The Nightmare

I rarely dream, or at least, have dreams that I can remember. Last night, however, I had a dream I can recall in every detail.

We are outside, in a meadow that could be someone's backyard or the grounds of some small country castle. A small river is flowing on the lower edge, behind a screen of trees. There is a stone wall on the upper edge of the meadow. I am with Mother, Sis, Sister Cousin, Bro, and a couple more unidentified female family members. There are people around us too, thousands of people. It feels like a picnic or a wedding or some sort of large gathering of people. I don't notice faces, but I see that everyone is dressed in the same fashion--jeans and a tshirt. Groups of people assemble by color, without effort. Green, blue, yellow, red--I can see pools of color. I know the colors mean something, but I don't know what.

Out of nowhere, people in army uniforms and guns appear and pour out of the gate in the stone wall. I know that they are going to shoot us. For some reason, I decide that sitting in a circle with our backs outside will protect us. I and Sister Cousin gather our family in a small circle and huddle up. My heart is pounding, and at the same time I feel happy.

Without warning, Bro jumps up and runs to the creek to join a little girl in a pastel pink dress--she can't be more than four or five. Oblivious of the danger, they crouch by the water, hunting for frogs. For a minute or so, we look at them, strangely unfazed.

Suddenly, I feel as if my stomach filled with lead. I remember having a dream like this. I remember the girl running after the frog, all the way up the slope, and falling in front of the soldiers. I remember the shot, the silence, then the panic, the utter terror, the people running everywhere. Strangely, there was no blood.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see splashes on the water--a frog is jumping, skipping on the surface like a well-aimed stone. I jump to my feet and run as fast as I can toward Bro and the little girl, who has already begun to follow the escaped frog. Strangely, she is running much faster than me. I fear I won't catch her in time.

By some miracle, I reach her several meters before the gate. I hoist her in my arms and yell out to whoever is near me. Courez! Vite! Ils vont tous nous tuer!

I don't know who heard me, I don't know where my family is, but I run. I remember it is the way I headed last time, but I also remember there was a trap. I think that there is another way to escape. I run.

Suddenly, there is a crowd of people in blue shirts and blue graduation robes on the side. They wanted to finish the ceremony before running away, and are just now getting out of their seats in an open-air amphitheater. I don't remember them being here last time.

I run down a flight of stone steps, there are mosses and plants growing between the cracks.

The river is at the bottom, much wider than the creek in the meadow. People are keep going down the stairs, wading straight into the water. They pass under an arch. When I get to the water, I see a stone statue bobbing in the water. The head turns, and I realize that it is an escaped convict dressed to blend in with the statue he is standing on.

The water disappears, and I am in a room. You can still see the river through the arch. Mom walks out of the elevator. I am not surprised to see her. The little girl I was holding has disappeared. I was waiting for Mom before going into the river.

Together, we walk out. There is something like a quay, and adults all dressed in red are sitting on what seems to be a barge. Mom gets in and sits down. The soldiers are posted all around the quay, but for some reason cannot see me. I know I am not supposed to get in the barge.

The barge is moored with plants. Someone barks an order. One by one, the adults throw the plants off the barge. Mom reaches towards the plant closest to her, but I tell her that it is the last one holding the barge to the quay, and that if the barge leaves, they will be taken somewhere and killed. I remembered that from the other dream. She puts the plant back in the barge.

A short soldier with a ponytail notices this, and she walks over to us. She cannot see me, but yells at Mother for not throwing the plant away.

Before she can do anything, a voice booms out of nowhere. It is the leader of the soldiers, who is explaining why he kidnapped everyone, but I can't hear the words clearly. I don't care. When he is done talking, a young woman wearing a red target on her white shirt jumps out from behind a row of soldiers, yells that it is inhuman, shoots the leader, and claims power in the name of the Italian Government. Someone shoots her too.

It seems like the world is about to become a bloody brawl for control when a man in a dark suit and a mustache, who looks suspiciously like Hitler, stands up and makes a speech and claims power for himself in the name of the greater good. Everyone cheers.

I toss and hit my head on the wall. I wake up. My heart is pounding so fast I have trouble breathing. I look at my alarm clock, there are only thirty minutes left until it rings. I turn it off and get up.