#evil trees

FernGully: The Last Rainforest (1992)

nice night for a drive

Sometimes I have dreams about dreams that I had years ago. Sometimes, I also remember long-forgotten ones… …I am driving down the road in a blue Ford Rabbit (lol, don’t ask me how all of us managed to fit in there because I have no idea), with my childhood friend D— ridin’ shotgun, and my friend M— in the back petting a kitten that happened to be with us for no truly apparent reason. We are driving down Lower Valley Road, south of Kalispell, to a strange clump of trees in the middle of the open fields, though we aren’t sure why. When we enter the narrow road leading into the trees, the branches fight us every step of the way. We come out in a large clearing. In the middle of the clearing is an old school house, its faded blue paint pealing off in large sections. The whole thing looks like it would fall down if you blew on it. That is when D— and M— stepped out of the car and start stumping woodenly toward the schoolhouse. At first I think it must be some kind of weird prank, but then I see the kitten is doing the same thing. I sit in the car, hiding under the dashboard for quite a while, paralyzed with a mysterious fear, before I decide to go in and find them— There was originally a gap here that I couldn't remember, but it came back to me years later… —I go into a creepy room full of old desks, the kind with a built-in swivel-chair attached to the bottom, and a large podium at the head of the class. The thing almost looks like a warped church altar. On each side of the podium stand posts on which there are candles burning with a wicked green flame. Behind the podium stands a man in a black cloak with one green eye gleaming from under his hood. He’s waving his arms in the air like an orchestra conductor, and seems to be commanding my friends somehow this way. They seem to be under some kind of spell. And to this day, I don’t know why I was unaffected. He commands my friends to bind me, and I remember having to shove D— into a closet while I rescued M—, who’d be easier to drag out to the car— Back to what I originally remembered… —Then next thing I know, I'm shoving M— and the kitten in the car, only they’re trying to get back out and go into the building. I feel a sense of impending desperation, as if I expect something catastrophic to happen if I don’t get out of there. Mostly, I keep looking at the door of the schoolhouse as if I expect something nasty to come charging out at me. Finally, I get M— to stay in the car, and I frantically lock the doors (it’s one of those dreams where I can’t seem to do anything fast enough, and the faster you try to go, the more you seem to screw up), and take off. On the way out, the branches fight me every step of the way, putting up more resistance than they did on the way in. But I’m never able to go back for D—… Later, the dream skips, and I’m back to the old schoolhouse. Or what’s left of it. There are police officers there, sanding in front of the blackened wreckage, talking about how it exploded, and that it might have been atomic… Strangely enough, I still knew D— was alive. I talked to him later— in the waking world— and he of course asked me why I didn’t go back for him. We ultimately concluded that, in the long run, he probably didn’t need to be rescued. Little did I realize how right we were, for I would find out later that he did manage to break the One-Eyed Man’s spell… Strangely enough, talking to D— reminded me of another dream I’d had, though I’m not sure if it is related to that one: I’m in this rustic old town, riding on a cart of watermelons. Go figure. The cart starts going fast down this hill, and the hill road runs parallel to a river running down that way, as we pass confused people. It’s all very scenic and pleasant, and at first it's fun. But then I see, way down at the bottom of this impossibly large hill, this dark castle looming in the distance. The contrast is really stark: up here at the top, it’s all bright and sunny, and at the bottom there’s a storm with lots of lightning, somehow I know I can’t stop, that I’m ultimately going to end up crashing through the castle gates… …And that’s when I woke up. -11/08/01

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