Dream:

I was back in town visiting college.  It felt like home to me! It must have been some sort of reunion or homecoming, because lots of old friends were hanging out just like old times.  But, these weren't just college friends.  These were friends I had collected through out my whole life.  Everyone was mingling and having so much fun together. 

We were staying in the dorms, and getting settled in to spend the night.  There were so many people staying there that we had mattresses overflowing out of the rooms and spilling out throughout all the halls.  This made it even more fun because guys and girls, new friends and old friends, were getting that much more time to spend together. 

As we all settled in to our ready-made beds on the floor, (after plugging in all our cell-phones) and started the typical 'spend the night' ritual where conversations slowly drift off as people start falling asleep while others keep thinking of things they just have to say. Those are always the best conversations.  It was so peaceful... being surrounded by such companionship, and the sounds of people becoming so relaxed and happy.  The sound of the University Choir was coming from a distance and the music became corporate worship as it floated over us and we thanked God for this time together and praised Him for being the "Rock of Ages".  A few of the people joined in, adding beautiful harmonies to the chords of the already perfect song.  

But, slowly and suddenly at the same time... the mood started to change... We knew something was wrong and people started to worry.  Something wasn't right... something was going terribly wrong with the choir.  The company of slumbering people became a crowd of concerned individuals and a buzz of concerns replaced the peaceful sounds.  Rumors mentioned conflict, suicides, guns, death... I began to panic.  The choir director that had played an important role in my life, was not longer living his.  As I rushed to push through the crowd to get to him, I was unaware that I had no plan of what I would do when I got there.  The fight to push through the crowd was getting harder and harder, until I realized I was completely swimming upstream.  I stopped and listened to the rumors that were swarming around me.  That's when I realized.  The chaos around me had shift from concern for the teacher and student in the choir, to the panic for our own lives.  There was a gunman.  He was loose in the building. We were all running for our lives. 

I immediately stop going against the crowd and start letting the stampede sweep me up and take me with it. Everything was such a blur. 

Next thing I know, I'm in a classroom, in the dark... with at least a hundred other people. Just an hour or so before, I had been surrounded by the comfort of close companionship...now I felt alone in a room of strangers. We're all huddled together in our attempt to hide from the attacker, knowing that it was not going to be good enough.  This killer was blood-thirsty, and wanted us ALL to die.  The silence was deafening... you couldn't even hear the panicked breathing.  I start looking around the room for a better way to shield myself from the inevitable.  I spy 2 close friends, and I notice some tiny cabinets against the wall that could possibly conceal the three of us.  We hurry over and squeeze ourselves into the small, cluttered cabinets, and I regret every vegetable I've ever eaten to make me grow to be so tall.  The silence settles in again... except this time I can hear my own heartbeat... I'm wondering if its loud enough to give away the location of all these people. 

I was sitting in the most uncomfortable position, with my right knee up to my chest, my left leg stretched over my friend’s lap, with my body twisted and leaning most of its weight on my elbow.  I knew I couldn’t hold this position long.  I wished I knew where this gunman was… and what did he want? Why was he doing this?

Out of the silence we heard gunshots. One, then two…then so many you couldn’t count. They were coming from right below us. Because of our silence we could hear every detail… every scream, every plea, every bullet.  I even felt like I could hear every thought, every soul in agony.  Then everything went quiet. 

Was it over? Was he done?  How would this end? How would we know if it’s okay to come out?  I didn’t think my heart could beat harder or faster…

Just then someone busted through the door.  He was here! People scattered. Some froze. But he didn’t shoot… He acted as if there was no one else in the room. He walked straight through the parted sea of victims, straight toward the cabinets! He got down on the ground and inched his way closer to the cabinet doors.  As he opened it, time stood still.  I could see him lying on the floor, on his back, with the gun aimed right at my face. I gasped for air and grimaced I prepared to get shot between the eyes.  His finger pulled back on the trigger.

Click

Nothing.

He was out of bullets.

In that same instant, someone from the room came up from behind him and hit him over the head with a folding chair…

This is where this dream ends.

I woke up frozen in my body; my heart racing… the feeling of danger didn’t evaporate with the dream.  It had no resolution, no moment of relief… no real conclusion. 

Somehow, I went back to sleep.

I continued dreaming scenarios that were just as vivid and just as intense…life and death situations.  But fortunately for us both, I don’t remember them as clearly.

There are more plot lines and details from the dreams of the night that were before and after what I’ve shared… but I think its best to just forget this ever happened and move on.