The Pool

I have some crazy dreams. The past three days or so have been some of the craziest ones I've ever had.

When I was little, I would dream Pumpkinhead had me trapped in the back of our RV on a hill in the middle of no-where's-ville Pennsylvania. That one had merit for reasons I won't discuss right now.

When I got a little older and my tastes changed a bit, I was trapped in a bright white house by a werewolf (the Ginger Snaps variety).

My dreams lately have become less monster of the week and more psychological freak shows that have me freaked out well after I wake up. I have no doubt that I will still be a bit freaked out by this one later today.

I had to write it down and share it:

Vanessa and I are in the backseat of a large SUV. I can't see who's driving and whether there's a passenger or not, I don't know. She's holding her hand out, looking at a medium-sized diamond ring.

It's someone else's ring though. No one ever says it but I know it's not hers.

"He wouldn't get you a ring like that," I told her.

"I know."

"The one he'd get you would be bigger and shinier, much bigger and much shinier," I said, as the ring got bigger and much shinier as if it was becoming the one I was describing. "And it would play music. It would be like having a boombox attached to your finger." My sister laughed. By now, the ring is a very large, very shiny, rectangular emerald. It was such a rich green that it almost hurt to look at it.

We slowly went by a couple buildings that were multcolored flags held together by thin metal vertical rails. That was where we were going. One of the buildings was a scyscraper made of a rectangular emerald, as deep and rich as my sister's ring. She held it up to compare it and it was the exact same one.


David, Cassie, and I are walking down a crowded beach. The emerald building is only twenty feet or so away from us. It's a stark contrast to the blinding turquoise of the ocean water.

A man, who was at first a hotdog vendor, is know a grab-them-when-they-walk-by live informerical host.

"If this were life, it would be a ship," he says obnoxiously.

David starts to laugh so hard he nearly doubles over.

"What is so funny?" Cassie asks.

"That's so good," he replied, still laughing. "This IS life."

As we keep walking, the blinding turquoise water dims quickly to an icky mix of indigo and black. The beach is now a large swimming pool. It's bottom and edges are rusty steel.

David and Cassie are in the water now, sitting on a platform near the shallow end.

I looked down at the water that becoming so dark and thick that it looked more like syrup than water. Anxiety, fear, and panic washes over me and it nearly knocks the wind out of me.

A little girl is suddenly standing in front of me, holding my hand. I look down into her big brown eyes and smile.

"Come on," she says, pulling me toward the deep end of the pool.

I pull away from her, shaking my head.

She sulks for a moment before going in by herself. I have a second of regretting my decision, but as I watch her tread the molasses-like water, I know I had to protect myself.

As I watch her paddle out to the middle of the deep end, I had a glimpse of something below the surface. Maybe I was projecting or imagining the dorsel fin and long slender tail swim under her. I squeeze my eyes shut to drive away the horrifying image.

A shimmer pulls my attention to my right, away from the girl. The right corner of the deep end is still blinding turquoise. A perfect square of beauty and tranquility.

David, Cassie, and the little girl smiled as I walk toward it. A tiny bit of hesitation halts my progress for a second, but I climb into that square of turquoise. Standing on the platform, the water only came up to my waist. It was temperate and perfect.

The little girl swims over to me and grabs my hands. I try to pull away when she starts to drag me toward the dark water. There is something wrong with that water, but my perfect square of tranquil turquoise is safe.

A loud bang below us, below the water, made the little girl stop. Another hit and I know it's something banging on the steel. It is under the water, just below the platform I stand on. I saw the rusty, burgundy and orange, sheet of steel. Under the water, the rapping vibrated through my entire body and my bones shook with it.

"What is that?" I ask the little girl.

She shook her head.

"What is that?" I repeated.

"We aren't supposed to talk about it," she answered.

I look around the pool to find everyone staring at me. I never should have gotten into this pool. I never should have come to this place at all.

I start to get out of the pool, but the little girl latches herself to me. I can't get out with her holding onto me.

My perfect square of tranquil turqoise is gone. The thick, black syrup now surrounds me as if to mock me.

I can see a boy on the other side of the sheet of steel. He is the one banging on it. He's not banging to get in. He wants out. I watch him beat on the steel until his tears took him over.

"That's where they put them."

I looked at the little girl, who is now standing outside of the pool, looking down at me. No one is in the pool, only me.

"Who?" I ask.

"The ones who don't like the pool," she says in a sing-song voice.

"When do they get out?"

"Oh, they never get out. They were very bad and are in trouble."

"Who put them there?"

She stares down at me with those big brown eyes and the most wicked, evil smile spreads across her face.