Dream CXLIV

I was in a small town at the foot of a mountain along the interstate, working on upgrading the computer system for a small business.  I had brought some shirts to a local laundry a few blocks away, since I thought I might be in town for some time.

Looking out the window, I noted that the sky looked like snow might be imminent.  I hoped it wouldn't snow, because my home was near the top of the mountain, and I didn't like the idea of driving along mountain roads and dealing with snow.

The folks in the business were playing a game whereby four coupons were matched on a page according to their corners. 

It was then that we heard Godzilla was in the town.  I looked out of the window again and saw that snow had begun to fall.  We discussed the situation and decided we would wait out the snow (and Godzilla) by remaining in the store, though I still hoped I could return home. 

Some people ventured out to do short errands, returning and saying that the temperature had dropped rapidly.  I decided to risk getting my laundry before things got worse, so I put on a second coat and headed outside.

The town was completely silent under the falling snow.  I knew that Godzilla was not as large as he was portrayed in the movies--he was only fifteen or twenty feet tall.  Still, I wanted to avoid him if possible, so I kept to the shadows and edged along the buildings.

A girl outside warned me about Godzilla being near, and said that to be safe I needed to take one shoe off--the idea being that the sound of two footsteps would attract him.  But I couldn't hear her well enough to understand her through the two coats, and tried to tell her so. 

Just then, giant legs appeared.  I backed away through the foliage, until it was so dense I hoped he couldn't sense me, and if he did, the thickness of the branches would discourage him.  I tried to signal to the girl to follow, but she was paralyzed with fear.  After a few moments, nothing happened, so I came out of the foliage.  Both the girl and Godzilla were gone. 

As I made my way closer to the laundry, I could make out shapes through the snowfall.  Shadowy figures ran in some directions, so I figured that Godzilla was in the opposite direction and I did my best to hide.  I wondered if there was more than one Godzilla, since I seemed to see people running from several directions.

Eventually I reached the laundry.  It was located in a small shopping mall, and at first I thought the door was locked but I found a way in.  I paid for my shirts and walked along the mall's main corridor.  A long police car, like a riot vehicle, was driving inside the mall and passed me.  I turned around to see where it might be going, but it was gone.  I noticed freight elevator doors closing and figured the car was heading to the upper level of the mall.

I reached a door to the outside.  Out in the snow, several dogs were lying in the snow, some of them stacked on top of other dogs.  They were lying quietly, but alive, so I figured the lizard wasn't around and left the mall through that door.  As I left, I noticed that they weren't dogs, but people.

I decided to head back to the business to wait.  It was dark, now, and while I had no sign that Godzilla was gone--indeed, I still saw people running in a panic--I abandoned the shadows and walked along the sidewalk.  The night was silent, save for the sound of falling snow and distant footsteps.  I could see tall, shadowy figures here and there, but some of them were people waving sticks.

Somehow, I managed to lose both of my coats, but I wasn't cold.  I decided to put on one of my clean shirts.