The Storm

In the fall of 2009 I had a dream that was very alarming. This is that dream.

There was a major storm coming that would touch every nation of the world and destroy everything in its path. Every nation and every people were aware of the storm and knew that it was coming. As a result, all of the nation’s leaders gathered together to find a way to survive this storm, this destruction that was coming. The decision was to construct underground shelter cities, a place for citizens of each nation to survive. Each nation would be responsible for the construction of these underground cities and make sure that every citizen knew where they were to report in order to survive the Storm. Every government of every nation with the assistance of the media did everything they could to make sure the citizens knew where the closest underground shelter city was located. There was enough time to prepare the shelter cities and make sure that everyone had the opportunity to survive.

The time came; the storm began and started to make his way across the earth. As the storm began to raze across the world, warnings were sent out to alert every person of every nation to seek refuge in the underground shelter cities prepared as safety against the storm. I received the warning to seek safety in the underground shelter city closest to me. The journey began. In the dream, there was a sense of personal accountability; not of one being accountable for others getting to the shelter, but each person had the task of getting to the underground shelter city themselves. As I journeyed to the shelter city I started out with a group of people. Some of the people were friends, some were acquaintances, and some were just people who happened to be traveling to the shelter too. Our travelling did not involve vehicles but we had to walk to our destination. As people received the alarm to get to the nearest shelter city as soon as possible, they packed their belongings in backpacks and whatever they could easily carry and made their way to their designated shelter city.

As our group travelled, more people joined us and we walked and talked and made our way on our journey. As we travelled, I noticed that some of the people I began the journey with were no longer in our group. Some of the people seemed to get distracted by things that were happening around us and leave. The group I started with was not the same group I continued with as we were a quarter of the way through the journey. Some of the people I travelled with were family members, I did not know which members they were but as family they were dear to me. As we travelled my family members began to get distracted and do stupid things. They would not stay with the group and started going down different paths that were not directly on the path to the shelter city that we were making our way to. I went after them and would catch up to them and ask them what were they doing, didn’t they understand the importance of getting to the shelter city. "Why are you going this way when you know the importance of the situation at hand?", I would scold them and tell them to continue with us and to stay with the group. This happened more than once and each time I found myself searching for them and getting them back on the correct path. It seemed that they weren’t the same family members each time but different family members at different times on our journey. At about the mid point in our journey I remembered stopping outside of a diner. Some of the people in our group stopped to go in and eat; however, others including me continued and did not let food distract us from reaching our destination. We understood the critical nature of reaching the shelter.

As we continued the journey the sky began to darken as the storm got closer. We could feel the difference in the atmosphere and knew that the storm was approaching. It seemed that as the storm started to get closer some people moved faster, some became even more distracted. Instead of staying on the correct path to the shelter people began to take other paths that they felt were quicker or that they believed would take them to the shelter; however, my group and I continued. As we got closer to the shelter you could visibly see the signs of the storm. It was the scariest thing I had ever seen. A sense of dread, fear, and hopelessness seemed to grip your very being at the very thought of being caught and/or destroyed by the storm. This feeling was more than just a normal fear but it was as if being caught in the storm would bring about your utter and complete destruction. This destruction would be so great that you would never be able to escape it; a destruction that would take a moment, but last an eternity. Everyone that caught a glimpse of the storm seemed to know that this was true. Even as they became more distracted, as if the distraction would drown out the final outcome of the storm, they knew that this was an eternal destruction.

At last I arrived at the shelter city entrance. The entrance of the underground shelter city had a waiting room where people checked in before going into the protective area of the underground shelter city. The waiting area was similar to the waiting area of a hospital emergency room. There was a television with updates of the Storm and also movies and programs showing. There were books and magazines to read. There were also toys and other distractions for children to play with while waiting to check into the shelter city. When I got to the waiting area of the shelter city, I immediately knew that I had sent my children ahead of me. Three of my children had followed my instructions and checked in and were already in the safety of the underground shelter city; however, when I arrived I noticed that two of my children were still in the waiting area playing in the area and goofing off. They apparently became distracted by what was going on in the waiting area and did not check in. I instantly became upset and asked them why they were in the waiting area and not in the safety of the shelter city. To this question they did not have a good answer. As a mom I felt as so many moms; they are playing around and not doing what they are supposed to do. I was very wrought with them but I knew the gravity of the situation and ushered them to the check in area.

At this point, the storm was very close people were running into the underground shelter city entrance seeking refuge from the storm. You could now hear and see the results of the storm raging outside. The storm made sounds like I have never heard. These sounds didn’t sound normal; they were sounds of metal bending and beasts moaning. It felt as if some very great evil was upon us. As we made our way to the check in I saw some family members that had made it to the shelter. I sent my two children ahead and went after my family. Instead of heading toward the check in line, I noticed that they went a different way. I caught up to them to tell them to come at once. One of them apparently had to use the restroom and they all left the line to go. I informed them of the imminent danger and realized that if I didn’t leave and go to the check in I would be destroyed by the storm.

As I made my way back to the check in area, I saw that the storm was right at the door of the entrance to the shelter city. It began to rip and pull the building away. The intensity of the wind was more powerful than any wind force that I have ever felt. I could see the storm as it seemed to enter the building and sucked it and people still trying to enter the building to escape destruction away. I made it to the check in and looked back, as I looked back I saw my two children that I sent ahead to the check in some distance behind me. I ran to them and asked them what in the world were they doing here, I sent them ahead and they did not obey or heed my instruction. We ran toward the check in area and it was vacant. Only a guard was in position inside the first door to the shelter city. He had locked the first door to the shelter city.

The check in doors to the shelter city were constructed with two steel doors. The first door had a window and could be opened; however, the second door was solid steel and could not be opened once closed. I pleaded with the guard to open the first door, the guard looked at me and did not want to budge; however, he reluctantly opened the door and let me and my two children in. He then ran ahead to safety. We immediately ran into the first door. By this time the Storm was almost upon us, the wind was so strong that I had to push the door, in order to close it. This took some time. As I pushed the door shut I turned around. My two children had just run into the second door and just as I turned to look in their direction, I saw the door shut behind them. I ran to the door to try to get in but it was too late. The door had shut and there was no way to open it. I banged on the door and my two children ran to the door trying to open it but it was locked even to them. I thought within myself, "I can’t believe this, I went back after them and they didn’t even hold the door open for me." I felt a sinking feeling and knew expressing any emotion at this point was futile. I could feel and hear the wind as it got closer to the door. The steel door in front of me was reinforced but it was nothing compared to the force of the impending storm. I watched as the door began to rattle and shake from the force of the storm, I backed up to the steel door behind me. As the storm ripped the steel door out of the walls I saw total darkness. I woke up.