In the crosshairs
Last night I had a fairly sound sleep, interrupted by a very disturbing dream right before waking. The dream took place in the future, during a time of considerable global strife. A group of us had been on a church outting to some island. We were returning to be dropped off at a dock and return to our respective homes. Like dreams we were in Hong Kong but weren’t in Hong Kong… we could have been anywhere and the setting was more like Canada… in fact Toronto.
Next to the dock – somewhat like a large commercial dock – was a small building. Next to this building was a large grass parking lot about the size of a soccer field. On the other side of field was a second building, similar to an old, large cottage clubhouse. It was two stories high with a veranda on the 2nd floor. To exit the parking lot one had to drive around this building. It was a cloudy, overcast fall day and about 5 pm. I was alone with the group from church… I.e. the kids and Tess were not with me.
As we came around the right side side of the building by the dock we looked across the parking lot to see military personnel on the other side. Everyone stopped in their tracks. We had no idea who they were, but thanks to the global situation, we knew exactly who they were. I was at the back of the crowd – maybe 30 of us – surveying the situation. In the distance I could see snipers on the verandas. I was shocked by the size of their guns, "Wow," I thought, "those are seriously high powered sniping rifles." At that point none of us suspected any violence, but as a precaution I said to those around me, "They have snipers on the 2nd floor. Move out of the line of sight of the snipers."
Several people listened to me and we crouched behind cars. But about twenty didn’t. They assumed the situation would not end in violence. Then the first shot rang out.
A friend about eight meters in front of us fell to the ground. We all stared at him, waiting to see what would happen next. For some reason I knew he’d been shot in the stomach. Adrenalin coursed through my veins as I thought, "Oh my gosh, this is real." Then the blood started to flow from underneath him. It was much like the first sniper incident in Saving Private Ryan… there was little we could do for this person… in a minute or two he’d be dead.
Several other shots rang out as others near the front of our group fell. Those near the back helped each other retreat. Now, you know the way dreams work – everything morphs. As we turned around, what was previously a small building by the dock turned into a very large clubhouse. We ran inside to seek cover. The situation was quite surreal. The military controlled the entire area, including the clubhouse, but as long as we were hidden inside we were safe.
Numerous people attempted to leave and never made it. Others made the mistake of venturing near windows to be met by the fate of a sniper’s bullet. When that happened other military personnel ran in, cleaned up the mess and removed the body. But for those of us remaining in the building, they never came after us. They even walked BY us… but would not hurt us.
I stayed at the back of the building to stay safe and eventually there were only a handful of us left… in fact, of the four or five of us remaining… I was the only lay person. All the others were pastors. Despite that, they all related to me as if I was a pastor. We all knew that eventually we had to leave that building, or that eventually we’d be flushed out. But in the meantime we waited. At one point someone asked me, "Why are you still in here, Charles. This – i.e. the terror, suspense, etc. – could all be over for you in a moment?"
"I am just here to think," I replied, "I am just here… to… think." Everyone seemed to understand exactly what I meant as we sat there in the darkness thinking and thinking and thinking. I remember thinking I was in a terrible dead end situation – perhaps literally – and feeling there was no way I could escape the physical inevitability ahead of me. It truly was a horrible predicament.
As I waited I awoke and Sebastian asked if I could make waffles.
What do you think this dream meant?
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