So I occasionally have these pretty epic dreams that would make phenomenal movies, in my opinion. It’s really too bad there’s no chance they’d ever get made because, humbly speaking, I think these are typically a thousand times better than the deplorable dross coming out Hollywood these days. I use to have these dreams far more often, but they’ve been infrequent over the last decade, which is rather disappointing because they were the highlights of going to bed every night. If I had to guess, streaming shows and smartphones are probably to blame, although I don’t watch much TV and don’t use my phone for much beyond texting. Kids! I’ll blame it on my kids and getting no sleep for the last few years.
In any case, this is one of the more elaborate dreams I’ve had, so I wanted to share, because even if it’s not a movie it might make a great short story or setting for my next novel. And if you’re wondering about the horrifying picture above, I asked ChatGPT to come up with a picture based on my dream. I think it nailed it, as terrifying as that is…
So there are these aliens taking over the earth. Me and a group of survivors were running from them for a long time, finding lots of dead bodies and destroyed cities, and not being quite sure what happened. I guess we were someplace far up north and came down for a visit, and found the earth destroyed? Several members of my group were lost, but we ended up in a warehouse and found a bunch of these plant-like creatures living there.
They kind of looked like giant venus-fly traps, but more pod-like, with teeth in their petals, and lots of dextrous, snaking vines. So this “queen” thought she had us cornered, and wanted us to give ourselves over willingly, and started explaining their story. Apparently, they came from a distant world, and travelled through space colonising worlds and then “farming” them. They had once been to the moon, which used to be a rich farm for them, but when they returned this time, they found it barren and lifeless. So they came back to earth to find sustenance.
She said that they had created all life on earth, millions of years ago, and had brought people onto the world just to harvest and work for them, so they could be fed when they came back. And so now here they were, to reap their twisted rewards. Well, turns out they don’t like our sun, and I and the other survivors made a dash for it outside (it was evening, the sun was setting), and scrambled over this high wall to safety. But we weren’t really safe, because it was almost dark, and so they were coming after us. I heard the queen say, “No, just wait, we’ll get them.”
So it was myself, another guy, a woman, and two children—a little boy and girl. Apparently people had created barriers and fortifications to keep the aliens away, so there were a lot of high fences and barbed wire. Obviously it didn’t work though, but created some high tension moments when the sun finally set, and we were clamouring over the walls desperately, and the little girl got stuck and we had to rush over and help her just as the vines were about to get her. One scratch or prick from the vines would turn you into this zombie-like thing, and then you’d be the alien’s slave.
So we ran down the hill and got into this car and drove away. Where, I don’t know. The dream sort of separated right there, but then later on I found myself with another group of survivors, holding off a zombie invasion in a little barn in the country. There were only a few of us, and we only had a couple of guns and rifles, and there were some SERIOUS zombies.
These were like, mutant-Hulk zombies, and they were really hungry for our brains. I think they were like offshoots of the aforementioned alien race or something, but they were tearing through all of our defences and barricades. We holed up in the basement at first, and I suggested hiding under the stairs where we could prevent too many of them coming at us at once, just shoot them in the door frame and let the bodies pile up. But this uppity chick said no, and while we were arguing they started breaking through.
So it became every man for himself; I eventually got a hold of a Steyr Aug (which is totally sweet), but only two magazines of ammo. I was taking zombies out, but they were huge and each one needed like fifteen rounds to kill. So finally I climb up on the roof, and it’s storming and the wind is blowing and there’s a turbulent sky above, and the zombies all follow me to the rooftop and I can see them climbing over the top and coming towards me. I’m like, damn, this sucks.
So I shoot as many as I can, and finally, with one round left in the chamber, I shoot myself in the head. Which is a weird thing to dream about, because I experienced “afterlife” after that, which—lemme tell you folks—is just blackness. It was a nice blackness though, peaceful. Then I guess I “came to” later on and the zombies had pretty much taken over the world, but a few humans had learnt how to control them, and then it all gets fuzzy.
I wouldn’t dare begin to try and interpret a dream like that, but they’re fun and exciting and usually make me glad my subconscious isn’t in charge of the waking world. How about you, do you ever have crazy dreams like that? Do you write them down? Let me know in the comments below!
Pearson Sharp 