Exploration

I was waiting for the train, well I must have been. Why else would I be in the subway? Although I don't actually remember feeling like I was waiting for anything. No one was down there, and no trains were coming, so I decided to take a stroll down one of the abandoned tunnels to finally see what was down there.

Getting in was easy. Now that I think about it, the station was set up exactly how it is in real life. Usually dream settings are weird facsimiles that I can only identify because I created them. All I had to do was go to the end of the platform and walk around the end of the fence. I slid between antique cars and the filthy wall, scraping up decades of grime and collecting it all. Four flashlights hung from nails at the entrance. I grabbed one and followed the tracks until all I could see was the light at the entrance to the tunnel. Nothing tripped me up or crawled over my foot or squeaked while my eyes became gradually worthless. The complete opposite you would expect to happen as you venture into a dark place in a dream.

Turning on my light didn't reveal much out of the ordinary. Rounded walls and catenary wire. I expected to encounter rats, trash, crumbled pieces of wall falling to the ground, everything you normally expect to see in abandoned places, but it was rather clean. For twenty or so minutes I continued on down the tunnel finding absolutely nothing of interest. Then my light flickered out. No amount of shaking or hitting it with the heel of my palm could bring it back to life. I turned around in panic looking for my way back, but I was greeted by nothing.

I stood there with no idea about where I face, trying to rouse the courage to find the wall and choose a direction when a grid of blinding lights appeared in front of me with that impossibly loud ka-chunk from TV when the lights are turned on in a theater or stadium and the director decides more drama is required to really punctuate the scene. The lights stood in a multi-colored grid, I couldn't tell how close or far away. I stood frozen in front of them as this indescribably oppressive sound welled up from their general direction. It made me feel small and hated, and I wanted it to stop , and it just kept getting louder and hotter until I woke up.