[ I'm at a public pool. There are a bunch of people in the water swimming around and having a good time. I'm sitting down with a few friends. We're just looking out at the water. Somehow there don't seem to be as many people in the water as before. I didn't see anyone leave. I tell my friends, but they don't acknowledge me and continue staring at the water.
I stand up and walk over to the water's edge. Something definitely isn't right. I look over at an old man doing the backstroke. He is the only one left in the pool. How is that possible?
One arm in, one arm out, kicking his legs as he moves along at a swift pace. I'm always amazed by old folks who can just keep swimming and swimming. I keep my eyes on the old man. One arm in, the other arm....... is missing!
The old man splashes around and seems to be having a panic attack. He looks in my direction and desperately calls for help. "Shark!! Help me!!", he screams. I turn around and shout at my friends to come help me rescue the old man. But they're still just sitting there not responding to me. I turn back around in the old man's direction.. but he is not there.
I start sweating. I start scanning the water for any sign of the old man... running up and down the edge of the pool. I can't believe there's no sign of him. I run back over to my friends... are they even my friends? They are complete zombies; they just sit there. I don't understand what is going.
"Help!" The old man is alive. He's at the edge of the water, clutching the area where his arm used to exist. I quickly grab my beach towel and run over to him. "Pull me out of the water! Please!" He is bleeding profusely - not only from his arm, but what appear to bite marks all around his body. I muster up the strength, grab his only arm, pull as hard as I can until his whole body is out of the water.
I use my towel to wrap up his wound as best I can. "Thank you. I thought I was a goner. Tell your friends not to go in the water." - as he looked over my shoulder. I turn around to see all of them standing there behind us, looking out at the water. Why were they not concerned about the old man? They begin to walk toward the water. "Don't go in the water!", we both shout. We can't seem to get through to them. "You will die! It isn't safe. Look what happened to this old man!". Still they kept walking on. They all jumped into the water and swam out to the middle of the pool.
One by one they're pulled down beneath the surface - most of them being torn to shreds. Some manage to come up above the surface just long enough shout for help. All of a suddenly they have voices again. I look over at the old man, horrified at what is happening. "I warned them! Why wouldn't they listen??", I said. "You tried, my boy. It's too late for them." The old man and I just sat there watching this madness unfold. ]
Okay, so I admit I spiced this one up a bit - I don't think I've ever had a dream with actual dialogue in it. However, this modified version does capture the essence of my dream.
Maybe the real fear of going into a pool is the icky germs and the sharks were actually diseases attacking people.
ReplyDeleteIn my dream, the real fear was that my 'friends' weren't listening to me. They went into the water even after the warning. The bit about the old man was added for a dramatic effect. Often young people do things even after older, more mature people warn them not to do it. But regardless of the old man and the warnings, they chose to enter the water even though they clearly saw other perishing. They fell into the same trap. That's what's really scary.
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