Dreamland

Escaped Convict in the Basement

I’ve been invited to a party. As I’m walking across the yard towards the door of the house to go in, I spot what I think are two puppies in the yard. I walk over to pet them, but when I get closer I see that one is a possum, the other a skunk. I hurry past them to get into the house.

The door is locked, someone inside says they can’t get it opened, “You’ll have to crawl through the doggie door in the basement to get in!”

It’s a tight fit, but I make it. In the basement, there are some people playing darts, others shooting pool. I get a beer and join in a game of darts. There is a noise, someone crawling in through the dog door. I look over, it’s a man I recognize as an escaped criminal; I saw his picture on the news. He lunges at us with a knife. I grab a fireplace poker and knock the knife from his hand. Another guy grabs a pool cue, and between the two of us we beat him into submission. (The rest of the people at the party don’t want to get involved. Most of them are drunk, and when the commotion starts they go upstairs to avoid it.)

We call the police. They say the roads are bad because of freezing rain, they won’t be able to get to us for at least a couple of hours. I’m very tired; I’ve been up for two days without sleep. I’m having a hard time staying awake guarding the prisoner. The guy with me is also falling asleep.

“Just let me go, and I promise to leave here and never come back.” The criminal says. “You know you won’t be able to stay awake until the cops show up, and as soon as you fall asleep I’ll escape anyway. And I might just kill you in your sleep before I go, too!”

The guy with me goes upstairs to call the police again. The criminal has somehow untied his hands. He picks up a pipe wrench and runs at me, swinging it. I hit him in the arm with the poker, knocking the wrench from his hand. Then I hit him in the head with the poker several times. He falls to the floor unconscious.

The guy helping me comes back downstairs. “The cops say the roads are still too bad right now, we just have to be patient. They’ll be here as soon as they can.”

He helps me tie the criminal back up; this time we use stainless steel wire, and twist it tight with pliers. We push him into a corner, and make sure there are no objects he can use as weapons nearby, in case he wakes up.

Even though I have just narrowly escaped being killed, I am still very tired. I can’t seem to keep my eyes open. I lie down on an old leather couch, “just to rest for a while”. The next thing I know I’m fast asleep.

I have an intense dream, I am being kissed passionately by a woman, but I don’t know who she is. I wake up, I’m looking into the eyes of an old lover; a woman I haven’t seen in years. “I knew that would get you up!” she says, laughing playfully.

I’m sitting on the couch next to her and another woman. “Let me introduce you to my friend.” She says.

As I take the woman’s hand, I realize that I know her already, not in real life, but here in dreamland. “I believe we’ve already met,” I say. The woman smiles at me, and nods in recognition.

I suddenly remember about the escaped criminal. I look over in the corner; he’s gone. Worried, I ask: “Do you know what happened to the convict?”

“Oh, the police came and picked him up while you were asleep,” she replies.