The photos will be forthcoming soon.
Since yesterday afternoon I have not been feeling so well, but I'm ok now and I've just eaten breakfast (at 4pm...). It's that darned stomach again. So, apart from a brisk walk I took last night during an hour of respite, I am not going anywhere today. Plus, the black clouds are rolling in right now and there is a severe weather alert for the NYC area...[ADD: the storm was very heavy, and we had a strike right here, I guess outside the house or so. It sounded like a giant firecracker, there was a great flash, the TV and my laptop flickered off then on again, and I lost internet...as much lightning as I've seen, I've never been so near to a strike!]
Anyway, perhaps as a result of the 8 antacids (!) I took yesterday evening, I had the longest and most amazing dream.
It was like one of those apocalyptic movies. I dreamed that everyone on earth underwent this subtle transformation but for a few minutes it did nearly turn into a zombie nightmare. A group of us including me had holed ourselves up in a kitchen in the back of a big house during the transition. It must have taken longer than a few days and less than a few weeks, as we had enough food in stock to survive.
There were some moments when the creepy changelings outside nearly discovered us through the rather shoddy door. But we were alright, and when we thought it was over, they sent me out as a scout with my cell phone.
I emerged into a peaceful world where everything looked perfect. It was as though the planet had been transformed into a utopia - a sunshine and picket fence, colorful flowers and white linen trousers type of world. People were cheerfully getting along and helping each other just as they should. Sitting at outdoor cafes and laughing; strolling along in cosy banter. Considering how it all began, this scared me a bit, but I didn't feel threatened and I blended in because everyone else looked normal again, just a bit more shiny than I.
The only thing that scared me a bit was that when I opened my phone (I don't even like flip phones!) to report back to the group, every voice fell silent and every head in the vicinity immediately turned in my direction. Had they detected my signal? Then I realized I hadn't seen a single cell phone since starting out, and THEN I realized everyone was tuned into a single consciousness that had become aware of me and my "pre-change" technology. I wondered how I was still receiving cell phone service if it was not needed on this new earth. I searched for a quiet area to speak, but at this point I was probably beginning to be stealthily pursued or something, the stranger in their midst.
I woke up, drifted back to sleep, and there were a few more imaginings of this sort, but I didn't go in deep. As I slowly returned to consciousness I wondered to myself why my group had fought back and not let ourselves become a part of that utopia. Probably because it was just not natural to the human condition, or probably because there was an undiscovered dark side.
As I started this post I suddenly realized where the inspiration for the dream originated: Invasion by Robin Cook - even though I read that book over a month ago and haven't even thought of it since. It starts with tiny alien discs that fall to earth. Everyone who picks one up is injected, falls ill with a short flu, and emerges from it the next day a better, healthier, hypersensitive, superstrong, more robust and cheerful version of themselves .... well you will just have to read the book or Google it yourself, but it gets creepier after that. I won't be blamed for dropping all the spoilers for you.
13 comments:
Your dream sounds like a ready to be made movie! So sorry you've not been well. One of my co-workers was just in NYC and said the weather was really nice.
Yes, it has been nice this week, but we seem to get rain just when we need it - you know, before it gets too dry or parched.
As for the not feeling well: Yesterday the antacids did not work. Today I made a salad with a generous amount of balsamic vinegar. It was delicious and I slurped up the remaining teaspoonful of tart dressing in the bowl. And you know what? It worked. I think I had low stomach acid. Hypochlorhydria I think it's called (not enough HCl).
feel better soon sweetie
I hope that you're feeling better.
Have a good weekend! xx
White linen trousers and pickets fences. Sounds awful! :p
I think I might have that Robin Cook book around here somewhere, I certainly have some of his stuff. Sounds like a cross between Invasion of the Body Snatchers and the Stepford Wives! lol!
Sorry your feeling poorly. Buy yourself some fresh flowers so at least your eyes will feel better
;-)
You'll feel better soon! I used to love Robin Cook novels, but after reading two or ten of them, they get kind of tiring and predictable.
Sounds like it was a cool dream, though!
It reminds me of V, remember that dog that you used to have? oh, wait, that was a mini-series during the 80's. Silly me, my mind is not what it used to be after the transformation, but I am a lot shinier now.
ooohhh, i wanna read this book!! it sounds creepy in all the good ways!
your dream sounds fabulously fascinating, creepy and would have probably scared me more than you.
i hope your stomach problems ease soon. do you think it's all the new food? i got sick friday afternoon from a restaurant we eat at all the time.
i saw a thing on Tyra about germs transmitted when ppl don't wash their hands... many stomach/intestinal problems... when i got sick, i immediately thought about that show and the bacteria!!
i hope you're feeling better soon.
hope the storms are as fabulous as i imagine them! :)
Interesting dream!
(Hops onto recliner, digs out memo pad and pencil...)
Perhaps you're worried the world outside is changing faster than you are, and you're not fitting in.
Consider your recent relocation. You've been talking about New York (and doing a damned good job of making it sound AND LOOK) as if it were a perfect utopia, especially compared to London.
And yet...you're still carrying your old self inside. Are you worried that the people around you still view you as an outsider? Do your habits somehow set you apart?
(Yes, m'lady, I have a bucket standing by should you want me to go stick my head in it.)
Jo - it's true about Robin Cook. I found myself predicting him quite a bit, but Dan Brown is even worse!
********
Harry - silly, your mind should be better too :P
And now I think of it, why did you make me read this aloud as you typed???
*******
Um Naief - I am better now, it only lasted a couple of days. I happens from time to time. Nothing to do with food, but for some reason I tend to have low stomach acid sometimes so it burns and burns, and there is also quite a bit of, well, belching. Probably because the bacteria gets happy without the acid...hence downing a spoonful of vinegar to alleviate the problem.
**********
Minstrel - wowwwwwwwwwwwwww, you have an answer for everything!
Throw that bucket away: Anytime I have a dream that I remember I will post it just so you can delve into its meanings.
Anytime there is a major move, do you ever fully become an insider? So maybe I've felt like an outsider before the first move, which may be why I wanted to move, then I was an outsider in Texas, then an outsider back in London, and now an outsider in NYC. Both cities are full of outsiders, but I am more comfortable being one here. This is where the outsiders go to finally belong!
I have a great quote to share next time.
Liv - I do hope you are feeling completely well by now! Your dream was really interesting. I was kinda sorry not to hear the rest of the story! But then, dreams don't always resolve the way a good book does.
Post a Comment