There was a monster chasing me, and I was terrified that it was gonna get me. I don't recall seeing it full on, just a blur beside me when it hit me out of the damp, stale darkness of the toolshed in my Grandmother's garage. Somehow I managed to shake loose from that first collision, and run out into the yard and across the street. As I crossed the street the scene changed and I was on the lawn of a pristine white mansion on the shore of a calm lake. The sun was shining, like it had been hidden behind rain clouds that cleared suddenly and was excited to be back in action, and there was a party going on, a family reunion or wedding reception or something like that. I was walking over to one of the tables loaded with goodies when again, blur out of the corner of my eye and something coming fast towards me and I know if it hits me its gonna hurt something awful and I flinch down and just catch a little bit of it on my shoulder. Next thing I know I'm running like a freaking gazelle blazing past trees and houses so fast that they just start to be a blur and then I'm leaning forward so far that my feet aren't touching the ground at all and now towns and forests and mountains are streaking by and disappearing behind me. Aiming low, I skim inches above the treetops and forgetting the mortal terror from a few moments before I start singing at the top of my lungs.
I was so enthralled that I was flying I didn't see it coming at me again until it was too late to veer away from it and not hit the trees below. The blow hit me square on the back, drove me down into the trees and onto the ground. I was pinned by a heavy weight and it was dark again, overpowering cold and blinding dark. I couldn't see it but I could hear it breathing and whispering something sinister but unintelligible into my ear. It picked me up, whirled me around, and slammed me into the ground again. It picked me up again but this time I twisted out of its grip and shot back into the air, flying like superman straight up into the sky.
I don't know how many times I had to dodge the damn thing again, but after a while I realized that if I thought about dogs I would become invisible to it, and could take off in a new direction without it following me. I ended up in an apartment building on a farm where the family kept goats and chickens and dogs in the apartments and had cows penned in pastures fenced with lifejackets. The farmer gave me a rake, and pointed silently toward a hilltop where a single pine tree stood. I walked up the slope to the tree, and as I walked I was joined by dogs and lots of them. By the time we got to the tree there were hundreds of them, and we all turned round three times and lay down.
And that's when I woke up.
Good morning, everybody.
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