Our Own Little Islands

This dream happened a while back. Like other times, where it takes a simple movement or thought to trigger a replay in my head of a dream that I had not remembered perhaps since the morning I woke up from it, this one came back randomly while driving with a friend. It is the connections in the dream that I am fuzzy on, but I will try and paint the picture as best I can.

I lived in a place where each house was its own little island. We were out in the ocean and had to travel between houses by boat. These weren't little tropical houses, but normal, in-land houses on a piece of land that stuck out of the ocean but had no beach, it just cut off.

I went to visit my friend in his house. It was the length of a small house and had no inner walls. The outside walls were of old barn wood and there were planks missing in the walls and more missing from the roof. I tried to share his enthusiasm as he showed me around. I suggested fixing up the place and making it more sturdy, but he was content with how it was and how it fit in with his life.

After a little while I felt a storm coming, like a drop in barometric pressure that could slap you across the face. I stepped outside and could see the horizon darkening. A big storm was coming and where we lived that meant a hurricane.

I rushed inside to grab my friend and run to a more secure location, but he wouldn't come. He tried to brush of my insistence with confidence in his house and his desire to wait the storm out there. All my pleading with my dear friend got me nowhere and the winds only got worse. It got to the point where I knew if I risked the storm any further, I would die, too.

I sped home. My home was small but made of bricks. I grabbed a few things and then headed outside. It was hard to get back on the wave-runner I was using because the waves were tossing it around, but I eventually was able to mount it and head toward the mainland.

The storm overtook me before I could make it to the shelter of the mainland. I came across a fast-food place and ran inside, seeking what shelter I could find. The walls were mostly windows, as most fast-food places are, but it was better than being caught out on open water.

As I entered, I tried to shout at people to take cover, but for some reason they just wanted to watch the clouds darken outside and the wind rip the leaves off trees. Did they think the glass was going to save them from the storm?

In attempt to save myself and the child that I was protecting, we hid behind one of the half-walls they have in the seating area. (I do not remember if she had been with me the whole time, if I picked her up at the house, or if she found me in the restaurant, but at this time I distinctly remember her being there and me doing everything I could to protect this precious child.) Something finally broke the glass and the screaming began. glass was flying everywhere, but we were sheltered from the worst of it. I found a door that lead to a storage closet and hid in there til the worst had passed.

The next thing I remember is racing inland to find my family. I knew that chaos would soon break loose on the main-land because of the storm. I ran with the child to find my mother at a super-mall.

The mall had many stories of shops and a complex system of ramps and pathways between the individual shops. I was surprised that I could find my mother at all in the maze of merchandise.

I found her with my elder sister and quickly explained the situation. We rushed to find my youngest brother. We were fortunate to find him quickly, but had more difficulty finding my middle brother.

We finally found him. He had transformed himself into a mannequin! I think he was trying to practice his stealth and observe others unnoticed. I was infuriated!

The mall was already filled with chaos. People were running from one direction to another, things were burning and mobs were forming.

I yelled at him and told him to change himself back immediately. As soon as he realized what was happening, you could see it in his eyes. We stepped back so he could change back.

In that moment, things happened so quickly I could not intervene. A small mob came up, picked up the mannequin that was my brother and threw him over one of the walkway ledges!!!

"GABRIEL!!!!!" I screamed.

I leaned over the rail in time to see him shatter into pieces. My heart was breaking. He was so close and I couldn't save him. If I had only made it there just a moment sooner he would still be alive. My brother would still be with us, not lying in pieces beneath us being trampled by those running mindlessly in the chaos, if I had only done better.

We had to move on.

With tears held back, I urged the rest of my family onward. I had to be strong and not fail the others.

In exiting the building, we dodged other things being thrown from higher levels. At one point we were nearly smashed by a large Christmas tree. We made it out only to see that chaos had enveloped everything, everywhere.

My sister, my mother and I talked as my brother held the child I carried with me. We pulled our money together and knew what we had to do.

There was an island a distance from the shore where we knew that there would be safety to be found. I don't know what was different about this island, but there was hope, and that was more than we had here.

We all walked to the end of this pier, pushing our way past others who also knew that there was hope on this island. Because of the demand for watercraft, with all the money we had, all we could purchase was a small waverunner and enough gas for one trip out there.

I stood there, holding the hands of my mother and sister. We held our heads high as we shouted words of encouragement to my brother. He held the baby and looked back over his shoulder with tears in his eyes. One last look. Then he started up the small waverunner that was all we could afford and headed toward the island.

We were able to give hope to him and the child and that was as much as we could do. Death eventually awaited us on the mainland, but that was not nearly as painful as the regret of wishing we could be there for my little brother and the child in the life we hoped they'd find.