Nightmares

I can’t say that I normally remember my dreams. I don’t. Every once in awhile I’ll remember a dream I had right when I wake up, only to forget all about it later in the day. In order to remember the dreams I have I would have to keep a notebook next to my bed and write them down as soon as I wake up, but I don’t. I won’t.

As a kid I had a recurring nightmare that I occasionally still have to this day. It takes place when I was about five years old, before my youngest two brothers were born. My parents, myself, and one of my brothers (who would have been about three at the time) are walking through a parking lot up to a grocery store. The grocery store is two stories (that’s important), and has an awning over the doors. Under the awning are big carts and bins full of fruits and vegetables for sale. As we approach the front door, there are two men standing near one of the vegetable carts arguing quite loudly. One of them looks like a human version of the Swedish Chef from the Muppets. We walk right past them and into the grocery store.

At some point during our shopping we go to the upper level of the store, when suddenly there is a loud creaking sound, and the roof is lifted off of the building (rather like the appearance of the Ghost of Christmas Present in Mickey’s Christmas Carol), and there is the Swedish Chef man again, only now he is several stories tall and very scary looking. Everyone around is in the store is screaming. Suddenly the Swedish Chef man reaches down and picks up my Mother. He eats her. I’m horrified. Then he picks up my Dad. He eats him too. I’m too scared to run. He reaches down, and picks up my little brother by the scruff of his neck and opens his mouth to eat him.

“NO,” I yell, “Don’t eat him!” I’m sobbing uncontrollably. “Take me instead!”

The Swedish Chef man drops my little brother into the breast pocket of his shirt. The poor boy is peering over the top of the pocket in tears as the Swedish Chef man reaches toward me. I close my eyes. I wake up.

I’ve had this dream on a fairly regular basis for years. Nothing in it ever changes. I never age in this dream. I have no idea what it means, but it scares the crap out of me every time.