Dreams
The Cage
by brad
(June 1994)
I am locked in a small cage in the middle of what seems to be an enormous room. It's so pitch black in here. In fact it is dark in that I can barely see anything, let alone how big the room actually is. There is only enough light for me to make out my immediate surroundings, and a few feet of the bare floor just beyond the bars of my cage.
The bars of my prison are thick and black, and are very cold to the touch.
It is quiet. I am comfortable physically, but disturbed at the idea of being confined and not remembering how or why I was put there.
I hear a shuffling near me. When I turn toward the sound, the shape of a small girl in a summer dress begins to emerge in one dark corner of my cell. As my eyes adjust to the blackness, I can tell by the expression on her face that she is very upset. I move toward her -- slowly -- so that I don't frighten her even more than she appears to be. I crouch down and look into her eyes. It's obvious she has been crying. I hold out my hand to her and she takes it. This seems to comfort her for the moment.
Suddenly, the silence is broken by extremely loud and violent music screaming from somewhere in the room. The music comes from nowhere in particular, but the clamor is deafening. A light begins to flash rapidly, momentarily illuminating our surroundings and then immediately plunging us back into blackness -- like a gigantic strobe. The light flashes so fast that my eyes cannot adjust to see deeper into the room, but with each flash I can see what appears to be two people -- two figures -- slowly moving closer to the cage. I stand up and hold the little girl closer to me and move to the center of the cage. The little girl, frightened, buries her face against my side.
As the two figures come closer and closer, they begin to take shape. They are medium height, skinny and pale, and their arms seem way too long for their bodies. Still nearer, it appears these two are not wearing any clothing and have abnormally large heads. When they finally arrive at the edge of the cage I am horrified. These two figures are not human, they are aliens with pale gray bodies, long flapping arms, huge black eyes and long, skinny, wiggling fingers.
As I stare at them with each blink of the light, I become extremely frightened. I dare not scream as to frighten the little girl even worse. I'm frozen, dumbfounded, not sure what to do or what will happen next.
Suddenly the music stops. An air of calm seems to descend upon the cage. The frantic light stops its incessant flashing and bathes the aliens in front of us in a soft beam of light, creating an eerie, angelic glow that seems to emanate from them. The little girl slowly pulls her head away from my side to look around -- tears streaming down her face. The aliens seem surprised to see how frightened she is, and seem genuinely concerned that they may have contributed to her condition. Both of the beings bend down to her level and hold out their arms in front of them -- as if they were cradling something in them.
Then, right before our eyes, a crying baby materializes in one of the beings crdled arms. Everything is silent, the warm glow of the light decends upon the small child -- I am speechless.
Both of the beings look up at the little girl, who's eyes are transfixed on the baby. The alien that is holding the baby speaks -- "Don't cry little girl. It's a beautiful baby boy."
Silence again. The warm glow of the light. I awaken.
What do you dream about? Tell me...