Sesame seeds of destruction
I had a late dinner last night of Sesame Chicken. In hindsight, this was probably a bad choice. Not only because it didn't taste as good as it usually does, but because of the vivid dream it spawned:
FLASH
I'm in an office building in one of the higher floors. Some of my coworkers are next to me. We're bent over a large conference table studying some sort of schematic. There are large windows surrounding our conference room. A quick look up from the table reveals a cityscape of industrial buildings, large and small, and a waterside facility of some sort bathed in a perpetual twilight ripple pattern. Think Coruscant meets Virginia Beach, Virginia. The largest building opposite my own is apparently some sort of military complex. As I look back down to the schematic, I think to myself that something is not right about the complex. The swarm of aircraft and various other vehicles is nowhere to be seen. Things are just too quiet. I shrug it off and turn my attention back to the table. Then it hits me. I start to look at my watch. In the dream I never see the display but I know the time. I'd witnessed a similar event years ago. I barely have time to tell my coworkers to get behind the table and huddle up before a massive explosion turns all sensation into white light and deafening silence. Slowly, I crawl up from my safespot and turn around. I look out the window, but there's no longer a window. In fact, there's barely a building. The entire wall opposite me has been torn away. Like the gaping maw of a Sarlaac, an enormous crater extends from where the military complex once stood to the rubble that was once the other half of the building.
FLASH
I'm now street level with the destruction and on a school bus or possibly just a public transportation bus. I'm sitting toward the back and look out the window. There are two empty parking spaces ahead of the one in which the bus is located. Beyond them is the crater from the explosion. I remember commenting that we were lucky to be this far back, but not as lucky as those in front of us. There is smoke, but I do not smell or taste it. If not for the crater so close, nothing would be amiss inside the bus. An eternity passes. I hear myself yell out "Is anyone hurt? IS ANYONE HURT?" A little girl slowly raises her left arm, her right arm clutching it with a bloodied sweater. I inspect the wound and tell her she will be ok and not to be afraid, just keep the pressure on it like she had it. The girl is not even crying. No one else has yet to make a sound. People on the street who had apparently been working to rescue us finally achieve their goal and the door of the bus is ripped away. Methodically, I help them unload everyone from the bus.
The dream ends.
I awake with an immense sense of dread and unease. I lay in bed waiting for the chills to dissipate and think to myself "Last time I order Sesame Chicken from that place!" After my shower, I see on TV that there were minor explosions at the British Consulate in New York. Good thing I didn't finish the meal.
FLASH
I'm in an office building in one of the higher floors. Some of my coworkers are next to me. We're bent over a large conference table studying some sort of schematic. There are large windows surrounding our conference room. A quick look up from the table reveals a cityscape of industrial buildings, large and small, and a waterside facility of some sort bathed in a perpetual twilight ripple pattern. Think Coruscant meets Virginia Beach, Virginia. The largest building opposite my own is apparently some sort of military complex. As I look back down to the schematic, I think to myself that something is not right about the complex. The swarm of aircraft and various other vehicles is nowhere to be seen. Things are just too quiet. I shrug it off and turn my attention back to the table. Then it hits me. I start to look at my watch. In the dream I never see the display but I know the time. I'd witnessed a similar event years ago. I barely have time to tell my coworkers to get behind the table and huddle up before a massive explosion turns all sensation into white light and deafening silence. Slowly, I crawl up from my safespot and turn around. I look out the window, but there's no longer a window. In fact, there's barely a building. The entire wall opposite me has been torn away. Like the gaping maw of a Sarlaac, an enormous crater extends from where the military complex once stood to the rubble that was once the other half of the building.
FLASH
I'm now street level with the destruction and on a school bus or possibly just a public transportation bus. I'm sitting toward the back and look out the window. There are two empty parking spaces ahead of the one in which the bus is located. Beyond them is the crater from the explosion. I remember commenting that we were lucky to be this far back, but not as lucky as those in front of us. There is smoke, but I do not smell or taste it. If not for the crater so close, nothing would be amiss inside the bus. An eternity passes. I hear myself yell out "Is anyone hurt? IS ANYONE HURT?" A little girl slowly raises her left arm, her right arm clutching it with a bloodied sweater. I inspect the wound and tell her she will be ok and not to be afraid, just keep the pressure on it like she had it. The girl is not even crying. No one else has yet to make a sound. People on the street who had apparently been working to rescue us finally achieve their goal and the door of the bus is ripped away. Methodically, I help them unload everyone from the bus.
The dream ends.
I awake with an immense sense of dread and unease. I lay in bed waiting for the chills to dissipate and think to myself "Last time I order Sesame Chicken from that place!" After my shower, I see on TV that there were minor explosions at the British Consulate in New York. Good thing I didn't finish the meal.