By Holden Hartle

Recently, I had a dream, and I thought I would leave it up to the readers of the blog to analyze it and figure out what’s wrong in my life.

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You’re sitting on a hill. You are midway between the base and the top. The hill itself is grassy, but not the typical green, lush grass. It’s dirty and faded. The dirt isn’t soft or cold either. It’s dry and sandy. As you stand up, you have to wipe the dirt off of your shorts. Looking out in front of you, you see a landscape of that same grass and scattered trees.

At the base of the hill, two lions come out of hiding. You inhale sharply. They walk towards you ever so slowly. It feels like an eternity before they reach you. Their fur is golden and shiny, and their eyes are so brown one could mistake them as black. As they approach, you see their white teeth gleaming in the sun. They are ready to kill.

The moment they are at arm’s length, you give a swift smack to each of their noses. That seemed to do the trick. Seemingly in fear, they rush back to the base of the hill. You take a big sigh of relief.

To relax, you lie down on the grass. It’s crunchy and dry, but the sun feels nice on your skin. As you lie, you take a deep breath of fresh air. With your eyes closed, you have to rely on your other senses to feel the world around you. Doing this, the world seems different. You notice that it’s rather warm, and you begin to perspire. Your relaxation keeps being interrupted by an itching sensation caused by the unpleasant grass. As you sit up to itch your leg, you open your eyes to see that this landscape that was once covered in dry grass has been replaced by a hoard of snakes. You inhale sharply.

There is nowhere to run. As far as the eye can see the world is covered with snakes. These snakes are silver with teeth that are ready to kill. Their eyes are black. You turn around to face the top of the hill. At the very top is a school desk. You figure that snakes can’t climb, and so you decide to rush to the desk. The desk is only about fifty feet away, but it’s uphill. You can’t risk falling down into the snakes, so you walk briskly, but carefully, with your arms spread out beside you like a tightrope walker.

Upon reaching the desk, you climb on top of the chair. The snakes seem to realize that they can’t get you, so they slither away.

You slide down in the chair and sigh with relief. You can once again feel your surroundings. The air feels warm again, but the desk is cool and feels pleasant against your skin. You are facing the opposite direction you were facing before. On the other side of the hill, the trees are much more plentiful. The grass gradually turns lush and green as it disappears behind the trees.

A friend walks up behind you. She stares in the same direction you are. Upon noticing her, you ask, “Are you okay? Did you see the lions and the snakes?” She doesn’t respond. Instead, she turns to you and exclaims, “This is what you get!” She reaches into her pockets and grabs handfuls of beetles. You can’t examine them because as soon as she dumps them on you they crawl towards your face. You feel their mouths biting your skin. You close your eyes. Everything turns black.

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At this time, I woke up in a cold sweat shaking profusely. This happened several weeks ago, and I am still trying to pinpoint what the different animals and landscapes could mean.

Editor: Makena Behnke