coming down thick and grey—everything was grey, now—and I decided I would cross against the light anyway, to keep up with the ship. But the building on my right suddenly detached itself and moved toward the crosswalk rapidly. I fled backwards, away from the snow piling up along the sides of the sliding building.

I couldn’t go forward now, and I was afraid to go back. I wondered if I was now trapped, and if so, by whom? Did it have anything to do with the small alien I’d helped to capture? I wondered if the ships floating around belonged to the military after all…