"The Dream" a rainy day story

[Snafu]

Going, going, gone.

There I was again, walking down the street just outside of town. I could see the ocean and a few fisherman on the beach. Being still close to town, the road is lined with vendors selling pots, baskets, sandals, firewood and an assortment of fruits, vegetables and fish. The road is a bit difficult to walk on as it was made of broken seashells. I’m glad I have sandals as many people on the road are barefoot.

Immediately I recognize the dream. I had had this dream now multiple times. In fact, I had had it so often, I could remember the details when I woke up. The dream always starts out pleasant but it´s always the unpleasant part that wakes me up. Always in my awake state I tell myself that the next time I have the dream, I´m going to change the ending. But each time in the dream, I fail to have the control to make the change.

Here I am in Atlantis, an ancient world that had disappeared for unknown reasons. Most of the modern world was familiar with it, believed it had existed, but had no idea where it was or what happened to it. I still don´t know where it was but I´m quite sure I know what happened to it. My hope is that my dream isn´t a regression to a past life because I´m not sure I could live with the guilt of being solely responsible for the demise of an entire civilization.

In my waking times, I would be slightly upset because most people in their dreams would find themselves in the role of status, a King, a Queen, an Emperor or some form of upper class. Not me, no, I was a plumber. Not even a plumber for the royalty, just an average everyday plumber. I have no knowledge of my work hours or even of any jobs I had done. I only know I was part of the working class, an unknown, until I destroyed the ancient land.

As I amble down the street, the weight of my toolbox reminds me that I need to clean it out as soon as I get home. The walks along the beachfront road are enjoyable and I’m always amazed at how friendly everyone is. It´s as if no one has any worries. People call me by name and I know most of theirs. Life seems pleasant, organized and carefree, unlike what life was like in my waking hours.

As I walk along among the people, I glanced down. There, lying in some scattered seashells on the road, was what appeared to be a bathtub stopper. Being a plumber, I decided to stop and pick it up as it may come in handy should one of my customers happen to need it.

I reach down, grab the stopper and pull on it, but it appears to be stuck in the ground. I pull harder and harder but it just won’t come out of the road. Realizing the stopper is really set in the ground, I set down my toolbox and open it to remove a large screwdriver to try to pry it out of the road.

Placing the screwdriver under the stopper, I applied as much pressure as I could. Finally it pops out of the ground. To my surprise, as the stopper pops out, a geyser of water starts spraying out of the hole in the ground, where the stopper was. I’m extremely surprised at how much water is rushing out of the ground and the amount of water and pressure seems to be increasing by the second.

People start gathering around and ask me questions but I fail to understand what they’re saying as I continue to watch the geyser get higher and higher as well as wider and wider.

Suddenly I feel the island shift. I realize, it´s going down. As I stood there with the bathtub stopper in my hand, I notice people starting to glare at me. Their friendly smiles had turned to anger. People begin yelling and cursing at me. It was obvious the whole island was sinking and I wasn´t sure whether I was going to drown or be killed by the angry mob coming for me.

I decide to make a run for it with what now appears to be hundreds of people chasing me. I can hear the cursing getting louder and louder. I find myself slowing down and realize I’m now trying to run through a foot of water and it’s rising rapidly. I begin wading as fast as I can, still trying to get away. In a short time the water reaches my lower lip. I look around and as far as I can see there’s nothing but water and a few roof tops.

Then I wake up.

Snafu