dream: hardware store nightmare
shopping at some sort of hardware store with James, wandering around, trying to find one particular thing. we were also looking at possible Christmas presents for our family.
then once we found what were were looking for, we went up to the checkout area. suddenly things shifted a bit, and I was waiting in line with uncle Steve. I’d stripped off all my clothes at some point in the store, but was still carrying my pants slung over my shoulder. I was holding a bed sheet wrapped around myself.
So then I came up against a classic embaressing dream dilemna: I had to get my wallet out to pay the cashier, but I couldn’t do that and hold the sheet at the same time – everyone was going to catch a glimpse of me naked. I was fumbling to try anyway, when everything changed -
“Get down, get down, get down!” the bagger shouted, pointing at me – no, PAST me, I realized, as I spun around, and saw a decrepit old man slowly drawing a revolver with a long barrel out of the side pocket on his wheel chair.
“He’ll shoot you,” the guy continued, trying to warn the old man’s caretaker – the old man nonchalantly pulled the trigger, holding the gun off to one side, there was an explosion, and the bullet richocheted off the floor and out across the store.
We all backed away, shocked, and then I watched him slot in another bullet, then calmly point the gun at his caretaker and pull the trigger – then at the cashier, then the bagger, then me, then uncle steve. He shot at each of us, and we all fell – but he missed me. I curled up at the end of the checkout stand, out of sight for a moment, trying to play dead and at the same time fumble to pull out my phone and call 911…
I was half awake when those last shots were fired, the sound still echoing in my ears, and even though I already knew it was a dream, I still laid without breathing or moving for a few seconds before I could force my eyes open, to make sure that the blurry scene around me was really my darkened bedroom, and not the checkout line with the psychopathic old man.