The Nightmare

The Nightmare Background: This dream sequence is from a larger story I'm writing. Jack is the American fiance of the mum in this story. He was in the US Army and he has just relocated the mum and her two boys, 11 and 10 from Hertfordshire, U.K. to Colorado, U.S.A. The boys' father committed suicide only 2 years before with a shotgun, leaving the family destitute and with a terrible secret.

Mum and Jack carried us off to bed. I was just awake enough for mum to give us a good night kiss. Jack leaned down and also gave us a good night kiss on the lips. I was revolted by the gesture and the taste of his mouth.

I had a horrible dream that night. I dreamed we were outside the Houses of Parliament in the chariot of Boadicea. I looked up and mum was Boadicea.

All at once there was a large explosion in the Houses of Parliament and it all came tumbling down in a flaming heap. I was horrified. The king was in the Houses of Parliament. Somehow he was dad. He had blown up the Houses of Parliament himself. A casket was removed from the ashes of parliament. It was his casket. There was a state funeral with the Union Flag over the casket. We couldn't see the body. The casket fell out of the hearse. It was empty. Where was dad?

At that moment General Patton drove up in his jeep. The jeep became a Ford Bronco and Patton was Jack. The army uniform he was wearing changed so that he was dressed as a knight from the crusades. He approached the chariot of Boadicea and said he was here to rescue her from the dragon. He climbed to the top of the ruins of Parliament and raised an enormous American Flag and proclaimed he was liberating us in the name of the United States of America. As he came back down he appeared in the dress of a sheriff from a western film and declared as he helped us down from the chariot that he was abolishing cricket, “soccer” and rugby. As mum stepped down she said "The king is dead. Long live the king!" Suddenly the surroundings faded and became a Wild West town with tumble weeds rolling through the streets and horses tied to the hitching rails. The enormous American flag was raised over a sheriff’s office and jail.